Monthly Archives: July 2022

Opinion

Tax Confusion by Gregg Motley

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Tax Confusion

 

There was an excellent article on the front page of the Fort Scott Tribune published on Sunday, July 10, 2022 which reported on some thorough research performed by Bourbon County Finance Director, Susan Bancroft.  So many people with whom I have private conversations did not fully appreciate the data because they do not understand basic taxation terms such as mill levy, appraised value, assessed value, etc.  These and other concepts are important to grasp to be an informed participant in state and local government entities.  Let’s take a look at some basic definitions and how it all comes together to determine how much each property owner in Kansas is taxed on their holdings.

 

Starting with appraised value, every county appraiser is responsible to determine an accurate value of every property in the county.  State statutes set guidelines that are similar to what is used in private appraisal processes.  The most important aspect of this process is to appraise a property in proportion to other values in the county.  If a property owner believes there has been a mistake, an appeals process exists where data may be presented by the property owner which argues for an alternate conclusion.

 

Assessed valuation might be the most misunderstood term in this process, but it is a simple computation of multiplying the percentage determined by state statute for each property type, times the appraised value.  For example, if a home is appraised for $100,000.00, the statutory assessment rate is 11.5%, which yields an assessed valuation of $11,500.00.  Here are the assessment rates of all property types in Kansas: Homes: 11.5%, Vacant lots: 12%, Owned by non-profits:      12%, Commercial: 25% Agricultural land: 30%, Public utilities: 33%, Not classified: 30%.  Properties owned by governments are not assessed.

 

The mill levy is the “tax rate” that is applied to the assessed value of a property. One mill is one dollar per $1,000 of assessed value. To continue the example above, if the mill levy is set at 65.00, the aforementioned homeowner would owe $747.50 in annual taxes computed as follows:  $11,500 divided by 1,000 equals 11.5, times 65.00 equals $747.50.

 

A homeowner in a Kansas county will not only pay taxes to the county, but also cities and school districts.  Some jurisdictions will also have other taxing entities, such as community colleges, libraries, fire districts, special improvement districts, etc.  Each will set their own mill levy in order to fund operations.

 

As a practical example, if the aforementioned $100,000.00 house is located in Fort Scott, the property owner has an assessed value of $11,500.00 and will pay the following mill levies based on 2021 numbers: County: 62.51, City: 46.98, USD 234: 52.773, Community College: 29.30.  These mill levies add up to 191.563; accordingly, the property owner can expect to pay $2,202.97 (191.563 times 11.5) in annual property taxes.  There may be a few minor additions to the bill, depending on where they live in the city.

 

Our democracy depends on an informed electorate.  If tax computations are a mystery to you, find a source that can answer your questions.  We are better together when we are aware and active.

Bourbon County, K-State Extension

Food Safety for Back to School Month

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By Clara Wicoff

Southwind Extension District

 

It’s hard to believe that August is almost here already! With the month of August comes the start of a new school year. For this reason, August has been appropriately designated as “Back to School Month.” As you start to think about buying school supplies and taking other steps to prepare for the start of a new school year, it is important to also think about food safety.

 

For families that pack their lunches, there are some important steps to follow to ensure the food packed in lunch boxes is safe for children to consume. In order for food to be safe in the lunch box, it must start out safe. As with any time you are preparing food, the first step is to wash your hands with warm water and soap for at least twenty seconds before preparing any food. Additionally, use hot water and soap to clean food preparation surfaces and utensils.

 

Next, it is important to think about the specific items you are packing. For example, if you are packing any fruits or vegetables, they must be rinsed with running water and blotted dry with a paper towel before being packed. These are perishable items, so they must also be chilled to reduce the risk of foodborne illness. Other perishable items (such as sandwiches) should also be chilled. You should pack two cold sources with perishable foods to keep them cool inside an insulated lunch tote. Two examples of these cold sources are a small frozen gel pack and a frozen juice box. Note that frozen gel packs are not recommended for day-long storage. In addition to keeping cold foods cold, it is also important to keep hot foods hot.

 

For more helpful food safety information from the Partnership for Food Safety Education, visit www.fightbac.org/kidsfoodsafety/school-lunches. If you have questions, please contact Clara Wicoff, Nutrition, Food and Health Extension Agent, at [email protected] or by calling 620-365-2242.

Bourbon County, Government

Bourbon County Commission Minutes of July 11

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July 11, 2022, Monday, 6:00 p.m.
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all three Commissioners and the
County Clerk present.
Clint and Rachel Walker, Tiana McElroy, Ann Dare, Mary Pemberton, Matt Quick, Patty Love,
Dustin Hall, and Ben Cole were present for some or all of the meeting.


Clifton made a motion to approve the previous meetings minutes. Lynne seconded. All approved.
Judge Mark Ward thanked Lynne for his years of service. Judge Ward discussed budget. He explained the increase is due to added courtroom on 2nd floor. Wages are due to budgeting for
benefits that were not included before. Clifton Beth made a motion for executive session KSA 75-4319(b)(12) to discuss matters relating to security measures, if the discussion of such matters
at an open meeting would jeopardize such security measures including three commissioners, Judge Mark Ward, Rhonda Cole, Justin Meeks, and Shane Walker for 8 minutes returning to this
room at 6:13pm. Lynne seconded. All approved. Clifton made a motion to return to normal session at 6:13pm with no action. Jim seconded. All approved.


Eric Bailey stated the following culvert permits have been completed: Travis Schilling, 895 209th Terrace; Josh Sharp, 255th & Osage; William Pope, 2500 Tomahawk; Gil George had two at 95th
& Maple and one at 85th & Osage; Larry Snyder, 250th & Hwy 31; Craig Haake, 225th & Native; Joe Warren, south of 1161 50th Street. Bridge #518 on 215th, two miles south of Fulton, KDOT
will be here tomorrow to inspect the bridge. Schwab Eaton suggested we go that route this year.


