By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
As the Great Bend City Council gave their input on the proposed 2023
budget Monday night, the governing body discussed how the city funds outside
agencies going forward.
Organizations like the Barton County Fair and the Golden Belt Humane Society
request funding each year from the city. The entities are separate from the
city, but have a tie or provide a service to Great Bend.
Somewhat split, the consensus from the city council was to fund Great Bend
Economic Development Inc. (GBED) at $250,000 again for the 2023 budget. Eco Devo received a
$100,000 increase last year, partly to fund a director for the newly-planned
childcare facility expected to break ground on construction this fall.
The amount this year could fund an additional position for the department.
"Economic development is goal number one in the city's strategic plan," said Councilmember and Economic Development board member Kevyn Soupiset. "I do know there is momentum and things are starting to take traction. Not always as quick as everyone wants or needs to see, but there are lots of positives."
When GBED requested their 2023 funding in June, eco devo board member and Barton County Commission Chairman Shawn Hutchinson said the county commission would be in favor of matching the city's funding for economic development up to $250,000.
The city council was in favor fully funding the Humane Society’s request of
$105,000 and keep funding the previous year's amount for the Barton County
Fair, Barton County Historical Society and Great Bend Public Library.
The board recommended not funding Sunflower Diversified Services and there was discussion if the council should fund certain entities at all. Sunflower requested $18,000 to service the city-owned recycling trailer located at 18th and Williams. The city plans to gift the trailer to Sunflower and eliminate their funding going forward.
Councilmember Cory Urban
stated the city is running into an issue of picking and choosing which
organizations to fund and which ones to deny.
"We have nonprofits, some of them we're not recommending funding, others we want to fund and others we have contracts with," said Urban. "If we're mandated by the state to pay, like the library, Commission on Aging and the Humane Society we're contractually obligated. The other ones we need to find guidelines so we're not picking to fund one and not others. I think it's a big Pandora's box waiting to explode."
RSVP medical transportation is recommended for $2,550 for the 2023 budget. Barton County Fair is set to receive $5,000. The historical society will be at $10,000.
The city council plans to further discuss outside agency funding in the future,
but hinted at notifying multiple agencies their funding could come to an end
next year.