Jim Skelton

By Jim Skelton

January marked my anniversary of a very fast year serving the residents of Sedgwick County as a commissioner.  

This year, I was elected as the board’s chair pro tem, alongside Chairman Tim Norton, and I’m looking forward to serving in that capacity. I want to take this opportunity to give you an update about what’s been happening around the county and what we will see in 2012.  

5th District Advisory Board

In June, the 5th District Advisory Board met for the first time and to date we’ve had seven informative meetings.  

We’ve heard about drainage and flooding issues, and learned about several county functions, such as the health department, COMCARE, EMS, Fire District 1, code enforcement, public safety, and the sheriff’s office. We also have a better understanding of county townships, county assessments and zoning.  

Presentations were given by the city of Wichita on the Oaklawn south water main replacement project and the Quad Cities Joint Area Plan, and we heard updates from the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation.  

These meetings are a great opportunity for residents to understand the issues facing our part of Sedgwick County. I encourage you to attend our next meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 29, at 6 p.m. at Fire Station 20, 2255 S. Greenwich.  

These meetings will take place every last Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m. in various locations in the 5th District.  Please contact Community Relations Director Tania Cole if you would like to receive information regarding my monthly DAB meetings. She can be reached at 660-9375 or tcole@sedgwick.gov.

County Issues

On Feb. 14, we attended the annual commission retreat to begin the process for the 2013 budget. We continue to live in trying times, and managing next year’s budget (2013) will be just as difficult as this year’s, as we face a $6.1 million deficit.  Our goals for this budget continue to be:

• Zero deficit by 2013

• Smaller government

• Reduce debt

I am proud of the fact that this year’s budget (2012) included no mill levy increase and we reduced expenditures to minimize reliance on our fund balance, decreasing an original estimated deficit of $16.3 million to $1.5 million. I will continue to work hard to balance the needs of the community with the services provided by county government to build a budget that will again see less revenue.

We continue to have discussions with the city of Wichita to consolidate code enforcement departments under one entity. While the progress has been lengthy, I am expecting a good outcome for this important service to citizens.  

With the special school bond election for all citizens in Derby USD 260 coming up, you can register to vote or change your current registration information online at www.kdor.org/voterregistration. You can also contact the Sedgwick County Elections Office for more information at 660-7160.

I encourage all of you to go to the Sedgwick County website, www.sedgwickcounty.org, to find more information about county services.