The Riley County 2021 budget was approved to be sent out to publication by the commission on Thursday.
Budget and Finance Officer Tami Robison presented the final numbers for the budget before being sent out. The regular budget is set at $65,501,116, with levy dollars at $28,312,598. The total mill levy is set at 42.85 mills, which is a 0.79 decrease from last year.
No changes have been made since the commission approved the budget to be sent out for review. The budget will now sit in publication for 10 days to give notice of a public hearing. The budget hearing is scheduled for Jul 27 at the commission chambers.
County Clerk Rich Vargo reminded the commissioners that the tax roll numbers will not be finalized until Nov. This means the mill levy will change a little based on that final valuation.
Commissioners also approved a resolution to receive their portion of the CARES act funds.
County Counselor Clancy Holeman says the resolution is required by the governor’s SPARK task force to receive the county’s funds. The county is expected to receive roughly $15 million in funding from the CARES act and will be distributed by SPARK. Funds are expected to reach the ounty on or around Jul 15. Once distributed, the consultant group hired by the county will work on where those funds will be distributed based on needs assessments.
The assessments must be completed within the 14 day window, which ends on Jul 24. Once needs are assessed, an analysis will be performed and categorical allocations will be made. The application process will begin on or around Jul 30-31.
Robison says they are working to set up meetings with the school districts, cities, and higher education institutes to talk about their eligibility.
Once they have these allocations, they may have some money left over for other non-government entities. The government entities are the main focus of the funding release at this time.
