HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council set a date of Aug. 21 for its public hearing on the 2019 budget during Tuesday’s agenda session. The budget for this year, including Hutch Rec, totals $88,063,217 on taxes levied of $14,820,285.

City Manager John Deardoff commented on the budget process during today’s council meeting:

 

 

The city made major budget cuts and eliminated 10 positions, including the Assistant City Manager position and the Downtown Development Director, along with positions in other departments. It also made cuts in outside agencies and increased usage fees for city facilities as the council wanted an ending balance in excess of $4 million. Deardoff commented on the cuts that were made and the budget goals the council wanted to reach:

 

With the proposed budget, the mill levy will increase slightly from 47.7 to 47.8 mills.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — BNSF Railway continued to move forward with a strong second quarter earnings report.

The nation’s second-largest railroad reported total revenue of $5.8 billion in the second quarter compared with $5.2 billion in the same period last year. Net income for the period totaled $1.3 billion compared with $958 million in 2017.

Car loads increased across the board with the exception of coal, which fell slightly. Industrial products led the way, increasing by 10 percent due to a strength in the energy and industrial sectors, which drive demand for sand, petroleum products, steel and plastics. Ag shipments also increased by 9 percent because of strong export and domestic grain shipments.

Owned by Berkshire Hathaway, BNSF carries a total valuation in Reno County of more than $7.4 million on property taxes of nearly $1.2 million, making it the third largest property tax payer in the county.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council will set a date for a public hearing on the 2019 budget during Tuesday’s agenda session.

The budget for this year, including Hutch Rec, totals $88,063,217 on taxes levied of $14,820,285.

With that, the mill levy will increase slightly from 47.7 to 47.8 mills. The city made major budget cuts eliminating 10 positions, including the Assistant City Manager position and Downtown Development along with positions in other departments. It also made cuts in outside agencies and increased usage fees for city facilities as the council wanted an ending balance in excess of $4 million.

Also Tuesday, the council will consider two resolutions designating the annual Rod Run and Brewfest as special events. The council will seek approval on a request to rezone a small parcel of land along West 13th that will eventually become extra parking for Elliott Mortuary.

Tuesday’s meeting of the Hutchinson City Council begins at 9 a.m. in the city offices.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The earnings session continued with Tyson Foods releasing its third quarter report. The Arkansas-based company reported fiscal third-quarter profit of $541 million, compared to $448 million in the third quarter of 2017.

Net income was $1.47 per share compared with $1.21 per share last year. Total revenue was $10.05 billion, which was better than the $9.8 billion in the same period last year, although it did fall short of expectations.

In the Prepared Food segment, which encompasses the two Tyson plants in the area, sales totaled $2.1 billion compared with $1.9 billion last year — an increase of more than two percent. Income for prepared foods totaled $243 million, which is an 11 percent increase over the same period in 2017 of $174 million.

Berkshire Hathaway, BNSF Railway and grocery giant Kroger have not reported quarterly earnings yet.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The work that has gone into line improvements for Amtrak’s Southwest Chief in Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico is showing up on the train’s schedule.

While it certainly doesn’t make getting up in the middle of the night any easier to catch the train, the eastbound Chief now comes in 42 minutes earlier than before. Until last week, the train came into Hutchinson at 2:19 a.m. The train now comes into Hutchinson at 1:37 a.m., provided it’s on time.

Since no new track work was done east of the city, the westbound train still comes into Hutchinson at 3:20 a.m.

The new schedule reflects the increase in train speeds in Kansas and Colorado due to the upgrades that came from federal transportation grants.

INMAN, Kan. — An accident at Showalter Fireworks Monday morning left one person injured.

Reno County EMS was called out to the facility around 10:12 a.m. just north of the Reno-McPherson county line to the report of employee that was burned.

The accident apparently happened when black powder that was being burned off flashed suddenly, causing burns to the employee’s arm and leg.

The victim, 39-year-old Jason Ukele of Salina, was airlifted to the burn unit at St. Francis Hospital in Wichita following the incident.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Two of the four golf courses in the Hutchinson area could change ownership in the future. Cottonwood Hills and Crazy Horse in the Highlands were both listed on real estate websites. However, according to Lane Neville, the real estate agent in charge of Cottonwood Hills, that course is currently off the market. According to several real estate websites, the Cottonwood Hills golf course and adjacent property was listed as late as July 16 for an asking price of $2.29 million.

Neville says while there has been some interest in the property, the bank that currently owns it has taken it off the market. How that progresses in the future isn’t known.

As far as Crazy Horse goes, owner Jon Mollhagen is listing the 18-hole course north of Hutchinson for $3.7 million.

Less than two years ago, rumors surfaced that Cottonwood Hills was for sale. However, at that time, Neville said that was not true. A year later, the property was back in the hands of the Bank of Camden of Tennessee. The bank, now known as Apex Bank, originally purchased it at auction in 2012. It was then purchased by Wichita developer Drayton Alldritt. The course, which opened in 2007, was closed after Neville could not secure the necessary funding to keep the project moving forward. The course was closed from 2012 through 2015, then reopened under Alldritt’s leadership.

Crazy Horse, or the Highlands as it has been known for years, was purchased by Mollhagen in 2016. The golf course, which opened as Panganica in 1972, has been in and out of financial trouble. At one point, the county ended up footing the bill for the course and its infrastructure costs after the developer could not finance the project.

That past also had the county reluctant to give Neville any leeway in getting the proper permits and financing in place to provide the infrastructure for Cottonwood Hills. Neville’s inability to get the security deposits in place for the infrastructure kept the development from reaching its full potential.