John GiffinEl Dorado City Editor

A week after Butler County Treasurer Ruth Fechter informed the Butler County Board of Commissioners that the Treasurer’s Office will no longer process driver’s license services in El Dorado, the Butler County Commission heard public comment and had a brief discussion on the future of those services being provided in El Dorado at Tuesday’s meeting.

Butler County Democratic Party Chair Suzanne Scribner shared with the commission concerns about the closing of the services. Scribner made the suggestion that the Treasurer’s Office hire another employee to handle the services and train them in another county. She also said that Butler County is the biggest county in the state and that there needs to be a driver’s license office in El Dorado for convenience for citizens. Commissioners agreed that the service needs to be in El Dorado and later in the meeting explored options of adding and training another employee for the Treasurer’s Office or having the clerk’s office handle the services.

Butler County Administrator Will Johnson shared with the commission that Butler County Community College President Kimberly Krull, Ph.D. wishes to wait until after graduation on May 12 for a meeting between the Butler Community College Board of Trustees and the county commission regarding a resolution discussed at the April 24 meeting.

The resolution calls for BCC to adjust its funding structure to represent the percentage of students from Butler County compared to the amount of funding that comes from Butler County tax payers. Krull wants the opportunity for the college to share some of the operational aspects and how the new funding structure would affect the college. Currently BCC receives about $14 million from Butler County tax revenue. If the mil levy is changed to reflect the number of students from within Butler County (according to numbers provided by the county) without making up that funding in another way, BCC would be looking at a $10.1 million decrease in tax revenue, Krull said.

“That would be devastating,” Krull said. “Those are not dollars that would not be easily recovered.”

Johnson thought that meeting would likely occur sometime in late May or early June.

In the only business on the Butler County Board of Commissioners agenda, a software contract for the county was approved 4-0. Commission Chair Dan Woydziak, District 5, did not attend Tuesday’s meeting. The Noodle software will cost the county $9,500 for installation and training and $1,800 annually after initial set up.