photo by: Journal-World

The west side of the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St.

Douglas County staff are recommending revisions to funding agreements with community organizations, including changing payment and reporting requirements.

The county uses two different types of agreements to outline its expectations and restrictions for distributing funding to community partners. There are agreements for when funding is under $80,000 – which the county calls “community partner agreements,” and larger agreements known as “service agreements” for when funding exceeds that threshold.

County staff is proposing changes to both agreements for the 2027 budget year to clarify existing practices, strengthen accountability and update legal language, according to a memo in the agenda.

The most notable change would be raising the threshold for both agreements. County staff are proposing that any agency receiving under $100,000 in county funding would sign a community partner agreement. Any amounts exceeding $100,000 would require a service agreement. The memo said the change would align the threshold with the County Administrator’s purchasing authority.

Only two partners would be affected and move to community partner agreements: the Douglas County Conservation District, which receives $85,833, and the Lecompton Historical Society, which receives $91,340.

In addition, the updated community partner agreement removes language describing eligible organizations as nonprofit corporations, so the agreement can accommodate all community partners. For the proposed service agreement, there is a new federal funding compliance section that would require organizations to certify that they have not been suspended, debarred or otherwise excluded from federal programs.

While county commissioners will not vote on any changes on Wednesday, they will provide feedback to staff during a work session and communicate whether additional changes might be necessary.

In July, county commissioners brought up the idea of whether or not they should reduce support for organizations that may no longer need the same level of county funding. They said this could be an opportunity for county savings, as the Journal-World reported.

County commissioners will also continue that discussion on Wednesday. After going through the proposed changes to both agreements, county staff have raised a separate question about whether the county should establish a minimum and maximum fund-balance guidelines for community partners.

IN OTHER BUSINESS, COMMISSIONERS WILL:

• Hear about county staff’s proposal to extend the seasonal fireworks sale dates for Independence Day celebrations. Currently, Douglas County permits firework sales on July 1 through July 4. However, county commissioners have expressed an interest in possibly extending the timeframe for which they can be sold.

In April 2025, the Kansas Legislature expanded the period allowing the sale of fireworks in Senate Bill 199, from June 27 through July 5 to June 20 through July 7. Since that change, many counties have not moved to adopt updated firework sale dates, according to a memo in the agenda.

Extending firework sales could result in an increase in sales tax revenue. However, some emergency responders say the change would require increased personnel and operating and maintenance costs. After reaching out to seven firework vendors, county staff learned that a majority of vendors would be concerned about the additional labor and staffing associated with a longer sales window. However, two vendors supported extending sales to July 5.

County commissioners will not make any decisions on whether or not to extend the firework sales window on Wednesday, but they will provide direction to county staff.

The County Commission will hold a work session at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Douglas County Commission meeting room at 1100 Massachusetts St. The business meeting will follow at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will also be available via Zoom.