By MIKE CORN

mcorn@dailynews.net

WaKEENEY -- Nearly two-thirds of Trego County's voters have returned their ballots concerning the county's purchase of the Lutheran Home in WaKeeney.

Any remaining ballots must be received by the Trego County Clerk's office by noon Tuesday.

Forty-two ballots were in the mail Friday, according to Trego County Clerk Lori Augustine. Those are in addition to the nearly 1,100 that had been received prior to Friday.

That far outstrips the number of voters who turned out for the primary election in August. Then, 27 percent of the county's 1,997 registered voters turned out -- a relatively high rate, attracted by contests for the county commission and in the Kansas House.

If voters approve, Trego County will issue $350,000 in revenue bonds, about $250,000 of that to cover the actual purchase price from bondholders. The remaining money would be used to cover bond costs, as well as pay for the creation of an Alzheimer's unit in the facility.

Initially, the cost of that unit was put at $50,000, although there's been speculation that it could ultimately cost more than that.

If approved, the bonds would be repaid over the next 10 years; money to repay the bonds will come from a tax levy amounting to almost 1 mill in each of those years.

Trego County also expects to have to issue as much as $200,000 in no-fund warrants this year to cover any shortfall in operating revenue. A similar amount might be required next year as well because the county did not include any money in its 2009 budget for the nursing facility.

Money from no-fund warrants would have to be paid back as well, plus interest, through a mill levy dedicated solely for that purpose.

What kind of mill levy that will require is uncertain, because no one knows for sure how much money will be needed.

If the county ultimately asks for $400,000 in no-fund warrants and pays that back over the course of four years, the mill levy would increase more than 2 mills in each of those years, considering interest.

With an assessed valuation of about $50 million, each mill in Trego County generates about $50,000.

With the bond issue and the no-fund warrants, the annual cost to taxpayers could be 3 mills or better, depending on the terms of the repayment arrangements and interest rates.

Counting of the ballots will start after the deadline, with the results expected sometime Tuesday afternoon.

Augustine said she plans to dedicate three people to the task of counting the votes.

As the ballots come in, she said, signatures and addresses on the envelopes are being checked against voter registration lists.

If everything checks out, they are placed in a pile for counting.

Envelopes without a signature are placed in a rejected file. Anyone who returns a ballot with a problem is notified and has until noon Tuesday to correct the error.

So far, Augustine said, the nursing home voting is similar to another mail-in ballot that was conducted in 2006, when WaKeeney residents voted on a swimming pool.

Then, she said, 65 percent to 70 percent of the ballots were returned.

Although Trego County provided stamped return envelopes along with the ballots, Augustine said some have been hand-delivered to her office.

And that's just fine.

"They can bring it in to our office," she said, "as long as they have it in by noon Tuesday."