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Dickinson County administrators outline $2 million in proposed cuts and ask commissioners where to trim outside funding
Summary
County staff told commissioners they have cut roughly $2 million from an early 2027 budget projection and asked for direction on outside-organization funding, while department heads reviewed service pressures such as rising e-recording volume and growing caseloads in courts and county attorney’s offices.
County Administrator Janelle Docking told the Dickinson County Board of Commissioners that staff have identified more than $2 million in reductions to the draft 2027 budget after trimming about $6 million in initial projected increases.
Docking said the revised approach combines position freezes, delayed capital purchases and targeted reductions to operational lines. She cited $176,000 in savings from unfilled positions and roughly $275,000 cut from road and bridge maintenance after managers re-evaluated projects and equipment needs. The administrator said the tentative mill levy would be about 49.367 mills, roughly one mill below last year, and that staff still needed direction to reach the revenue-neutral rate.
Several department heads described operational pressures that support maintaining certain lines. Rose Jones, who identified herself in the meeting as Rose Jones, said her office has one of the county’s smallest staffs but manages permanent public records, indexing and searches; she reported a large increase in e-recording (from 328 to 582 recorded e-documents in the comparable period) and said e‑recording fees rose from about $24,000 to $48,000 so far this year. Jones told commissioners, “My staff did a fantastic job,” and asked that her essential part-time position be preserved even as she reduced some discretionary line items.
A judicial representative reviewed court workload and mediation practices, noting Dickinson County’s outsized caseload within the 8th Judicial District. County Attorney Broxterman described rising criminal, traffic and juvenile caseloads and said his office had cut equipment, postage and some IT lines while asking the board to sustain an increased contract for the Attorney General’s office to handle appeals and three Westlaw subscriptions.
County Clerk Jennifer Gatewood asked the board to consider raising poll-worker compensation to match actual time worked and the longer training now required. She told commissioners that the current pay resolution assumed a 12-hour day but said poll workers routinely start earlier, attend longer training and spend additional time on post‑election duties. Commissioners asked staff to add the compensation change to next week’s agenda so the board could consider amending the existing resolution.
Outside organizations and service providers also drew scrutiny. Docking presented staff recommendations to trim support for several outside groups — including the Conservation District, the Central Kansas Free Fair, the Historical Society, Central Kansas Mental Health, OCCK, Driving Dickinson County and others — with individual proposals ranging from modest trims to larger reductions. Commissioners debated preserving funding for organizations that depend heavily on county support, while also acknowledging that many groups have other revenue sources such as federal/state grants or private pledges.
No final appropriations were approved at the session. Docking said staff would plug the commissioners’ guidance into the revenue model and return with updated figures; the board set a tentative schedule to hold a budget hearing in August if necessary.
Ending: The commission asked staff to continue refining the numbers and to bring updated reports to next week’s meeting for additional direction.
