The cost of employee benefits in 2024 for Bourbon County has come up frequently in recent discussions about the county budget. Generally, the number has been given at around $4,000,000 for about 100 employees.

In paperwork from the county, the actual amount budgeted for 2024 was $4,379,580, but the amount actually spent in 2024 was $3,942,848.

While those numbers are correct in the sense that they represent the amount that shows up on the accounting document, the roughly $4 million amount includes money that is deducted from the employee’s paycheck for various benefits. For example, if an employee’s family is being covered by county health insurance, the employee is responsible for a portion of those premiums, but the amount the employee reimburses still shows up as outflow under the Health line item.

In 2024, $1,490,497.44 was deposited into the employee benefits account as “Reimbursed Expenditure” from employee salary deductions, which covered employee contributions for benefits. These deductions include various types of insurance that the employee can choose to pay for, as well as money funding health savings accounts or flexible spending arrangements.

So to get a better idea of how much of the money being payed out in employee benefits is actually being paid by the county and not the employees, the amount that is being paid by employee payroll deductions needs to be subtracted from the amount flowing out of that account. The total employee benefit expenditures minus the amount reimbursed via payroll deductions come to $2,452,351.46.

With approximately 100 employees, this would bring the average spent per person on county employee benefits closer to the $24,000 range, rather than the $40,000 range, as it might appear at first glance.

Key points from 8/11/2025 Commission Meeting with links to that section of the video recording.

• 07:35 Brad Matkin from the City of Fort Scott requested the county produce asphalt for the city at $65 per ton, requiring approximately 2,000 tons this year, which would save the city about $35 per ton plus travel costs compared to other sources.
• 18:17 The commission discussed canceling the IT support Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Fort Scott as they had hired their own IT support, with Commissioner Milburn moving to cancel the agreement effective immediately.
• 20:47 Bob Guilfoyle from Crawl Can Internet presented two internet service proposals: maintaining the current network at a reduced rate of $1,100/month (down from $1,400) or separating the Sheriff’s Department onto its own network for $1,220/month total, which would provide better security and redundancy.
• 01:02:17 Justin from Crawl Can explained the difference between hosted and on-site phone systems, noting that hosted systems cost about $30/month per phone (with 125 county phones currently) and require each phone to have its own number, while on-site systems have a one-time purchase cost with some recurring software fees.
• 01:07:49 The commission tabled the internet service decision until August 25th to allow Commissioner Tran to consult with a technical expert and gather more information about the total costs involved.
• 01:52:17 Susan Walker, County Clerk, presented information about upcoming election deadlines, including October 14th as the voter registration deadline, October 15th for mailing advance ballots, October 20th for early voting at the courthouse, and November 4th as the general election date.
• 02:06:50 Matt, the County Appraiser, reported that Bourbon County is in compliance with state valuation requirements but still approximately 18% below the ideal valuation ratio of 90–110%, with residential properties and farm home sites showing the largest increases in value.
• 02:19:34 Commissioner Tran presented data showing that 20.8% of Bourbon County households pay less than $800 annually in property taxes, 19.2% pay between $800–$1,499, and 18.5% pay $3,000 or more, with the median home value at $95,600 and median tax bill at $1,694.
• 03:14:58 The commission voted to move forward with Emerson and Company for payroll services, with the understanding they would work with the County Clerk’s office during the transition period.
• 03:17:03 Commissioner Milburn reported on discussions with the driver’s license office and sixth judicial district about relocating them from their current building, with the driver’s license office potentially moving to the courthouse and the judicial district to the former health center trailer.
• 03:29:59 The commission discussed repealing Resolution 1425 to remove the Budget Payroll Benefits Officer ($10,000), Road Records Officer ($5,000), and Chief Operations Officer ($88,616.84) positions from the county’s organizational structure.
• 03:39:11 The commission scheduled a special meeting with insurance broker Don Doherty for August 22nd at 5:00 PM to learn more about the county’s insurance plans.
• 03:41:22 Commissioner Tran emphasized the importance of reaching consensus on maintaining the current mill levy before determining budget priorities, stressing the need to take care of county services while maintaining professionalism throughout the budget process.
• 03:43:17 Commissioner Milburn announced that the tax sale list was sent to the law firm on August 8, 2025, and emphasized that property valuations are market-based, with the commission only directly raising taxes when they increase the mill levy or choose not to lower it when valuations increase.

