$450,000 less than usual, KS county struggles with taxes

LYNDON (KSNT) - Local schools, townships, fire departments, libraries, city districts, cemetery boards and more have been dealing with late and below-target tax disbursements that have caused financial concerns for entities in a northeast Kansas county.

Several entities attended the Osage County commissioner meeting on Monday, Feb. 5, to complain about the issues. A representative from the Lyndon Library and USD 456 attended the meeting. Lyndon Library Director Genea Reynolds said the library was given $5,000 from the township to pay bills and payroll until its distribution was received.

“I’m here again today being that we did not receive our tax disbursement as statutorily required for the month of January,” Marais Des Cygnes Valley USD 456 Superintendent Joe Sample said in the county commission meeting. “Somewhere in the neighborhood of expecting at least $150,000 for our LOB and somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000 for our capital outlay amongst, I guess, some other amounts for our rec department.”

Sample said this has been the fifth or sixth time that the school hasn’t received its allotment on time during his time as superintendent. He said the last time they had the conversation was in June of 2023. The current county treasurer, Laura Hawkins, took on the position in July 2023 after the previous county treasurer, Christine Foster, resigned.

Burlingame City Clerk Patty Atchison said the city received their tax distributions for Dec. 20 in early February and received disbursements for February in March. Because of the issue, the City of Burlingame filed a complaint letter with the county commissioners and the Kansas Attorney General's Office.

The City of Burlingame typically receives between $90,000 and $120,000 for its January remittance. In 2024, the city received $56,629 for the January disbursement, roughly a $42,000 discrepancy, according to city and Treasurer's Office documents.

In the City of Overbrook, the discrepancies were more significant. Last year, the the City of Overbook received $261,789 in January, but in 2024 the city only received $159,684 for its January remittance, according to official documents.

In Lyndon, the county seat, the city received $152,870 for its January disbursement. From 2021 through to 2023, the city typically received between $200,000 and $230,000 in January. The city didn't receive the January disbursement until Feb. 23, according to official documents.

In total, typical tax disbursements for cities across the county were $453,000 less than the previous year. While Hawkins says county staff are doing lots of cleanup, March disbursements were also less than expected for several cities.

Hawkins attributed the problem to a variety of factors. She said the Treasurer's Office is cleaning up deeds going to the wrong places, trailers that should've been processed through the appraiser's office, RVs not being charged property taxes, issues with property tax payments from mortgage companies and collecting large amounts of delinquent taxes. She said taxes that weren't paid in time would move to the next disbursement cycle.

Hawkins and the Treasurer's Office's staff said they've been working long hours with short staff to clean up. She said some days staff has been working from 7:30 a.m. to midnight and sometimes longer.

County Commissioner Les Holman said the commission hired a consultant to train and work with the Treasurer’s Office staff on remedying the situation.

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