photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Douglas County commissioners met on Wednesday, August 21, 2024 for a work session with the Extension Council.

After hearing more about K-State Research and Extension’s services and how they’re funded, Douglas County commissioners still have questions about what role they should play — especially when it comes to funding the extension’s cost-of-living increases.

The commission held a work session on Wednesday to better understand the county’s relationship with the Extension Council before finalizing the 2025 county budget later this month.

The extension, which works on a range of initiatives related to agriculture, food systems and health and wellness, is partially funded by the county, and County Administrator Sarah Plinsky listed out the services the county covers for it: health insurance for certain employees, other types of insurance coverage, building and grounds maintenance and employment law consulting, to name a few.

But none of those things was what sparked the discussion about the extension a month ago. What did were the funding requests the extension council made for the county’s 2025 budget, including $16,862 for a cost-of-living adjustment for existing staff, $5,383 to resolve pay equity issues, and $15,000 to support a contribution toward the salary of the LiveWell Douglas County executive director.

Commissioner Karen Willey wanted to know whether the funding for cost-of-living adjustments for staff belonged on that list of things the county should be responsible for.

“I know we need to have a further discussion on what is Douglas County’s role in terms of … cost-of-living increases with staff, and it’s been, I think, a little nebulous about what part of our funding is going towards that and what other funding sources are also supporting that,” Willey said.

“So (we just need) all of us to have a shared understanding of what is the full financial relationship between the county and extension,” she added.

During the budget discussions in July, Commissioner Patrick Kelly had said that the county provided about 65% of the extension’s funding. On Wednesday, Willey asked for the exact dollar amount that the county spends on the extension each year, and Plinsky did not have it on hand.

Beyond the specific items that the extension was requesting, commissioners also had questions about the extension’s budget processes in general.

Kelly said the commission’s responsibility, as outlined by statute, was to “approve, or amend or modify” the extension budget proposal, but he said he didn’t believe the county had been formally doing that. He said he would like to see Plinsky and Marlin Bates, director of the extension council, work together to come up with a new process for reviewing a budget.

“I think that there are maybe some more steps in there that could be developed by staff with more than this work,” Kelly said.

Plinsky and Commissioner Shannon Reid, however, said that they thought the county was already doing its part to meet the statutory obligations.

Ultimately, the commission said there were many things that needed to be clarified about the county’s relationship with the extension, and Willey said a lot of the points raised on Wednesday would have to be discussed with the extension council in greater detail.

The work session on Wednesday was for informational purposes only, and no action was taken by county commissioners following the presentation. The county is set to finalize its 2025 budget next week on Aug. 28. To view the proposed budget, visit dgcoks.gov/open-budget.