Joan Strickler, observer
Commissioners McCulloh and Johnson present, McCulloh presiding. Commissioner Lewis was representing the County at an event in Topeka.
Register of Deeds Debra Regester reported revenue figures are up for the County. Total year-to-date revenue for 2011 is $136,660 over the 2010 figures which amounted to $100,570. Mortgage registrations this year total $42,877,372 compared to $31,541,843 last year. Seven mortgages are over the $1 million amount. These include plans for construction/renovation of one sorority house, a managed care facility and the rest are apartments. Estimated 2011 revenue to the County now stands at $756,000.
Robert Nall, Information Technology Director, said he is crunching numbers to come up with estimates of what it would cost to integrate the Health Department’s information technology system into the County system. Due to equipment differences and the Department’s requirements in dealing with medical data, it might take five years to complete the process. Commissioner McCulloh said, since the current director of the Health Department is retiring, it would be wise to have the new director involved in any planning process.
County Counselor Clancy Holeman discussed bills proposed in the Legislature affecting counties. SB 40 would allow counties to avoid the delay of the competitive bid process when dealing with emergency repairs. That bill will be heard in a House committee next week. SB 207, which would allow counties to accept credit card transactions, has been pulled at the request of the League of Kansas Municipalities. It is hoped the agreement to pull the bill for this year will give time to work out agreements to allow passage next year. HB 2294 has cities up in arms. It would require the approval of the local county prior to a city initiating an annexation process. A bill concerning restrictions on sexually oriented businesses continues to cause concern in terms of the impact on counties. It appears any amendments to that measure will have to be dealt with in the Senate.
There are concerns that funds may be cut or eliminated for county health departments to conduct sanitary code inspections. It was felt the inspections need to be conducted in a timely fashion, something that could not be expected if performed by a handful of inspectors traveling from Topeka to cover the State. Commissioner McCulloh was particularly concerned about the impact on real estate. Such inspections are required to complete building code requirements and could negatively impact building activity.
No comments:
Post a Comment