By TONY GUERRERO
Hays Post
The Ellis County Commission will honor High Plains Mental Health's funding request of about $378,600.
The Ellis County Commission reviewed the third draft of the 2026 budget. Commissioner Nathan Leiker suggested several adjustments to funding for outside agencies requesting assistance.
"I would like to fund [High Plains Mental Health] at the full level, but the additional $76,000 would be from all sales tax and not property tax," Leiker said.
High Plains Mental Health's request is a significant increase from last year’s $299,975, with the additional funds designated for its Crisis Intervention Center.
DSNWK and the county scholarship program
Leiker also said he wanted to reevaluate the county’s scholarship program, which was initially established to support county employees and local students.
"A lot of the students are not employee-related. There's some, but I think we're kind of missing our target, and maybe we need to hit the pause on the scholarship, reevaluate and utilize some of those funds," he said.
Leiker proposed reducing the scholarship program’s funding from $20,000 to $10,000 and reallocating that $10,000 to DSNWK, meeting its original $250,000 request.
Commissioner Michael Berges said the program supports retention efforts and should not be fully cut in 2026. Commissioner Neal Younger supported a reduction in scholarship funding until next year’s budget.
Grow Hays and Ellis County Historical Society
Younger proposed reducing Grow Hays’ funding from $165,000 to $160,000 and reallocating the $5,000 to the Ellis County Historical Society, increasing its total to $115,000.
The following are additional funding allocations and changes discussed for the 2026 budget:
• DSNWK KidLink to receive $120,000
• ACCESS Transportation to receive $50,000
• Hays Humane Society to receive $2,600
• Ellis County Conservation District to receive $72,646, an increase from $65,750
• United Way of Ellis County to receive $2,500 (reduced at a previous meeting)
• Ameritown was removed from the 2026 budget
Darin Myers, county administrator, said AmeriTown could either seek funding through the county’s contingency fund or submit a request to the Ellis County Care Council.
ACCESS Transportation also requested $82,000 from the City of Hays to help offset the loss of state funding, but the city has yet to decide. The service offers public transportation primarily to low-income, elderly and disabled individuals.
SEE RELATED STORY: ACCESS Public Transportation faces 2026 budget shortfall
Myers said the total outside agency funding in the budget amounts to $1,256,548, a $797 decrease from the previous draft.
Mill levy increase proposal
The current draft has a 1.84 mill levy increase, from 35.99 mills to 37.83. mills.
The mill levy increase includes the commissioners' request to add 1 mill ($542,695), which will replace the expected revenue decrease of the Oil and Gas Depletion fund ($425,865) in future years.
The proposed budget also includes a $200,000 increase in interest revenue. That will help reduce the overall mill levy by one-third of a mill for 2026.
Berges suggested slightly lowering the increase to align with the amount previously transferred from the oil depletion fund, but the commission ultimately agreed to keep the full 1 mill increase.
Final changes can be made by Aug. 12, with the public hearing set for Sept. 9.
Capital improvement projects and bonding
The commission continued its discussion on capital improvement projects, including the possibility of issuing a bond to fund more than $9.75 million in facility upgrades.
"This allows us to do some projects without using property taxes," Berges said.
Myers said that if the sales tax is not renewed in 2030, the county would have to increase property taxes by 7 to 8 mills to cover bond payments.
"What's nice about the sales taxes is that the majority... is paid by people traveling in and out of Ellis County, not necessarily Ellis County residents," he said.
The commission reviewed photos of the EMS and fire station facilities in the city of Ellis, which are experiencing water damage, mold risks and limited space. Repairs and upgrades are estimated to cost $2 million.
The following are other projects and estimates that the commission discussed:
• Sheriff’s Office and Communications Department Renovation, estimated budget of $3 million
• Administrative Building 110 fan coil units, estimated at $1.25 million
• Courthouse HVAC replacement, estimated at $3.5 million
• Landfill Transfer Station Expansion
• Storage Building at Public Works
Berges said the projects will need to be carefully prioritized in the years ahead and noted the courthouse HVAC system experienced issues over the weekend.