We do have a contract that you need to sign. Justin has reviewed. This will be KDOT’s engineer inspecting the bridge. They are going to try to get a quick turnaround on this. Clifton
made a motion to allow all three commissioners and Ashley to sign the Federal Aid State-wide Bridge Inspection Master Agreement. Lynne seconded. All approved.

Eric stated that 215th will be closed tomorrow from 7am to 5pm. Eric gave a reminder that next Tuesday, from 1pm to
5pm in the Commission Room, will be the LRSP (Local Road Safety Program) workshop. KDOT will be presenting of what they have found so far. We’ve got about 500 feet of
asphalting completed. The laydown machine is still acting up. We’ve got it in a shop being looked at. When we get it back we’ll move forward. We made contact with the Onyx contractor
last week and we are looking at the end of the month or first of August for that. There was some talk earlier about running the belly dump and we are on the days we’ve been able to asphalt. Jim
asked if Eric was well staffed enough to get aggressive with ditching. Eric stated we are trying to use our grader operators as best we can. We are also trying to pull from everywhere to use the
sheep’s foot if we need to. Our culvert crew has done some for us with the excavator. Also
doing some bridge repair out at 60th & Grand on the support columns underneath. Have a new
employee that has some guniting experience so we’re going to try to do a little guniting and see how it holds up. Schwab Eaton thought that would be a good idea. We’re working on our hard
surface roadside mowing. Got one side-arm mower down. We’ll be getting our side roads before school starts.
Susan Bancroft stated that the budget for Public Works will be moved to next week.

Bobby Reed discussed the Bourbon County Fair Budget. Thanked the commissioners for the yearly support. We are asking for the same amount as last year.
Kelly Zellner, City Manager of Fort Scott discussed that the city is demolishing a lot of houses and one of the things that we would like to offer an incentive to individuals so they would
actually pay for a contractor themselves. We would allow them to dump at half price. If you agree to this, the individual would have a letter on Fort Scott City letterhead to present to the
attendant at the landfill and they would keep track of the tonnage and they would have to prove that to us. It will save the city money. Justin Meeks stated that we would have to check on this
as to not be in competition with contractors. We can’t compete and we also can’t give an incentive to a private contractor. Justin stated he would check with Bob Farmer, City Attorney
on this. Mr. Zellner stated that they would like to have a city-wide clean up this fall at the landfill. The city would provide roll offs, a tractor and two or three employees. Instead of the
county sorting, we would actually sort it in the roll offs and then pay to have it hauled off if there was any kind of other debris that wasn’t acceptable for the landfill. We’ll have the limb dump
open for limbs. Also, would have a roll off for metal since metal is at a decent price. Jim clarified that there would be no cost to the county. Kelly stated no. Kelly stated he had one last
item to discuss. The landbank board presented this to us last week and they were requesting for a full-time position and were asking if the city would pay half and the county would pay half.
The goal of the landbank is to become self-supporting. He stated that city commissioners contingent on the county doing the other half. Jim stated the county’s half would be
roughly $40,000.00 and I don’t know where we’re going to get it. Clifton stated he isn’t for it, at all. What about Uniontown, Bronson, Mapleton, Fulton, and any other city left out. It’s not a
good idea. It was presented to me one way and then it ends up being another. Clifton asked if there was a plan for what is there now? I’ve never seen a plan. Lynne asked if HB2237 could be
used for this. Kelly stated maybe an option would be funding for starter homes.

Jim asked Kelly about the water on the north side of courthouse. Kelly stated he is working with Shane and that
we need to look at roof drains that drain under the sidewalk.
Justin Meeks deferred his items to the next meeting.
Susan Bancroft asked to amend the agenda to add an executive session. Clifton made a motion to amend the agenda to add an executive session. Lynne seconded. All approved. Clifton made
a motion for an executive session KSA 75-4319(b)(1) to discuss personnel matters of individual
nonelected personnel to protect their privacy including three commissioners, Susan, Justin Meeks, and Shane Walker for 7 minutes returning to this room at 6:50pm. Lynne seconded. All
approved. Clifton made a motion to return to normal session with action. Lynne seconded. All approved. Susan stated that at the last meeting we discussed the EMPG grant. We had a
carryover at the end of the year. We need to make a transfer of those funds to the general fund.
We can transfer to help offset the general fund expenditures or we can increase the Emergency
Management budget. The amount is around $27,000.00. Clifton made a motion to move the $27,000.00 to the general fund for now. Moving forward we would hope it will be processed
correctly. Lynne seconded. All approved. Susan stated that we have been fortunate enough to have some retirees work for us and the way our handbook currently reads we can only get benefits at 35 hours. We would like to adjust that down to 30 hours because we have a couple of people that don’t work a full 35 but they are very instrumental to us in the Public Works area and so we would like to drop that to 30 so they can still get their benefits at the discretion of the supervisor. From the federal level, 30 hours is what pushes you into do benefits. We only have two right now that would be involved. Clifton made a motion to approve resolution 11-22 to amend employee handbook whereas the board of county commissioners of Bourbon County are changing the definition of full-time employee (35-hours) to the federal standard of (30-hours) per week. Therefore, any full-time employee who works 30 hours per week or more will be eligible

for benefits described in the Bourbon County employee manual. Lynne seconded. All approved.

