By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Last October, Barton Community College Director of Institutional Effectiveness Todd Mobray presented information to the Board of Trustees about the college’s economic impact. Mobray stated over a three-year average between 2019-2021, for every $1 of revenue that comes from Barton County taxes, the college spent $2.05 directly back into the county.
RELATED STORY: Barton Community College's ROI to the county is 205%
At Tuesday’s meeting, Mobray
reiterated those figures were conservatively figured by the Docking Institute
at Fort Hays State University.
"That's probably the lowest possible number," said Mobray. "We basically put our bank balance up against our tax bill. We didn't add in any other factors besides those two things. We could have made it ourselves, but the idea is you want it independently verified and you want some data behind it."
Of Barton’s total revenue during the three-year average, 27.7% comes from
Barton County taxpayers. During the preliminary budget report, the college
expects to collect $9.8 million in taxes for the 2024 fiscal year.
The college’s average economic impact between 2019 and 2021 in Barton County
was $20.6 million.