By BARBARA PROFFITT | July 9, 2025

SEKMHC in mix

At the end of a meeting attended by two of the three commissioners, a discussion was held regarding several of the proposed budgets for next year.

Commissioners Alison Hamilton and Jim Johnson first discussed the proposed budget for Southeast Kansas Mental Health. Johnson noted he had spoken with commissioners from several other counties within the six-county area covered by SEKMHC and noted that he did not believe that any of them planned to budget funds for them. 

Johnson stated the request for 2026 from Linn County for SEKMHC was $70,000. From there, the discussion turned to where each one of several budgets are funded through and County Clerk Danielle Souza noted that both TriKo and SEKMHC are part of the general fund budget while Lake Region Development is funded through Solid Waste and the Area Agency on Aging is through Elderly and Transportation. Souza also noted that the fair board was funded by a mill rate and had never prepared a specific budget. Hamilton stated that the budget consultant had recommended they determine which ones were set by a vote or resolution and if no vote or resolution had ever been done, the county was not required to provide funds. Johnson added that no resolution has been found at this point.