Susan gave a shout-out to Jennifer who has done an excellent job. She took over the EMS billing and making sure that everything is being filed appropriately. One of the things she has
run across is how our collections process works with the current third party that we have been working with. As of today, they send out two statements that would be 30 and 60 days and by
that third month they write everything off. We are losing a lot of money when we don’t at least leave it open a little bit longer. I don’t know if they are willing to do that, but it’s at least
something we need to bring back in-house and still bill for a couple of more months. As of today
we’ve lost $80,000.00 in 2022 by not pursuing that. Clifton suggested asking Omni if they would extend billing for 6 months before writing off. Susan said she would check into it. They
also have the opportunity to do an EFT and set up an ACH on the backside. So our carriers can pay directly into that and it’s directly going to our bank account. There were several checks that
our carrier said were never cashed. That would be less opportunity for it to get lost in the mail.
Susan made a budget presentation. The presentation will be posted on the County website (bourboncountyks.org) for review. The presentation was followed by question and answer
session.
Shane Walker – No comment
Public Comment: Anne Dare asked how many more years is the county going to be funding Bourbon County REDI with $130,000.00? Lynne stated it was for three years and this is the first
year. Clifton stated that this is not tax dollars funding this. Anne also asked if there is a federal courtroom in the post office and if so, is it being used? Lynne stated that it would take a lot of
money to bring it up to where it needs to be. It is currently not being used. Anne asked if the commissioners have considered a reduction in their salaries this year? Lynne stated that he
doesn’t use the benefits of the county. Jim stated he didn’t use the benefits either.
Clint Walker
talked about an article in the paper about some grants that the county might be able to use. A comprehensive safety plan is required for eligibility of the grant. Mary Pemberton talked about
the landfill agreement that may happen between the city and the county with regards to demolition of homes. She stated that there are homes in the small towns and even in the rural
areas in Bourbon County that could use the same discount. It would need to be with landowners.

That would help clean up the rest of our county as well.
Ashley Shelton, County Clerk, asked if we could schedule the next meeting for Monday, July 18th @ 6pm and would the commission allow her to use the commission room for the next two
weeks for early voting.
Commission Comment: Clifton stated that he feels the demolition landfill agreement that was presented would be a policing nightmare. Trying to figure out who is bringing what and who is
supposed to be bringing what. I think people would take advantage of it. I do agree it should be county-wide instead of just city. Clifton also clarified that he does use the county insurance. He
said currently he takes 4 to 5 calls per day regarding county business and I’m going to say that I’m not doing it for free. Lynne agreed. Commissioners do far more than people realize.
Clifton thanked Lynne for his years of service as commissioner. Jim stated that he would also agree that it should be a county-wide clean up at the landfill rather than just the city. Jim also
stated that being a commissioner is not just a 3 hour per week job. If any candidate thinks it is, this isn’t the position you want. Jim also thanked Lynne for his service.
At 8:27pm Lynne made a motion to adjourn. Clifton seconded. All approved. The meeting was
followed by a budget work session which included Register of Deeds, Corrections/Sheriff’s
Office.
THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
(ss) Jim Harris, Chairman
(ss) Clifton Beth, Commissioner
___________________, Commissioner
ATTEST:
Ashley Shelton, Bourbon County Clerk
July 18, 2022, Approved Date
Bourbon County, Government

Bourbon County Commission Minutes of June 28

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June 28, 2022 Tuesday 9:00 am
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with two Commissioners (Jim Harris and
Lynne Oharah) and the County Clerk present.
Kevin Schafer, Anne Dare, Donald Coffman, Jason Silvers, and Susan Bancroft were present for some or all of the meeting.
Lynne made a motion to approve the previous meetings minutes. Jim seconded. All approved.


Eric Bailey stated that 200th & Railroad Tracks (739) got the culvert replaced last week. 250th & Arrowhead back to the west a culvert gave out and they are repairing that today. Yale Road was
milled up Friday and we’re hauling gravel in now to stabilize. I think we may need to take a long look at the rest of it all the way to Mapleton. Jim said it may need to be asphalted. Eric
said it’s something we need to think about. We will asphalt from the county line down to Yellowstone this year. We got our distributor truck back last Thursday. We are staged at Hiattville for asphalt. We are having sickness issues right now but working through it. Eric
stated more trees went down over the weekend but those have been removed. One was on the west side of Bourbon Allen Lake and one was on Yale & 245th. Got a call today of another one
on Burch west of 250th. We’ll get that taken care of this morning. We are doing some ditching on Hackberry & 215th. We are going to pull dirt out in the road and pack it in. It’s going to be
an inconvenience but will be the best thing in the long run. We are doing some pothole patching in the Garland area today. Eric stated that there was a request for rock on Poplar Road and
addressing that today as well. Lynne asked about Hackberry. Eric said when we get out there to do Hiattville we may be able to blade in a little asphalt to buy us some time. This road is another
sub-base issue. Resident asked about 215th, east of Evergreen Cemetery, the ditches on east side of road there is water diverting to our property and causing issues. Eric stated that the mini is in
that area and we’ll see what we can do to get done.


