Atchison County finance director flags revenue shortfalls and commissioners debate enforcing line‑item budget limits

Finance Director Mark Zeltner told the Atchison County Commission on Sept. 16 that collections for several revenue streams had improved since July but that budget risks remain.

Zeltner said ad valorem property tax delinquencies fell from about $565,000 in July to roughly $476,000 and vehicle-tax delinquencies moved from about $411,000 to $404,000. He told the commission interest posted to the county checking accounts is tracking close to budget: the budget anticipated $325,000 and ‘‘we're almost at 311’’ thousand dollars. EMS collections were about $538,000 through August against a $650,000 projection, and the county received $175,005.75 in the 3/4-cent sales tax that supports solid waste and joint communications in August.

Zeltner also reported overall spending in the county budget is at about 70 percent of the year-to-date appropriation and identified two large appropriations not yet paid: about $40,000 to the health department and $69,002.67 to the extension council. Cash balances reported included roughly $73,000 in the solid-waste fund and about $101,000 in joint communications.

Commissioners responded to a fund‑level report showing multiple departmental line items already over their budgeted amounts. County Counselor Pat summarized the legal constraints under Kansas budget law and related attorney-general opinions, saying the statutory cash‑basis rules are intended to prevent spending money ‘‘you don't have’’ and that the board has discretion over how specifically it wants departments to be held to the budget documents provided to the state.

‘‘Overspending is not legal in Kansas,’’ Pat said. He advised that, short of adding budget authority through a formal budget amendment, the county would have two principal remediation options if a line item is exhausted: stop the spending or move to amend the budget. Pat also warned that stopping payroll in a personnel-services line could create a legal conflict between payroll and other employment laws and that specific cases would have to be evaluated if a clash arose.

Commissioners pressed for clarity about enforcement. One commissioner asked whether the board can direct the human resources office to stop payroll when a personnel-services appropriation runs out; Pat said the question can produce a legal conflict and would need to be handled on a case-by-case basis, though the underlying budget law requires budget authority for expenditures.

Zeltner presented a list of appropriation requests the commission is still considering as part of the 2026 budgeting process. The finance office’s summary of requests included:

- Northeast Kansas Area Agency on Aging — $2,006.37 (membership/participation funds) - Northeast Kansas multi-county health department — $80,000 (statutorily required support; amount not predefined) - Extension council — $138,005.34 (own-levy request; county must approve a dollar figure) - Project Concern — $100,000 (discretionary; commissioners were told failure to fund could result in closure of the Effingham site) - Conservation district — $25,000 (county allocation that prompts state matching funds) - Northeast Kansas Environmental Services (interlocal) — $10,000

Zeltner told the commission the total of the appropriation requests under consideration was about $366,001.71.

Commissioners and staff discussed the county’s mill‑levy calculations. Zeltner said the initial 2026 requests equated to a 68.951‑mill levy; commissioners had earlier trimmed that to a publicized figure near 62.761 mills and asked for additional departmental reductions to move the levy lower. He said additional cuts, project deferrals or alternative funding approaches could reduce the levy further.

Why it matters: commissioners said they are balancing fiduciary responsibility, statutory budget rules and the operational needs of county departments and local partner agencies. The discussion sets the parameters for the public budget hearing scheduled for Sept. 21 and for follow-up budget amendments or further direction to department heads.

Ending: Zeltner said staff will continue to monitor collections and bring amendments or purchase orders forward as needed. Commissioners asked for clearer communication to departments about spending expectations, and Pat said he would help draft language the commission could use to set the desired level of specificity in future budgets.