By Russ Pankonin
    The Imperial Republican
     Property owners in the Upper Republican Natural Resource District will help pay for compact compliance measures in the 2007-08 budget approved by the board at their Sept. 4 meeting.
     In addition, the budget includes an expenditure for the construction of a new office building and shop for the district.
     Board members didn't question the need for an additional levy to help repay bonds used for surface water purchases. However, the building expenditure caused some dissent, as the overall budget passed on a 6-5 vote.
     During the public hearing on the budget, Dundy County Commissioner Chair Scott Olson of Haigler asked the board to reconsider the building project.
     He said with the proposed 10-cent levy increase, along with an occupation tax on irrigated acres, his board felt this was not the right time to be building a new facility.
     Board Member Jeff Wallin said based on testimony and visiting with others that the budget went above and beyond what was needed, in particular, the building.
     Another board member, Kerry Bernhardt, suggested bringing the building project to a halt and using the building fund reserves, approximately $600,000, to reduce property taxes.
    Levy shaved by a half-cent
     The proposed budget included a 10-cent levy per $100 of valuation to help pay for the surface water purchase bonds.
     Mick Majors of Wauneta urged the board to put the biggest burden of the bond repayment on irrigators through a higher per-acre occupation tax.
     As a dryland farmer, Majors said, "The people who have the least ability to pay this additional tax burden and receive no direct benefit are dryland farmers-guaranteed."
     He said his neighbors said it would do no good to come to the meeting, because the board would do what they want anyway. "I hope I'm wrong," he said.
     Rex Felker of Enders also questioned the 10-cent levy, noting that the burden falls on every property owner, regardless of their occupation.
     He said adding $100 to someone's tax bill may not seem like much to the board, but there are those, such as people on fixed incomes, who are significantly impacted.
     He urged the board to consider that when setting the levy.
     Board members did shave a half-cent from the original request in the budget, bringing the levy request to $0.180024 compared to $0.184999. The increase over last year's levy was due to the property tax levy for the surface water bond repayment.
     Manager Jasper Fanning said a per-irrigated-acre occupation fee of $6.95 would allow the district to retire the bonds in one year, in combination with the additional levy of $0.095 also being collected.
     Board member Terry Martin said the future intent of the per-acre fee is to cover all of the cost of surface water purchases.
     Fanning explained the bonding company needed the assurance of property tax revenues for repayment purposes versus the per-acre fee.
     He said that a year's history of collecting the per-acre occupation tax may satisfy the bond company that property taxes are not required for repayment purposes in the future.
     When the final vote came on the proposed budget, including the lower tax levy and inclusion of the building, the motion passed narrowly on a 6-5 vote.
     Those voting in favor included Martin, Mike Mosel, Greg Pelster, Tom Gaschler, Donn Gengenbach and Dean Large.
     Those opposed included Tom Terryberry, Mick Strand, Tim Schilke, Wallin and Bernhardt.
    CREP, EQIP acres excluded from per-acre occupation tax
     Board members voted 10-1 to exclude acres enrolled in the CREP and the four-year EQIP conservation plans from having to pay the per-acre fee.
     Wallin opposed the measure, saying irrigators who went into CREP and retired acres, still helped create the problem while they were irrigating.
     Bernhardt said these retirement programs are among the tools the district can use to help with compliance. If they are taxed, then people won't participate in them, he said.
     The board adopted a measure, setting the per-acre irrigated fee at $6.95 per acre.
    Building bid higher than estimate
     Bids for the building project were opened Friday, Aug. 31, with four bidders vying for the project.
     Bids ranged from $929,000 to $960,000, with Rhoads Construction Company of Goodland, Kan., submitting the low bid. However, that bid was still about 10 percent above the architect's estimates.
     The board's building committee and architect are working with Rhoads to see if some changes could be made to get the project back on budget.
     Martin, who served as chair of the building committee, said costs were higher than hoped. Had they been in line, he said the committee would have offered a recommendation to the board.
     He suspected that labor costs, energy costs and an increase in building materials attributed to the higher costs. However, he did note those costs would likely continue to increase over the coming months.
     Board members did approve to purchase the four lots for the proposed building at a cost of $20,000. Wallin, Strand and Bernhardt opposed the purchase.
     The lots are located on East 5th Street in Imperial, just east of the former greenhouse business.
     Fanning said they also have the first right of refusal on the lots the greenhouse sits on.