Mark McCoy stated we are speaking to you today to explain what transient guest tax is, who and what situations it applies to and how it might impact Bourbon County in a positive way. We do
not represent any company, any entity or individuals other than ourselves. Transient guest tax is an occupancy tax paid by people who rent lodging for a short term. That is defined as 28
consecutive days or less. It is not a tax imposed on businesses or individuals who own the lodging being rented. It is added to the hotel or house rental bill and paid for by the person who
rents the room. This is a nation-wide common activity. So, TGT is not a tax paid by Bourbon County residents. It is truly the one tax that brings money into the county almost exclusively from non-residents. If you’ve ever noticed when you take a trip and stay at a hotel or rent a house the advertised rate for the night may be $99 but the amount you pay may actually be $115 or more. The additional amount is because you also pay sales tax, TGT tax, cleaning fees, resort
and/or other fees. It is standard procedure just like when you buy something from a store, there will be a tax added. Few people ever ask what the tax rate is before booking a room. You know
you will be paying taxes regardless of where you stay and expect the tax rate will be simply a
matter of which hotel you choose since you are looking within a limited area. The City of Fort
Scott already has a transient guest tax and has had for decades. Most years it generates between
$115,000 and up to $150,000 of revenue for the city. The remainder of Bourbon County does not have a transient guest tax and we believe it is time to implement a county-wide transient
guest tax. Last year Kansas changed its’ law pertaining to TGT so we would like to provide a brief explanation of when the tax is applied and when it is not. Since most people listening today
don’t care about these details, I’m going to try to keep it as brief as possible. Overviews will provide commissioners and anyone else that wants more details. The big change Kansas has
made due to growing the internet booking websites which have made non-traditional lodging accommodations so much easier for anyone with an extra room or to rent a house to make extra
money by renting it for a short-term stay. As AIRBNB, VRBO, FLIPKEY, HOMETOKEY, OR TRIPIN, to name a few, are called the marketplace facilitators. In Kansas rentals may be made
through marketplace facilitators. They are subject to the TGT. If you own a one bedroom cabin that you advertise and rent via AIRBNB you are probably wondering how you will be affected if
Bourbon County enacts a TGT. The answer is you don’t have to do anything. AIRBNB adds the transient guest tax to the taxes and fees that are included and after a person finalizes their
booking, AIRBNB collects the tax the same as they do all other charges and at the end of the month AIRBNB will report and remit the TGT to the state. It is virtually invisible to you as the
owner if the rental is made via a qualified facilitator, then TGT applies and the facilitator collects, reports and remits the tax. Mary Pemberton continued with there are times when an
individual with a house that they are renting through AIRBNB. There are also times they might do it directly with the person who is renting the house in which case the TGT only applies if they
have three bedrooms or more that are available for rent. This could be in the form of three separate one-bedroom cabins or a single three-bedroom house. If you meet the three or more
bedroom requirement then you are responsible for collecting and remitting the transient guest tax but only on your direct to consumer rentals. As long as you are renting via AIRBNB or one of
the other facilitators that facilitator is responsible for collecting and remitting the tax. The economic impact that the county might see, as we mentioned the City of Fort Scott already has
the transient guest tax, it’s at 6% currently. They’ve had it for decades. The only addition to the county would be places that are located outside of the city limits of Fort Scott. I tried to put
together some numbers. I didn’t make an attempt to count all the hunting package type operators that are in the county. Some may be affected by this, some may not. It depends on how many
rooms and how it’s rented out. The numbers that I’m going to present should be on the low side of what would be immediately impacted to the county. Currently, not counting Fort Scott city,
Bourbon County has at least two or three businesses that would fall under the hotel classification for transient guest tax and at least a dozen other smaller operators. I calculated at least 40 rental
units that are in place being rented today that would be collecting a transient guest tax as soon as it would be implemented by the county. The rental rate for these units vary widely. Some
approximately $75 per night up to $350 per night. I figured an average nightly rental rate of $100. If each unit is rented on an average of one per week, 52 nights in a year, that tax collected
to Bourbon County would be $12,480. If it’s rented 20% of the time, which is 73 nights per year per unit the tax collected would be $17,520. If rented 2 nights per week, 104 nights per year the
tax collected would be $24,960. That is from units currently in place. As the county grows and more units are added and nightly rental rate is actually more than $100 then obviously the tax
will be higher. As a percentage of the annual budget for the county, the TGT is a very small figure, but by Kansas statute the proceeds can only be used to promote tourism for the county.
The county currently doesn’t spend a whole lot of money on tourism but I know that you have made pledges to Bourbon County REDI that will have a little bit of money designated for
tourism. Rather than providing that money from property taxes or taxes on Bourbon County residents why not collect a TGT from visitors to the county and use that to fund that portion you

do pay for tourism efforts. In my opinion, every little bit of savings that can be achieved from reduced government spending and every little bit of income that can come from sources other
than property taxes in Bourbon County is a good thing and we should do it rather than adopting an attitude that that is too small to make a difference so why even bother. It all adds up and it
does make a difference to those Bourbon County residents that are already burdened with one of the highest property tax rates within the state of Kansas which is one of the highest taxed states
in the country. Mark McCoy stated that an important part would be that the city dissolve theirs and replace it county-wide. Lynne asked if Mark and Mary had talked with the city about this
and they said no. They said they wanted to visit with the county first.
Lynne requested a 10 minute break.

Justin Meeks-County Counselor: gave various reasons for the upcoming executive session.
Lynne made a motion for an executive session KSA 75-4319(b)(2) for consultation with an attorney for the public body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client
relationship including two commissioners (Jim Harris and Lynne Oharah), Justin Meeks, and Susan Bancroft for 15 minutes returning to this room at 9:57am. Jim seconded. Both approved.
Lynne made a motion to return to normal session at 9:57am with no action. Jim seconded. Both approved.
Susan Bancroft-CFO: I’ve asked Justin to be here to make sure I am understanding when we took over the NRP. We have two different funds, one fund is where the money comes in for the
property distribution so that you can pay that back to the tax payers that have the rebate and then 5% can be taken as an administrative fee. It looked like when we started this program in 2016
each year we were taking those dollars but that stopped in 2019. So, we have a buildup in our NRP fund of about $90,000. When I did the calculations last night it looks like we can transfer
about $65,000 over into that administration fee fund. After I talked to Terry this morning I really don’t think we need that fund. I think those dollars need to go back into the general fund as a
reimbursement for the Appraisers’ expense for having to administer the fund and offset some costs there. Justin explained that the Appraisers’ office spends a lot of time monitoring the build
out, inspect the structure once it’s completed, pre-construction, during construction and after construction. There is a lot of paperwork and time spent by the Appraiser’s office. Susan asked
for permission to close out the NRP 5% fee fund to move those dollars to the general fund which will help going forward. This will be done at the end of each year. It’s about $20,000 per year
which will help the general fund. Lynne stated we need to take a look at House Bill 2237 NEHP and the affordable housing for rural areas. There are two bands. Anything with population of
8,000 and under and 8,000 and above. The 8,000 and under gets $35,000 back on construction and the over 8,000 gets $32,000 back on construction. It’s a good incentive. Jim asked about
housing and if we need an action team for this. Justin stated that it is a public/private partnership. Justin said that the input cost does not match assessed value which is an issue. The
other problem is if you put a structure in a blighted neighborhood the value will not match up with like structures. We also have a huge labor problem. Justin stated that Rob Harrington is
working on this. He’s done a housing study and preliminary things that have happened. Susan stated that when you’re creating a new home you have the opportunity to do special taxing
districts to help with that infrastructure build out. This is a special assessment spread out over several years to help pay for improvements. Justin stated that the land bank will help. Lynne
stated that we worked with Craw-Kan to get the high speed internet and now we’re doing some rural broadband to help. Being able to work from home is a key factor. Jim stated that Rob is on
it and when he is ready would like to see an action team with some ideas. Lynne made a motion to allow Susan to move the NRP Fee to general account and close the NRP Fee fund. Jim
seconded. Both approved.

