Riley County
Commission June 22, 2015
Joan Strickler, observer
Commissioners Wells,
Boyd and Wilson present, Wells presiding.
The director of
Extension appeared at the meeting to ask for clarification of proposed changes
to the Extension budget. The
Commissioners responded that actions taken by the Legislature and the Governor
have imposed budget limitations on counties that will affect a county’s ability
to fund many local programs and projects.
They fear that local governments will be blamed for the increases to
property and sales taxes made by the Governor and Legislature as a result of
their income tax cuts for certain business owners.
The Commissioners
discussed a confrontational meeting held recently dealing with the proposed
location of a new shooting range to train law enforcement personnel. Commissioner Boyd said the meeting reflected
a pervasive distrust of government that has grown in recent years.
EMS Director Larry
Couchman discussed potential increased staffing costs to his agency resulting
from the former Mercy Hospital’s change in ownership. The new owner is demanding that personnel
funding practices be the same throughout its system. The problem is that hospital workers hours
and those of EMS are not comparable. EMS
personnel work 24 hour shifts and do not provide breaks for meals or increased
compensation for overtime or night shifts. Such practices do not relate to the
on call emergency nature of EMS. If
required to follow the funding practices it could increase costs for 2015 to
$110,000 and to $220,000 for 2016.
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