The Montgomery County Commission holds a special meeting to approve the budget cuts needed to remain below the revenue neutral rate for 2026.

 The commission met this morning in a special session after learning at Monday's regular meeting of a procedural error that would not allow the county to exceed the revenue neutral rate for the coming year. The County had originally planned to raise the mill levy to 44.999 mills for 2026. However, County Clerk Ami Standridge discovered errors in the way the commission approved the hike. At the September 15th commission meeting, commissioners closed the public hearing before voting on the measure. By statute, the vote should have come prior to closing the hearing. The commission also failed to pass resolution to adopt the revenue neutral rate as required by Kansas law. This error meant that the county must remain at or below a mill rate of 39.989 for 2026. At that rate, the county would need to cut another $2.1 million from the budget.

 At today's meeting, County Administrator Jonathan Booe presented an amended budget for that rate. Booe outlined the cuts for the commission, including large reductions for the Bridge and Road Department. The county opted not to eliminate any positions within in the county nor did it cut any staff salaries, citing the need to remain competitive in hiring new talent.

 The commission unanimously approved the amended budget.