Shane Walker – CIO: Broadband tower partnership with New Wave; they can’t get to people fast enough. Next is Hidden Valley area.

Public Comment: Anne Dare stated she concurs with Mark & Mary about TGT. Anne stated she is glad to see they are working on Yale Rd and what area is torn up. Lynne stated from the entry
of Hidden Valley west to 55th.

Commission Comment: Jim stated that city and county growth is exciting.
Success to our county is growth. Lynne stated that he has served the public for 19 ½ years. Two years with the state,
10 years with school board and 7 ½ years here. Proud of the things we have done and has been accomplished over the last 7 ½ years. Lynne stated he will be resigning his seat, effective July
12th, to pursue a new opportunity. Jim thanked Lynne for what he has done for the county.
At 10:23am Jim made a motion to adjourn. Lynne seconded. Both approved.
Budget reviews will begin at 1 p.m. These meetings are open to the public.
THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
(ss) Jim Harris, Chairman
(ss) Lynne Oharah, Commissioner
(ss) Clifton Beth, Commissioner
ATTEST:
Ashley Shelton, Bourbon County Clerk
July 11, 2022, Approved Date
Bourbon County, Government

Bourbon County Commission Minutes of June 20

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June 20, 2022 Tuesday 9:00 am
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with two Commissioners (JimHarris and Lynne Oharah) and the County Clerk present.
Anne Dare, Clint Walker, Deb Lust, Mandy Shoemaker, Ronnie Brown, Jared Pollock,
Marvin Lewis, Donald Coffman, Nelson Blythe, Matt Crystal, Jason Silvers, Susan Bancroft and Matt Quick were present for some or all of the meeting.
Lynne Oharah made a motion to approve the previous meeting minutes. Jim Harris
seconded. Both approved.


Eric Bailey stated Samuel Boez from Kansas Dept of Health and Environment will be here today to inspect our closed MSW landfill. Eric sent an email last Wednesday regarding the soybean permit. He continued that he received an email from them
stating “I just found out yesterday that the permit application is now through internal concurrence and I’m preparing it for the public notice. The public notice will be from June 30 through July 29.” We are moving forward with that.

Our Local Road Safety Program has scheduled a safety workshop here July 19th from 1pm – 5pm. We haven’t
actually decided on a location yet but they will have drawings, pictures, maps to show their recommendations from doing the study. We’ll let you know when a location has
been determined. We are asphalting in Hiatville starting today. We are waiting on distributor truck it has a seal out of pump. Part should be here today. Jed Kello will
be bringing the milling machine in on Friday. We will be milling Yale Road from 65th to the west entrance of the lake. Had a tree go down on Zinc and 245th and it was full of honey bees. Thanked the individual who tried to help us with their tractor.


Sink hole on 200th and Railroad tracks; it’s a concrete culvert the outlet side is blocked. Made contact with BNSF yesterday and they will be here Thursday and will dig it up and replace it. We temperaried the hole for the time being so the road
could be opened up. Culvert crews are working on 215th getting ready for asphalt.


We are scheduling a blast for Blake; the overburden has been removed for this area.
With the new crusher may be able to run quite a bit of material that was left over before from being too big. We may not do as large a blast as originally planned. We completed phase 1 of training for crusher last week. They will have us run it for a
month or two and take us to Nashville to the factory to train on-site there. We got a call last week that the 2007 F750 came available from Premier in KC. We went and looked at it; it has a cat c7 motor 28,000 actual miles. We went ahead and spoke for it. Has a little rust in the bed but we can plate that and be money ahead. Covid is
back and are battling with that a little bit. Lynne complimented the job done on 145th. Eric stated that he was contacted by the Court System on Community Service and was asking Justin about a liability release form. Justin stated the waivers aren’t
bullet proof. If someone gets hurt we could still be sued. Jim and Lynne both approved. Justin stated that we need to focus on the 9 trestle bridges. We have one near Yellowstone that is a problem. Another one in Commissioner Beth’s district that
isn’t used anymore. With your permission we will take pictures of them and sell them or give away. Lynne made a motion to give Justin permission to sell or give away the 9 trestle bridges. Jim seconded. Both approved.
Jarod Pollock, Chairman of Soil Conservation District, presented 2023 budget up; appreciate anything given by the county. We are requesting additional 8.5% from 2022 due to inflation. We have conservation day at Gunn Park; we have to push outreach. A lot of our dollars are spent on outreach to get our message out. We are
very involved in the fair. We held a local work group in Bronson this year to get some information from landowners on research concerns. The last meeting we had a flyer sent out that NRCS is working with ADM on some grants for cover crops which are
gaining some traction. Ronnie Brown thanked Mandy for her work. Ronnie said that times are uncertain and request for funds may change drastically in the future.
Jarod, again, thanked Mandy and stated these funds help get her to training and meetings she needs. Deb Lust stated that we need to get the youth involved as early as possible. We involve them in as many activities as possible. We have to have our
youth come back and be engaged in agriculture. There are a lot of programs for new farmers that available.