Brad Matkin, Ft. Scott City Manager, address the Bourbon County Commissioners regarding a number of items including the county’s taking on of providing E911 service, asphalt production for the City of Fort Scott and the cancellation of the IT agreement the city had with the county.

There has been no update from the budget committee regarding the E911 agreement yet.

Matkin said that Ft. Scott wants to purchase asphalt from Bourbon County, as the city now has equipment to lay it themselves. “We would like to purchase asphalt in the county to keep the money in the county,” said Matkin. He said they would need about 2,000 tons in 2025 and more in 2026.

Commissioner Mika Milburn expressed concern about how the workload of the county’s public works department would be affected and wants to recheck the cost of production.

Matkin pointed out that it would be another revenue source for Bourbon County, and that the city would communicate with Public Works regarding how much and when the asphalt was needed.

“Bottom line: looking out for the tax payer in Bourbon County,” he said.

Commissioner Samuel Tran asked for the details of the job, pointing out the county needs to have enough raw materials and the manpower to create the asphalt. He also asked for another look at the interlocal agreement between the City of Fort Scott and Bourbon County.

Milburn suggested that the city crews might be able to help the county with the county’s asphalt laying. Beerbower suggested that city workers might help county workers in the asphalt plant.

Tran was concerned about liability and tax laws and wants to, “take it one step at a time.”

Matkin asked them to discuss and gather the information they need and he will come back in a couple of weeks.

Finally, the city cancelled its Memorandum of Understanding with Bourbon County for IT Support for the City of Fort Scott. It had been in place since 2023.

Bob Guilfoyle and Justin with Craw Kan Internet and Telephone

The county has been on a month-to-month agreement with Craw Kan for internet service for the last three years.

Guilfoyle brought two separate proposals. One with the county on one big network for $1,100 per month, which wouldn’t change anything with how the network is set up, but is at a lower cost than the current $1,400 per month the county is paying.

Craw Kan was in the process of talking with the Sheriff’s Department about separating it’s network from the rest of the county. “This network is huge,” said Guilfoyle. It’s one of the biggest networks Craw Kan has.

Craw Kan’s second proposal for $1,220 per month, would upgrade the county system to a gig for the courthouse and a gig for the sheriff’s department. The Sheriff’s department would then need to get it’s own firewall, since it wouldn’t be using the one at the courthouse.

Tran asked Guilfoyle to take the numbers back to his manager and see if he can get a lower price.

Separating the internet also means separating phones from the County.

Craw Kan representatives said they need better direction from the county to know what information regarding costs and services they offer.

The commission decided to table the decision until August 25, so they can run the information by the county counsel and collect more information.

Department Updates
County Clerk Susan Walker

An RNR hearing is set for August 25 and a budget hearing needs to be published too. Dates need to be picked based on when the paper is published.

The budget advisory committee plans to present a budget document to the commission for them to alter as they see fit. The committee head, Greg Motley, wants to protect the volunteerism of the committee members and not have all of them come to the budget work session the commission has planned for 5:30, Aug. 21.

The commission will choose a date for the budget hearing after that work session.

Election update: Tuesday, Oct. 14 is the deadline to register or update registration. On Oct. 20, early voting begins at courthouse. Nov. 4 is the general election.

Walker advised Bourbon County voters to check their new voter registration cards for voting locations. If the information is incorrect, return to sender through the postal system so the clerk’s office can receive it. Do not bring it into the courthouse.

Walker offered a session to go over financials with the commission.

RNR Hearing letters were mailed out and published in the newspaper. This year the county will be reimbursed by the state for that cost.

Walker also thanked WardKraft and the city of Fort Scott for their help, “in a pinch.”

County Appraiser Matt Quick

The state of Kansas has declared the appraiser’s office to be in compliance. This is based on statistical performance and accuracy of valuations. Smaller homes are one of the big categories that are undervalued in Bourbon County. This is all determined by the market, not county or state officials.

Tran read statistics about the taxes paid in the county and surrounding counties.

Old Business
Benefits Committee Bylaws – Commissioner David Beerbower moved to rebuild the committee per the bylaws, getting one employee from each of the categories of coverage options. He suggested getting lists of who is in each of those groups and asking for individuals from them to volunteer for the committee. The motion carried.

Hospital Equipment

The sale is underway on govdeals.com

Casey Brown Letter of Support

Motion to sign the letter of support for the rides at SEK-CAP with no monetary contribution was approved.

