The Bourbon County Commission met Monday, July 6, 2026, for a meeting dominated by budget season — a possible new ambulance, requested raises in the county attorney’s office, and whether to hold the line on the revenue-neutral property-tax rate. The board also fielded pointed public comment, including an asbestos-safety claim from a former employee and a pre-suit legal notice served on the chairman, and once again put off signing the county’s comprehensive-plan contract while it works out how to pay for it.
At the top of the meeting the board revised its agenda, moving financial consultant Matt Lawn’s budget presentation earlier to accommodate his schedule, removing a Murphy Tractor training-dispute update, and dropping a statement item from Commissioner Joe Allen.
The commission approved the July 2 accounts-payable batch of $144,022.62 and, in a separate vote, approved a postage charge that had been tabled from the June 29 meeting — the courthouse “postage overage” Commissioner Mika Milburn-Kee had questioned two weeks earlier.
Redemption House roof funded from opioid settlement
Don Tucker, appearing with Redemption House live-in manager Jennifer Simhiser, returned to ask the county to help replace the aging roof on the recovery home, which has been patched repeatedly but is failing. The lowest bid the group received was about $24,000.
Milburn-Kee moved to approve $25,000 from the county’s opioid settlement fund for the roof, noting the settlement dollars are restricted and that a roof over a recovery house fits their allowed use. The motion passed unanimously.
Public comment: an asbestos claim and a legal notice
Three residents addressed the board.
Kevin Allen urged the commission to look hard at the Bourbon County Transfer Station’s finances before raising gate fees or leaning on the mill levy, arguing the operation has shed major costs — a building payment that has been retired, a fourth employee who is gone, and a lost bean contract. Because the transfer station is self-funded, he said, “rather than say, raise the gate fees … you get the money, but” the underlying costs still need scrutiny, and he pushed the board to weigh equipment financing instead.
William Jackson, the county’s former maintenance director, told the commission he had found “deteriorating insulation and damaged building materials that warranted asbestos testing” in the courthouse while on the job, and that he was terminated “within hours after raising these concerns.” He asked the county to release inspection and testing records: “If there is no hazard, prove it. Release the inspection records, show the testing, let the facts speak. … No government should ever punish anyone for asking whether a public building is safe.” (Later in the meeting, Chairman Samuel Tran said the Kansas Department of Health and Environment had inspected the building and given it a clean bill of health.)
Michael Hoyt served Chairman Tran with a notice under K.S.A. 12-105B — a required precursor to a lawsuit against a governmental official — saying Tran had declined to recognize him during the June 15 discussion of the Hidden Valley roads. At that June 15 meeting the board had adopted Resolution 23-26, reaffirming that the Hidden Valley roads in the Mound City/Mapleton area are designated for law-enforcement access only and not for county maintenance. Hoyt said the notice named Tran “in your capacity as chairman and individually” and that he would file a stamped copy with the clerk.
Budget: a possible new ambulance, attorney raises, and the revenue-neutral question
Matt Lawn of Baker Tilly, the county’s outside financial consultant, walked the board through the EMS and county attorney budgets.
On EMS, Director Teri Hulsey is holding a position vacant and projecting essentially flat wages, but the department is weighing the replacement of a 2018 ambulance (EMS-3) that is nearing the end of its service life. Commissioners discussed financing a new unit over a multi-year lease rather than buying outright, and Hulsey noted the county would have to absorb the full cost: “There’s no grants out there to purchase an ambulance. There is for equipment, but there’s not for an ambulance.”
County Attorney James Crux requested salary increases to keep his office competitive with surrounding counties, centered on raising the pay for his full-time assistant county attorney position, along with raises for legal support staff. He also asked to move the county’s SANE-kit line item (sexual-assault forensic exams) off his office budget and into the general fund.
Long recommended the board formally notify the county clerk of its intent to exceed the revenue-neutral rate, which preserves flexibility during budget-setting; the board can always adopt a lower rate later. Long cautioned that holding to revenue-neutral year after year, with rising health-insurance costs and cost-of-living adjustments, becomes “death by a thousand cuts.” A public hearing on any rate above revenue-neutral cannot occur until after the state’s notice deadline in late August.
Comprehensive-plan contract still waiting on funding
The board again declined to sign its contract with Confluence, the firm the Planning Commission — represented by Brian Ashworth II and Pete Owenby — recommended on June 15 to write the county’s first comprehensive plan and an updated zoning code. That work is tied to the development moratorium the commission adopted the same night. Confluence’s original proposal was $105,500 for the comprehensive plan plus an optional $46,500 zoning-code update; at the June 29 meeting the firm brought a “best and final” of about $116,500 by combining phases and trimming outside costs. Commissioners have said they want a funding source settled before signing.
Commissioner David Beerbower, who carries the item, said he had no funding update. With the paperwork in hand, Tran said, “this is the contract for Confluence. We need to sign it,” but agreed with colleagues that signing without the money in place was premature: “No, we don’t want to sign it yet.” The board tabled the contract for two weeks, to its July 20 meeting.
Hospital donation agreement: commission split on pressing forward
The board revisited its decision to have MSB Law examine the donation agreement and lease tied to the former county hospital building, now operated under an arrangement involving the Kansas Renewal Institute (KRI) and Freeman. Commissioner Milburn-Kee said she would prefer to pull the county’s involvement: “I would personally like to pull our involvement in this.”
Commissioners Gregg Motley, Beerbower and Allen wanted to continue. Motley argued the county has an obligation to protect local health care: “We have two entities that are losing money out there every month. … We owe it to this community to explore all options.” He pushed back on the framing that the county was headed to court: “We are not entering litigation. … What we are doing is exploring options.” Allen put it simply: “I don’t want to lose a hospital.”
Tran, while agreeing the community needs a hospital, cautioned about the county’s odds if a dispute went to court: “Historically, courts and judges don’t like it when government get involved in private entities.” Separately, Chairman Tran said he would bring the county’s forensic-audit RFP — the bids received and the firms’ scope of work — to the board on July 20.
Old business: minutes, warrant checks, audit and software
After a month of disputes over errors in the county’s minutes, the board voted to adopt the short version of its minutes going forward, which Beerbower said “provides just what is necessary by law.”
The commission approved Resolution 25-26, canceling a batch of stale, uncashed warrant checks. It tabled the Jarred Gilmore Phillips 2026 audit engagement so commissioners could compare firms, and tabled the CIC software renewal — a roughly $55,465 IT-budget item — until unused payroll and time-clock modules can be identified and stripped out.
Commissioner comments
Tran reported that KDHE had inspected the courthouse and, despite the building’s age, given it a clean bill of health. He also floated a town-hall meeting at Fort Scott Community College on July 22 at 6 p.m. to talk with residents about taxes and the budget ahead of the county’s rate decisions.
Beerbower distributed a draft policy-and-procedure manual resolution for discussion on July 20. The meeting adjourned.