Jim made a motion for executive session KSA 75-4319(b)(2) for consultation with an attorney for the public body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship for 7 minutes including 2 commissioners, Justin Meeks and
Susan Bancroft returning at 9:43am. Lynne seconded. Both approved. Jim made a motion to return to normal session at 9:45am with no action. Lynne seconded. Both approved. Jim made a motion to go back into executive session KSA 75-4319(b)(2) for
consultation with an attorney for the public body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship for 10 minutes including 2 commissioners, Susan Bancroft and Justin Meeks returning at 9:56am. Lynne
seconded. Both approved. Jim made a motion to resume normal session at 9:57am with action. Lynne seconded. Both approved.
Susan Bancroft requested executive session. Lynne made a motion for executive session KSA 75-4319(b)(6) for the preliminary discussion of the acquisition of real property for 7 minutes including 2 commissioners, Susan Bancroft and Justin Meeks
returning at 10:05am. Jim seconded. Both approved. Lynne made a motion to return to normal session in this room at 10:05am with action. Jim seconded. Both
approved. Lynne made a motion to give Justin Meeks the authority to move forward with addendum to lease agreement with CHC to acquire property. Jim seconded.
Both approved.
Shane Walker – CIO: Not present
Public Comment: Anne Dare asked what property referred to regarding CHC. Justin stated we can’t disclose, but there is land at the hospital campus that CHC owns and we’re trying to get it back into county name to move forward with other options.
Anne thanked the commissioners for conducting the meetings with order, with respect; there are tough subjects that you tackle, not every meeting but a lot o fmeetings and you work really hard to communicate to the public and let us communicate. I wish there were other entities in town that felt that it was as important as you all do. Ashley thanked Anne Dare and Carol MacArthur for helping
with election material destruction last week.
Lynne made a motion for executive session KSA 75-4319(b)(4) to discuss data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trust, and individual
proprietorships including 2 commisioners, Justin Meeks, Susan Bancroft and Rob Harrington for 5 minutes returning to this room at 10:14am. Jim seconded. Both approved. Lynne made a motion to resume normal session in this room at 10:16am
with no action. Jim seconded. Both approved.


At 10:18am Jim made a motion to adjourn. Lynne seconded. Both approved.

Bourbon County, Government

Bo Co Commission Agenda for July 26

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Agenda
Bourbon County Commission Room
1st Floor, County Courthouse
210 S. National Avenue
Fort Scott, KS 66701

Date: July 26, 2022
1st District– Minutes: Approved: _______________
2nd District–Jim Harris Corrected: _______________________
3rd District–Clifton Beth Adjourned at: _______________
County Clerk–Ashley Shelton


MEETING WILL BE TUESDAY, JULY 26TH IN THE COMMISSION ROOM AT CITY HALL
BEGINNING AT 6PM


Call to Order
• Flag Salute
• Approval of Minutes from previous meeting
• Eric Bailey – Road & Bridge Report
• Justin Meeks – County Counselor Comment
• Susan Bancroft – Chief Financial Officer Comment
• Shane Walker – Chief Information Officer Comment
• Public Comment
• Commission Comment
Justifications for Executive Session:
KSA 75–4319(b)(1) To discuss personnel matters of individual nonelected personnel to protect their privacy
KSA 75–4319(b)(2) For consultation with an attorney for the public body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney–client relationship
KSA 75–4319(b)(3) To discuss matters relating to employer–employee negotiations whether or not in consultation with the representative(s) of the body or agency
KSA 75–4319(b)(4) To discuss data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trust, and individual proprietorships
KSA 75–4319(b)(6) For the preliminary discussion of the acquisition of real property
KSA 75–4319(b)(12) To discuss matters relating to security measures, if the discussion of such matters at an open meeting would jeopardize such security measures.

Fort Scott, Government

FS City Commission Special Meeting July 26

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The City Commission will meet for a special meeting at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 26th, 2022 at City Hall in the City Commission meeting room at 123 South Main Street, Fort Scott, Kansas.  The City Commission will meet to consider the Vacation of a platted alley located between the platted 16’ alley between Lots 1 to 48, Block 12, Gunn & Ford’s East Side Addition, and Consideration of Lake Fort Scott Dam Dirt Work bid.

 

As soon as the special meeting adjourns, a work session will be held to discuss the 2023 budget.

 

This meeting and the work session will be broadcast on the City’s You tube channel.  This meeting is open to the public.

 

Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce

What’s Happening in Fort Scott Newsletter July 22

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What’s Happening in Fort Scott!
July 22nd Weekly Newsletter
Summer FUN in Fort Scott
to share with your friends & family!
UPCOMING CALENDAR OF EVENTS
________________
TROLLEY TOURS,
ON THE HOUR FROM THE CHAMBER!
Friday 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm
Saturday 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm
$6 adults, $4 children 12 & under
50-minute narrated tour of Historic Fort Scott!
The Lavender Patch’s Hours
Friday-Monday from 9am-1pm
Fort Scott National Historic Site
Daily Tours: 10am & 1pm
7/22 ~ Friday Night Concert in the Park featuring Stephan Moses, Heritage Park Pavilion – 1st & Main, 7-8pm
7/18-7/22 ~ Bourbon County Fair, Junior Livestock Sale is at 7pm on Friday the 22nd, click here for full schedule.
7/22-25 ~ Sunshine Boutique Christmas in July event, drinks, sales, treats & more, click here for their FB page & updates.
7/23 ~ BbcoDems will be serving breakfast and brunch at the Farmers’ Market, Skubitz Plaza,
8am-12pm
7/23 ~ KanRocks Summer Off Road 101 Course, Kansas Rocks Rec Park, 9am-5pm, www.ksrockspark.com.
7/23 ~ US Flag Disposal Ceremony, Fort Scott National Historic Site, 9:30am
7/23 ~ EKTEC Rodeo in Uniontown, click here for info.
7/23 ~ 49th Kansas Shrine Bowl, Pitt State University, 7pm
7/25 ~ Election Candidate Forum, Ellis Fine Arts Center, Doors open at 5:30pm for meet and greet with the Candidates and the forum begins at 6pm.
7/27 ~ Walk-in Mammogram Event, CHC/SEK – 401 Woodland Hills Blvd, 7am-7pm, click here.
7/28 ~ Chamber Coffee hosted by Woodland Hills Golf Course, 2414 S. Horton St., 8am
7/28 ~ Resources for Revitalizing Southeast Kansas Communities Workshop, 205 E. Madison Ave. Iola, KS, 9am-4pm, click here.
7/30 ~ Soda and Snack Shower for Veterans of Mt. Vernon Veterans Home – Elks Lodge 579, 111 W. 19th St., 10am-5pm
7/30 ~ Special Olympics Golf Tournament, Woodland Hills Golf Course
8/3 ~ Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness Training, Museum of Creativity, Free Program for youth ages 8 to 12, 2-4pm, click hereto register.
8/4 ~ Chamber Coffee hosted by Niece Products Celebrating 10 Years!
8/5-8/7 ~ Sales Tax Holiday Shopping Event, Get a 9.4% discount on ALL items at participating retailers, more info to come.
8/5 ~ Paint Night at Fort Scott Elks Lodge, click here for info.
8/6 ~ Fort Scott City Golf Championship Tournament, Woodland Hills Golf Course
8/6 ~ Garage Games Masters Tour at Smallville Athletics, 7pm, click here for info.
SAVE THE DATE:
8/8-8/12 ~ Summer Day Camp, Fort Scott National Historic Site, Youth ages 9 to 12, 8:30-12pm, click here for more info.
8/13 ~ Woodland Hills 1-Person Scramble, Woodland Hills Golf Course
8/13 ~ Care to Share Bike Run, Registration will be from 8:30-10:30am at 5 Corners, click here for more info.
8/13 ~ Bourbon County Carpool Tour – National Cemetery, Guided Carpool Tour in your own personal vehicle, click here for more info.
8/20 ~ Dragoon Charge for Wreaths Across America, click here for info.
_____________
SHOPPING ~ SUPPORT LOCAL!
Boutiques-Antiques-Flea Markets & more!
Clickhere for Chamber member
specialty shopping & other retail in
Downtown & other areas of the community.
Fort Scott Area
Chamber of Commerce
620-223-3566
In This Issue
Chamber Highlights
Click here for our
Membership Directory.
We THANK our members for their support! Interested in joining the Chamber?
Click here for info.
Thinking of doing business in or relocating to Fort Scott?
Contact us for a relocation packet, information on grants & incentives, and more!
Seeking a job/career?
We post a Job of the Day daily on our Facebook page, distribute a monthly job openings flyer, and post jobs on our website.
Many opportunities available!
Housing needs?
Click here for a listing of our Chamber member realtors.
Click here for our rental listing.
ELECTION CANDIDATE FORUM
MONDAY, JULY 25TH AT ELLIS FINE ARTS
WALK-IN MAMMOGRAM EVENT
RESOURCES FOR REVITALIZING SOUTHEAST KANSAS COMMUNITIES WORKSHOP
BOURBON COUNTY CARPOOL HISTORY TOUR
THIS TOUR LOCATION: NATIONAL CEMETERY
CLICK GRAPHIC BELOW TO RESERVE A SPOT!
CHAMBER TO OFFER BCBS HEALTH INSURANCE
CLICK HERE FOR INTEREST SURVEY
FORT CINEMA SHOW SCHEDULE THIS WEEKEND
THANK YOU TO OUR CHAMBER CHAMPION MEMBERS!
Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce
231 E. Wall Street
Fort Scott, KS 66701
Obituary

Obituary of BERNARD l. “BUD” RAUSCHENBERGER

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Bernard Lee Rauschenberger, “Bud”, 75, passed away Monday, July 11, 2022, in Fort Scott, Kansas, surrounded by loved ones at his home at the time of his death. He was born October 31, 1946, in Butler, Pennsylvania, the son of William Frank and Jeanette (Raybuch)

Rauschenberger. He married Nolene Mochel October 12, 1962, in Butler, Pennsylvania. They were married for over 50 years, and she preceded him in death. Out of that union were born four children.

 

Bud was a Jack of All Trades – Master of Some; he was a pastor, Bible School worker, Missionary, truck driver, caretaker, and autobody technician.

 

Bud is survived by his son, Brian (Jamie) Rauschenberger, of Jackson, Kentucky, and their children, Jessica (Jonathan) Barthelemy, Benjamin Rauschenberger (deceased), Brooke (Jeremy) Wright; daughter, Lisa (Robert) Price of Elwood, Indiana, and their children, Lacy Massey, Cody (Elizabeth) Price, Leeza (Jordan) Jackman, Kyle Price, LeAnn Price; daughter, Amy (Nathan) Bryant, of Fort Scott, Kansas, and their children, Amanda (Chris) Pierre, Nolan (Shelly) Bryant, Nathaniel (Emily) Bryant, Nicholas (Rhonda) Bryant; son, David (Mindy) Rauschenberger of Carmel, Indiana, and their children, Cory Rauschenberger (deceased), Audrey Rauschenberger, Tyler Rauschenberger, Grace Rauschenberger, Emma Rauschenberger. He is also survived by a brother, Frank Rauschenberger, three sisters, Joyce Benson, Linda Powell, and Sally Sebak, and sixteen great-grandchildren.

