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COUNTY NEWS WASHINGTON
THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2018
VOLUME 150, ISSUE NO. 18
Eco devo group requests money from commission BY CYNTHIA SCHEER Managing editor
Commission budgeted $75K for economic devolopment in 2019 and has some unused funds from this year
Members of the Washington County Business Owners Association, which is the newly formed private economic development group, met with the Board of County Commissioners on Monday. The group gave a progress report and requested money from the commissioners to get the group “off the ground.” The commissioners decided a few months ago to work with the private group, which began forming late this spring,
instead of creating a second, separate economic development board. Derek Bruna is one of the association’s board members and met with commissioners on Monday. Also representing the group were Mark Uhlik, Jay Holle and Raleigh Ordoyne. Bruna said the group, which meets every two weeks, was needing funding, and while they were looking into soliciting membership dues to finance operating expenses, they were hoping the commissioners could also budget money for 2019. They said they needed to
get a website going, and they were looking into eventually hiring an employee. The commissioners have budgeted $75,000 for economic development in 2019 – there is also money in the economic development budget for this year that is unused – and it was the consensus of the commissioners that they would give the money to the business owners association as soon as the group’s paperwork was in order.
See ECO DEVO on 4A
Locals arrested as part of Topeka double homicide Bradley Sportsman, Richard Showalter arrested in Topeka
BY DAN THALMANN Publisher
Two local men were arrested along with two other suspects on Monday in connection with a double homicide that occurred Monday in southeast Topeka, according to articles in the Topeka Capital-Journal and on KSNT.com.
Bradley D. Sportsman, 40, was arrested along with Matthew D. Hutto, 19, and Richard D. Showalter, 31. In the Topeka Capital-Journal story, Sportsman was listed as being from Hollenberg, Hutto from Clay Center and Showalter was listed as homeless. In an article on the KSNT website, Sportsman and Showalter were listed as being from Greenleaf.
See MURDER on 2A
COUNTY COMMISSION
Raise approved 4% raise budgeted for county employees, but most won’t receive that much
BY CYNTHIA SCHEER Managing editor
Ian Ohlde hangs out outside the dairy show for his turn to go circle the show ring with his young heifer, Minnie.
The sheep show judge taps the market lamb shown by Shailyn Zenger, giving her grand champion status at the Washington County Fair. Madison Bruna, left, was named the reserve grand champion.
Many county employees should be receiving raises in 2019, according to discussion by commissioners on Monday. Some will receive larger raises than others while jailers and sheriff’s deputies will get no raise next year. The commissioners spent a good portion of their budget discussion on Monday hashing out a wage increase for county employees. It was mentioned during last week’s meeting that the commissioners were considering budgeting for as much as a five-percent pay increase for some county employees. Commissioner Gary Ouellette said Monday that several people talked
Photos by DAN THALMANN / WCN
Budget finalized
Young cowboys and cowgirls line up in front of the judge after one of the various contests of the 4H horse show on Wednesday, which kicked off the series of shows at the Washington County Fair each year.
Future of ag on display at fair Youth from across the county gather to show the best our area has to offer
Dreaming of the opportunity to show animals of their own at the county fair some day, aspiring cowboys chat about some of the meat goats on display in the sheep, goat and dairy barn.
Head upright, feet set, goatbeard... groomed, Drew Buhrman enjoys the opportunity to show an extra dairy goat at Friday’s show.
Peewees take third at state - PAGE 12A
with him about a potential five-percent increase after last week’s meeting, and they were not in favor of a raise that large. The commissioners said this week that not everybody would get a 5 percent raise if that was the amount the commissioners agreed on; it was simply a figure they could use when finalizing the budget. “I think 5 (percent) is a little much,” Ouellette said on Monday. “If we give five percent this year, then how much next year? If you say five this year and nothing next year, I can live with that.” The commissioners agreed that the sheriff’s deputies and jailers already received pay increases last year to make the pay more competitive, so the pay increases being budgeted for 2019 would not include either of those departments.
BY CYNTHIA SCHEER Managing editor
The commissioners spent a couple hours on Monday finalizing the 2019 budget, which is expected to be approved at next week’s meeting. The final numbers were unavailable by press time, but commissioner Tim Mueller said he hoped the new budget would be a one-mill decrease from 2018’s budget. The commissioners said they were aiming to put next year’s budget as close to the tax lid as possible because of tax laws, which meant they had to allocate several hundred thousand dollars at Monday’s meeting that hadn’t yet been designated to a department. A few weeks ago the commissioners cut several hundred thousand dollars from various depart-
See RAISE on 4A
ment budgets; they then found themselves several hundred thousand dollars short of the tax lid. Under state law, city and county governments have to have a public vote if they want to raise spending by more than an adjusted Consumer Price Index rate to be set by the state of Kansas. If voters don’t approve the spending increases, which exceed the tax lid, cities and counties will have to cut their property tax rates to adjust to the spending level allowed by the state. The commissioners said they are trying to keep the mill levy even with last year because they are concerned about exceeding the tax lid in a couple years when property values may fall.
See BUDGET on 3A