State Rep. Kristey Williams, R-Augusta, is not happy with the mill levy imposed on Butler County property owners to support a community college that largely serves students who live outside the county.
This week, she introduced House Bill 2144 that would require greater public access to community college spending.
“Accountability and transparency remain cornerstone issues for me this legislative session,” Williams wrote in her “Capitol Highlights” on Tuesday, the day she introduced the “Community College Taxpayer Transparency” bill.
Leaders at Hutchinson Community College and other two-year institutions around Kansas say while they support transparency in spending, this bill goes too far. Butler Community College’s current 20.068 mill levy ranks lower than most levies supporting a community college.
In Seward County, the levy for Seward County Community College is 39.973 mills. Seward County Community College Trustee John Engel said he’s been on the college board six years and only one person over the years has come to the budget hearing. It was the college’s former financing officer who gave “support for what we were doing,” Engel said.
National Helium Corporation appealed its property valuation in Seward County and a settlement adversely affected taxing entities. “That cut 9 percent of our budget,” Engel said.
“We’re in southwest Kansas where there’s not a lot of industry to help support the mill levy countywide,” Engel said Thursday. “I wish we could lower it, but it is what it is.”
Thomas County property owners see a 45.123 mill levy for Colby Community College on their tax bills.
“I’ve been here for four years, and we have had zero protests,” said Colby Community College President Seth Carter. That’s not to say some residents aren’t concerned about taxes, he said. “We’ve absolutely had those conversations,” he said. Carter noted that the current rate is down. It was closer to 47 mills in fiscal year 2017.
(Read more: News – The Hutchinson News)