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Barton Community College trustees announce RNR and budget hearings
New trustee may be appointed Tuesday
BCC-cougar-sign

A Revenue Neutral Rate (RNR) hearing and a budget hearing for Barton Community College will take place at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, in Room F-30 of the Fine Arts Building on the Great Bend campus. This will also be the August business meeting for the BCC Board of Trustees.

The proposed published budget sets the estimated tax rate at 28.634 mills, according to Vice President of Administration Mark Dean.

It is estimated this rate will levy $9,574,623, while last year’s tax rate of 29.757 mills levied $9,590,036.

“This mill rate is revenue-neutral which means, we are not requesting additional tax dollars,” Dean stated in his report to the trustees. “The county’s estimated valuation increased this past year, mainly due to real estate, personal property, and utilities.”

Even though BCC does not intend to exceed the RNR, the notification of such intent was sent to Barton County in compliance with Senate Bill 13. Dean has described that as a precautionary measure in case the estimated valuation was incorrect.

“Because the RNR is based on an estimated valuation there is always the chance that the certified valuation could increase or decrease,” Dean said in July. “Because of this, we have notified the County Clerk of our intention to exceed the RNR and will have an RNR hearing. We do this in the event that the certified valuation is less than the estimate. Again, the total tax dollars will not change and we would remain revenue neutral.”

Prior to Senate Bill 13, the Board of Trustees typically attempted to keep the mill levy the same from year to year, which results in decreases or increases in revenue based on the final valuation, which is certified in November of each year.

In addition to the RNR and budget hearings, items on the agenda Tuesday include filling a vacancy on the board, approving the RNR resolution by a roll call vote and then closing the RNR hearing, closing the budget hearing and then approving the Fiscal Year 24 budget, hearing a report on Barton STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and approving new personnel.