McPHERSON, Kan. — The McPherson City Commission has adopted a resolution to exceed the Revenue Neutral Rate for their 2026 budget. The Revenue neutral rate for the city as determined by the McPherson County Clerk is 52.051 mills, with the maximum levy set by Commissioners at 53.238 mills.
The hearing to exceed RNR was also set for Aug. 26 at 9 a.m. as part of their regular meeting that day. Of note, the city has kept the levy at the current level for 15 of the past 16 years. While the levy could be reduced at final budget approval, it can’t be increased above the level which was set Tuesday.
A $6,600 contract with Treder Tree to take pin oak trees and their stumps out of Lakeside Park was approved. Treder Tree submitted the lowest of three quotes for the work. Also approved was a bid from Jim’s Plumbing, Heating and A/C for replacement of the HVAC furnace and compressor at the Park Department shop, replacing a 1999 unit. Jim’s just over $11.300 bid was the lowest of four bids submitted, one of which did not meet specifications.
Commissioners approved the closing of Lakeside Drive from Simpson to just north of the parking lot across from the Water Park for the McPherson Recreation Commission’s Family Night Saturday evening.
Also approved was payment to Steamatic of Central Kansas for cleaning of carpets in the Municipal Building, and a thank you was given to Troy Wiens for his donation of flowerpots for an upcoming butterfly garden at Challenger Park.
A change order on the recently complete Lift Station 3 Project was approved by Commissioners. The change significantly reduces the cost of design work done by Alfred Benesch and Company, with a cost savings of just over $57,000. Also approved was a $14,339 payment to Overhead Door of Wichita for storm damage related repairs to an overhead door on the Wastewater Treatment Plant garage.
A progress update was also provided on the street reconstruction projects on North Elm and Myers, where curb work is underway on both projects and concrete poured on the Myers Street project where millings will be put down this week.
Two promotions within the McPherson Fire Department were approved. Stacy Snyder is being promoted to operations lieutenant, and Patrick Carr is being promoted to administrative sergeant, both effective Aug. 4. The commission accepted the resignation of one officer who is joining the Kansas Highway Patrol and a conditional job offer for a new patrol officer. Following the meeting Police Chief Mikel Golden showed the Commission the new command trailer the department just received.
This morning, McPherson Police officers received new Tactical Dri Vests/cooling vests as a gift from the department’s chaplains. Each year, Chaplains Steven Gray, Dean Kroeker and Laura Smith raise funds to provide officers a gift, and this year they raised sufficient funds to provide officers with these vests which go underneath the outer carrier of their duty vest and leaves space for cool air to come in.
Commissioners approved payment of the annual renewal of the First Due software used by the Fire Department, primary use of which is to create incident reports for submittal to the US Fire Administration. It’s also used for tracking business inspections, pre-planning, hydrant maintenance, personnel scheduling, asset and inventory management, and training. The Fire Department began using this system in January, and the commission authorized sending four personnel to a user’s conference in Kansas City so they can learn more about the system.
