Cowley County commissioners aren’t giving themselves a pay raise next year. Commissioners earn $17,388 annually. The chair earns an additional $100 monthly.
Leroy Alsup, the county administrator, is passing on a pay hike as well. He earns $90,000. The four are eligible for same benefits as other employees.
Other county employees will get a three percent cost of living raise if the proposed budget is approved after the public hearing at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the first floor assembly room at the county courthouse. Commissioners did unanimously agree to extend Alsup’s employment contract through October 2010.
The county mill levy will increase by 1.486 mills if the new budget is adopted as proposed. A mill is a taxing unit; the amount of money one mill raises depends on the assessed valuation of the taxing district.
The assessed valuation of Cowley County decreased by $600,000 – from $213,555,662 to $212,884,223. The county gained valuation in residences but lost $7 million in assessed tax value in machinery and equipment because of a new state law.
The higher cost of fuel has a significant impact on the county’s budget. But so does the cost of asphalt. The three road and bridge crews paid $40 a ton for 13,200 tons of asphalt in 2007 – a cost of $528,000. Alsup projects the county will be paying $60 a ton or $792,000 next year – a $264,000 increase.
Alsup said he thought the commissioners were pleased they could fund the new budget with less than a two mill increase and provide a cost of living for employees as well.
There is no money targeted in next year’s budget for improvements to the former State Bank Building on the south side of the courthouse. Commissioners hope to raise the money by housing inmates from other jurisdictions in the new county jail. The second phase of construction should be complete in November, he said.
