TOPEKA (KSNT) – Shawnee County Commissioner Kevin Cook is calling on all department heads to attend the next commission meeting to help identify ways they can cut 2-5% of their budgets.
Shawnee County Financial Administrator Jennifer Sauer showed commissioners budget cuts on Monday, July 28 that various county departments found to keep in line with the new maximum mill levy that was set at the last meeting on July 24. At the last meeting, the county approved a maximum mill levy of 49.326 for 2026 but needed to find more than $5 million in savings to meet the revenue-neutral rate.
“Can you tell all departments that they should be prepared what would happen if there was a 4% or 5% reduction in their budget requests across the board; are they going to cut programs, projects or people?” Cook asked during the July 28 meeting.
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Since the last meeting, various departments identified budget cuts, but Sauer said the county still needs to reduce the budget by $2,711,000. Some budget cuts offered by Shawnee County departments included:
- The Shawnee County Department of Corrections offered to reduce the number of new mental health corrections specialists from 33 to 23 and adjust the start date for mental health techs and supervisors for a $920,000 budget cut.
- Three instances were found where the county was budgeting benefits but no wages, so the health insurance didn’t need to be budgeted, reducing the district attorney’s budget by $33,000.
- Emergency Management removed an intermittent position for $21,800.
- The sheriff’s office offered to reduce its budget by $250,000 through its contractual services.
- Parks and Recreation notified the county that it believes it can find $500,000 in budget cuts, partially through vacant positions.
- Public Works, through vacant idle positions and end-of-year transfers, reported it can cut $500,000.
- The Extension Council reported it can cut $1,750 by adjusting employee benefit rates.
- Information Technology Department reports it can cut $145,000 by keeping the IT refresh where it’s at and delay its content management service purchase.
- The Appraiser’s Office reported it believes it can cut $50-75,000 for staffing changes.
The next regular Shawnee County Commissioner meeting will be held at 9 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 4 at the County Administrative Building at 707 Southeast Quincy Street.
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