Planning Commission Creation Resolution

Michael Hoyt spoke to the commission about the updated resolution edited by the county counsel. He said the document only lists KSA 12-744, which must be incorporated with all the other state statutes that apply.

Hoyt says the county doesn’t have the right of home rule, cited in the second paragraph of the current resolution, per the KSA regulation, thus those words should be removed from the resolution.

The commission voted to table it until county counsel can look it over.

Payroll Discussion

Milburn said there’s been a lot of discussion about use of payroll service. She said the commission has received emails from the company being considered and that they will handle the payroll needs of the county, freeing up county personnel.

Susan Walker, County Clerk, said that the current software company has said they will loose all their historical data in the conversion, so all those records will have to be printed or stored some other way for access. Payroll records have to be kept forever, per the Kansas Historical Society. The payroll company representative said he didn’t think that was necessary and that they should defer to Dr. Cohen, the county’s HR provider.

Walker disagreed, expressed that she doesn’t feel like she or her deputy clerk are being heard when they express their concerns to the commission about the costs and difficulties of the transfer. She was also adamant that she cannot run her office if the commission cuts a person from it.

Walker said that in the past, the county’s benefits were administered by the state of Kansas and when the county “left the state of Kansas” all that work came to the clerk’s office.

“I feel like I have given a lot to this organization with my experience and I feel like it’s retaliatory,” said Walker. “If you cut my pay, I don’t know that we want to do these services in our offices as before.”

Milburn said that her office had always been doing these services. Walker disagreed and said that they are doing a whole lot more work now than in the past. That was why the commission voted to pay her extra for her payroll duties in January.

Milburn moved to go with Emerson and Company for Payroll. Motion carried.

108 W 2nd Street

Milburn had conversations with the driver’s licence office and they want to move to the courthouse. She discussed how this could save the county money and consolidate services for county residents. The commission decided she should go ahead with the work and keep reporting back to them.

Budget Discussion

Milburn questioned the amount being paid for budget, payroll, benefits and road records.

Beerbower asked about the election budget. Walker said they were going to be short by $1,500 of the costs for elections this year.

Beerbower said he was not for resolution 1425 in January and thought it went through too fast, but he also doesn’t want to handicap the departments the money went to. He suggested reviewing it in January, 2026 when the salary resolutions are voted on.

Walker asked if they don’t want her doing budget next year either.

Milburn made a motion to repeal resolution 1425, 1225, and strike the chief operations officer for $88,616, extra assigned duties budget payroll and benefits officer for $10,000, and road records officer for $5,000.

The extra assigned duties budget payroll and benefits officer was paid to the clerk for the extra duties, but there’s also an employee in her office who does that work under her supervision.

Tran asked what happens if we remove it. Beerbower said that because it’s incorporated into payroll, a new resolution with the new salary amount will need to be passed by the commission.

“If we’re taking some of that work away, then I don’t see why it’s unreasonable,” said Milburn.

The motion passed.

New Business

Insurance Meeting Request

Milburn asked for a meeting with the county’s insurance broker, Don Doherty on Aug. 22 to educate the commissioners.

Commission Comments

Tran: “Tonight was tough,” he said. He thinks that the three commissioners will need to come to a consensus at the budget work session regarding the mill level.

“We have to be professional…that’s the only way we’re going to get through this,” he concluded.

Milburn: The tax sale has been sent to the law firm as of 8/8/2025.

She also wanted to inform citizens that the property tax rate is based on the market and is out of the commission’s hands. The only thing the commission controls is the mill levy.

“I don’t want to burden the tax base. We don’t have a lot of ways we can not do that, but we have to try,” she said.

Beerbower: “This isn’t something that’s going to get solved year one,” he said of the budget issues. He said they need to make good decisions with the tax payers money.

“Mission first, men always,” you have to take care of your people, he concluded.

The following graphic shows the breakdown of the employee and employer amounts paid for health insurance for employees of Bourbon County.   According to the chart, a county employee with full healthcare coverage for themselves will be paid 100% by the county. The county’s cost for these plans is $820.11 or $902.35, depending on whether the employee chooses the high deductible plan with a Health Savings Account or a lower deductible one with a Flexible Spending Account.

An employee who wants to put their entire family on the county’s high deductible plan will have to pay $420.80 for their portion and the county will kick in $2,181.06 to pay the rest of the premium. This represents an additional $1,360.95 of county contribution for family coverage over what the county pays to cover just the employee.