Susan Krumm schools hundreds of Lawrence-area restaurant workers each year in the fine arts of hand washing, countertop scrubbing and overall food storage.

Now she’s ready to serve up her expertise in Topeka, too, as part of a consolidation plan being cooked up by K-State Research & Extension offices in Douglas and Shawnee counties.

“Our customers will not recognize any difference, except that they will have more possibilities to choose from,” said Krumm, extension agent in family and consumer sciences. “It’s going to be a strength for everyone. We’ll be able to offer more services to a wider area.”

Kansas State University and governing boards for both extension offices already have approved a plan to merge the operations into a single organization — tentative name: Kaw Valley Extension District — that would retain all employees, programs, offices and revenues of the two existing operations.

No layoffs. No relocations. No budget cuts.

Just more service.

“People will have access to twice as much programming, because the programs will be offered to everyone in the entire district,” said Trudy Rice, extension director in Douglas County. “They’ll be offered in Lawrence and Topeka.”

Such a move has been in the works for months, and awaits approval from Douglas and Shawnee county commissioners. If approved, a reorganization plan would go to Atty. Gen. Phill Kline for his endorsement, and would be implemented July 1.

Bruce Chladny, Douglas County extension horticulture agent, and Trudy Rice, director of K-State Research & Extension for Douglas County, look over publications at the Douglas County extension office at 2110 Harper St. The Douglas County and Shawnee County extension offices are pursuing a merger.

Taxing authority

Commissioners need to approve the plan because of one of its key components: Each commission would give up its responsibility for financing its share of each office’s operations, and instead turn such authority over to a new eight-member board.

The board’s members initially would be appointed by commissioners — four from Douglas County and four from Shawnee County — until 2007, when board members would be elected in public votes alongside candidates for city commissions and school boards.

Board members would not be mere advisers. The new leaders would have the power to levy taxes on residents of both counties — by law, an amount of up to 2.5 mills in property tax each year.

With a mill equal to $1 in property tax for every $1,000 in a property’s assessed valuation, the owner of a $150,000 home could have a property tax bill of up to $43 a year to finance extension activities.

But extension officials are quick to point out that such a level — more than five times the current rate now assessed for extension activities in either county — is merely a maximum, not a realistic expectation.

The anticipated tax bite for the owner of a $150,000 home would be $7.30 for operations of the combined district during its first year. This year, the owner of such a home is paying the equivalent of $8.33 in property taxes for Douglas County’s extension office.

“We’re not going to raise any tax mill levy just for the fun of it,” said Kevin Journagan, chair of Shawnee County’s extension board and a branch president for Community National Bank in Topeka. “The dollars will still be the same dollars. We’re not looking for any additional dollars or any less dollars, at the present time.

“We’re just hoping that because of the expertise we have in both counties, that we can maybe narrow our focus in certain areas and maybe provide some education from that standpoint that we couldn’t do before.”

Expanded offerings

The Douglas County extension office’s 12 employees coordinate 4-H activities, conduct after-school programs and educate individuals and businesses about horticulture, pest control, financial planning, food storage, crop fertilization and dozens of other topics.

Douglas County is giving the extension office $484,000 for next year. Combined with the $536,000 granted to the Topeka-based operation by Shawnee County commissioners, the new Kaw Valley Extension Council would have more than $1 million to use to focus the strengths of its agents on the combined needs of two of the state’s largest counties.

Among the likely effects, Rice said:

• Douglas County’s 4-H after-school programs — now reaching about 540 students a day in seven schools and the Boys and Girls Club and Youth Services Center in Lawrence — would be expanded into Topeka.
• Shawnee County’s Expanded Foods and Nutrition Program — a federally financed effort to help low-income residents stretch their food dollars and make efficient, healthy use of inexpensive, easy-to-prepare meals — would be extended into the Lawrence area.

Jere McElhaney, a Douglas County commissioner who has followed extension efforts closely during his four years in office and a lifetime growing up in the area, is looking forward to the new district. He foresees expanding services while saving money, as commissioners sacrifice some authority to make an investment in a healthy future for one of the community’s vital assets.

“Whenever you have change, it’s hard,” McElhaney said. “We’re losing a little control, but I think 10 years from now the program will be running full speed. We’ll be able to reach out to more students and more families, not only in Lawrence but also the rural areas.”