The Atchison County Commission on Friday evening told residents the county’s proposed mill levy now stands at 59.201 mills, down from the R&R notice figure of 68.951 and representing $13,593,751 in ad valorem property taxes under the current draft budget. The commission said the change reflects a reduction of 9.75 mills, or $2,238,835, from the initial R&R notice and that the current levy is 7.33% higher than the 2025 mill levy of 54.861.

Presiding Commissioner (name not specified) opened the special meeting by explaining the purpose: “our public hearing time and date that was published in The Globe and by state statute will remain on Sunday at 10:15. However, because of the state statute deadlines…we wanted to have this additional opportunity on this Friday evening after work, to allow people to come, and to talk to us, about our budgets.” The commission reiterated that the Sunday session will include a slideshow presentation by the finance director and that the formal vote on the budget is scheduled for Sunday at 10:15 a.m.

Why this matters: the move reduces the draft levy from the mailed R&R notice, but county officials said the current levy still represents a tax increase versus 2025. Commissioners emphasized they worked to reduce the levy without adding cash into the budget. “We dropped it what $2,300,000 and none of that was padded,” Commissioner Quinn said, describing the cuts as necessary to avoid an unsustainable tax rise.

Details and trade-offs: county officials described a series of personnel and service adjustments to reach the lower levy. During public comment a resident referenced a notice showing “11 positions cut” at the courthouse; commissioners acknowledged that “personnel services were reduced” in the draft but said they had not lightly made those decisions and that department heads and staff were consulted about operational impacts. The commission said it intends to continue seeking additional reductions going forward but that this year’s changes were the furthest the budget team could responsibly go.

Elections and other efficiency measures: County Clerk Susan explained a planned change in polling operations intended to save equipment and rental costs. For the coming nonpresidential election the county intends to reduce polling locations from 10 to two (Memorial Hall in Atchison and the Effingham city building) and to concentrate tabulators and equipment at those sites. Susan said that approach is expected to yield roughly $41,000 in equipment savings and that voters will still have advanced voting at the courthouse and mail‑in options. She emphasized the county will keep paper ballots: “The ballot-marking devices…still give you a paper ballot,” she said, describing the devices as producing a printed vote that the voter can verify and feed into the tabulator.

Other budget items mentioned Friday included use of capital proceeds from the sale of the Senior Village facility for county capital projects and continued evaluation of a possible one-cent sales tax proposal to help offset EMS costs. The commission said the $59.201 mills figure does not include any new cash appropriations beyond what is shown in the draft and that the finance director will present line-item details at Sunday’s hearing.

The next step is the formal public hearing and budget vote on Sunday at 10:15 a.m., at which the finance director will present a slideshow of detailed figures and the commission will consider adoption of the budget.