“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. It owes you nothing, it was here first”.
Mark Twain
The Frontier Community Advisory panel met this past week and we received an update on plant activities and learned the recently completed “turn-around’ was very successful, practically trouble and injury free. Anytime you bring 1200 transitional employees and mix them with your 400 full time employees there is a possibility of problems. Congratulations on a job well done!
10 years ago this month, The Frontier Refinery purchased the El Dorado facility for $175 million and an additional $50 million for inventory. They have 434 full time employees and have hired 188 new employees since 2000. The plant has seen a $631 million investment in plant improvements and personnel safety and training.
To put this type of investment into proper context, they could have purchased 3 Intrust Arenas, not adding anything for parking.
The plant has increased its capacity for crude oil refining to over 135,000 barrels per day; they make 70,000 barrels of gasoline and 60,000 barrels of other distillates such as diesel and aviation fuel.
They have proven themselves a very good neighbor with over $2 million in contributions to the YMCA, youth programs, Butler Community College, and this past year, 2009 the employees contributed $94,800 to the United Way.
On December 3rd at 1:00 Secretary Mike Hayden of Wildlife and Parks will officially dedicate the Frontier Refinery Campground in the area below the dam at the El Dorado Lake. The refinery provided the seed money that has led to campground improvements that include over 75 full electric, water and sewer camp sites, a year round bath house and numerous other improvements.
This upgrade was completed with the assistance of many volunteer hours, the help of the North Unit Inmate assistance, and many other volunteers along with park staff. Total value of the upgrade is over $75,000.
As we head into the next few weeks the State of Kansas budget numbers have not improved. Looks like the Governor has some tough decisions to make and we wish him the best. The resources have not risen to the need of current expenditures. I asked you, the constituents for suggestions on how to address this income shortfall and the responses I received said; cut programs, eliminate tax exemptions, cut funding, review the whole State of Kansas budget and only keep the most necessary programs, or “do not touch our funding, we are already cut to the bare bones”
What good does it do to remove tax incentives from corporations that are providing employment to our graduates? We could be funding education to such a level that we drive the business and investors out of town, then our graduates will have to leave the state to maximize the use of their education. That is not a workable solution.
Suggestions included raising property taxes, fuel taxes, sales tax, tax on luxury items. A few of you offered a top to bottom review of all tax exemptions, cut unnecessary services. Does anyone know of an example of “unnecessary services”? What about redundant services that are offered by more than one agency? Again I would love to see some examples, I will look into this one.
I hope our local districts do not join the Schools for Fair Funding group that intends to sue you, the taxpayer to ante up more money to fund K-12 school operations. In a recent Hutchinson News article the editor suggests that everyone might sue. This would include the Regents, Corrections, Department of Transportation, SRS and etc.
I think we all need to think long-term, look out 5-10 years and see what are the possible unintended consequences. Mr. John Steele Gordon author of “An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power” (Harper-Collins, 2004) makes a case for cost containment, review and evaluation of why Governments can’t run a business.
Mr. Steele writes; “Cost cutting is alien to the culture of all bureaucracies. Indeed when cost cutting is inescapable, bureaucracies often make cuts that will produce maximum public inconvenience, generating political pressure to reverse the cuts.”
This week will see us celebrate the Thanksgiving, I hope you all enjoyed your day and that you had the opportunity to be with family and friends to give thanks for all of the blessing that our creator has bestowed upon us. Lets take time to recognize those that have sacrificed so we can live in such a great country.
I consider it an honor and privilege to be your Representative in Topeka and I want to know what you think. Thanks again, John
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