In addition to his wife Nolene, Bud was also preceded in death by his parents, two grandchildren, Benjamin Rauschenberger, and Cory Rauschenberger, and two sisters, Cathy McNight, and Peggy Turano, and a brother, James Rauschenberger.

 

Endearingly called Bud, he was loved by many. He lived a life for Jesus Christ and made Heaven his home for all eternity. His life story and conversion was aired on the Unshackled program, #3680.

We as a family plan to see him again! We are coming Mama & Papaw, so make room – this is just a “see ya later!”

A Celebration of Life is being planned for October 29, 2022, at Mt. Zion Bible School in Ava, Missouri.   Local arrangements are under the direction of the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home. Condolences may be submitted to the online guestbook at konantz-cheney.com.

 

 

Obituary

Obituary of ILLAH MAY PARSONS

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Illah May (Mason) Parsons, 89, of Fort Scott, passed away late Tuesday evening, July 19, 2022. She was born April 18, 1933, in Uniontown, Kansas, the daughter of Lester Dewey and Myrtle May (Ludlum) Mason. She married Earl Wesley Parsons on December 14, 1954, in Miami, Oklahoma, and he preceded her in death October 13, 1990.

 

Illah worked in Data Input for the Western Insurance, and retired from American States Insurance in 1987.

 

Survivors include her sons Wayne Parsons and his wife Sheretta, and Jerry Parsons and wife Neicha, both of Fort Scott, and Dale Parsons and wife Cheryl, of Olathe, Kansas; a brother, Harold Mason and his wife Peggy, of Peculiar, Missouri; a sister, Leona Fails of San Jose, California; five grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.

In addition to her husband, Earl, she was also preceded in death by her parents, and a brother, Kenneth Mason.

 

Rev. Ken Ansell will conduct Funeral Services at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, July 26, 2022, at the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home, with burial following at the Fort Scott National Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to Children’s Mercy Pediatric Cardiology Unit and may be left in the care of the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home, 15 W. Wall Street, P.O. Box 309, Fort Scott, Kansas, 66701. Condolences may be submitted to the online guestbook at konantz-cheney.com.

 

Obituary

Obituary of CAROL JEAN “TINA” BURNS

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Carol Jean Hiel “Tina Burns”, 56, of Fort Scott, passed away Wednesday, July 20, 2022, at her home. She was born on February 28, 1966, in Fort Scott, Kansas, the daughter of Melvin Lee and Shirley Jean (McCallum) Ransier.

 

Tina loved life and loved her family. She loved wolves and collected dreamcatchers, fingernail polish, and family photos. She enjoyed watching Days of our Lives, sitting at her dining room table, eating ice, and playing her “Family Farm Seaside phone game.”

Her favorite thing to do was spend time with Randy and the grandbabies. Tina was always just a phone call away, and faithfully kept up and checked on her family and friends every day.

 

Tina is survived by her life-partner of 27 years, Lawrence “Randy” Burns, of the home; a daughter, Brittany Burns, of Nevada, Missouri; a son, Christopher Hiel and wife Kasandra, of Pittsburg, Kansas; five brothers, Robert and his wife Debbie, Ernie, Billy, Jeff, and Danny, and one sister, Charlene, and ten grandchildren, Aleson, Ajaxx, Rilee, Anthony, Jason, and Lorrayne, Timothy, Jr., Savannah, Alexis, and Brayden.

She was preceded in death by her parents; a son, Timothy Hiel; a brother, David Ransier, and two sisters, Kathy Marshall, and Mary Ransier.

Following cremation, the family will hold a Celebration of Life, for family and close friends at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. Condolences may be submitted to the online guestbook at konantz-cheney.com.

 

Bourbon County, Government

Bourbon County Commissioner Lynne Oharah Resigns

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Lynne Oharah
Lynne Oharah resigned  from the Bourbon County Commission as the District 1 Commissioner on July 13, 2022.
“I served seven and one-half years as commissioner,” Oharah said. “I enjoyed being a commissioner and I feel we did a lot of good things. I want to thank all of my constituents for putting up with me…and I sincerely wish Bourbon County the best of luck in the future.”
The resignation came about because the commission could not find a person to fill the position of Bourbon County Medical Facility Director at the former Mercy Hospital building which the county now owns, Oharah said, so he applied. The facility now houses Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas Clinic and Ascension Via Christi Emergency Department, I Am Rehab and a beauty salon.
Oharah started as the new director on July 13, 2022.
“The reason I resigned was that we could not find anyone to fill the Bourbon County Medical Facility Director position,” he said. “Some of my background was managing central offices, telephone switching offices in Western Kansas, for 10 years. Larger offices in places like Dodge, Garden City, Scott City and Liberal. The medical facility is the same concept, just more regulations, so it’s a good fit.”
The facility is 177,00 square feet and there are two other employees who work to keep the building maintained.
The Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas Clinic, 401 Woodland Hills, just off Hwy. 69 south of Fort Scott.
Ascension Via Christi operates the emergency department at the former Mercy Hospital building.
The Bourbon County Republican Committee will meet on  Thursday, August  4 from 6 to 8 p,m.  at the Empress center, 7 N. Main St. to decide on a new county commissioner.
“Voting is by committee members, one man and one woman from from the 18 different precincts,” Mark McCoy, chairman, said. “We will select one person that night and send to the governor’s office for approval. To be eligible the candidate must reside in the first commission district and be a member of the Republican Party.”
The first district is north and west of Fort Scott to the Allen and Linn County lines.
Bourbon County Commission Districts map taken from the county’s website.