Osage County commissioners approve employment agreement, federal mileage rate and several administrative items; elected-pay resolution deferred

The Osage County Board of Commissioners approved several administrative actions during its Jan. 13 meeting, including an employment agreement with an individual and a resolution tying the county—s mileage reimbursement rate to the Internal Revenue Service standard, and it approved a time-extension request for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) sewer project and tax-roll corrections. The board postponed final action on a resolution establishing elected-official pay until commissioners can review a requested budget breakdown.

The actions matter because they set pay and operational rules that affect county staff and contractors, finalize corrections to property tax rolls that affect taxpayers, and preserve the county—s eligibility for federal CDBG funding linked to a sewer improvement project.

Most urgent, commissioners voted to approve an employment agreement described in the meeting as made as of Jan. 13, 2025, between Osage County and the named individual; the board recorded a motion, a second and a unanimous vote to carry the motion. The meeting record shows commissioners directed staff to prepare a final printed copy and that the new salary is effective immediately for the first year as stated in the agreement.

The board also approved a resolution to adopt the federal mileage reimbursement rate for county travel going forward. A motion to adopt language that "Osage County, Kansas shall be the standard federal mileage rate set by the Internal Revenue Service for each year" was seconded and carried by voice vote.

On grant administration, the board approved a nine-month time extension request for a CDBG sewer improvement project. Commissioners approved the extension on the condition that a misspelled name on the submitted letter be corrected before final filing; the motion carried.

Commissioners approved a large set of tax-roll correction sheets submitted by the county appraiser for multiple years. A motion to accept the corrections as presented passed by voice vote.

Not all items moved forward. Resolution 2025-02, the package to establish elected-official pay, was discussed at length but not adopted. Several commissioners asked for a detailed breakdown of how proposed changes would affect individual elected-office budgets and staff allocations, citing the county—s budget documents and the county attorney—s staffing as items that need clarification. One commissioner asked that the resolution be placed on the Jan. 20 agenda so the requested documentation could be gathered; the board agreed to defer final action until then.

The meeting included two short executive sessions — for non-elected personnel and attorney-client matters — each entered by motion and closed with no action taken in the session as recorded in the public minutes.

Other administrative discussion items included the county—s ongoing shift to an ADP payroll system and related questions about switching employees to a monthly pay date (a recurring pay date suggestion mentioned was the 10th of each month) versus twice-monthly pay; commissioners previewed the need to consider implementation logistics and communications to employees if pay frequency changes are adopted. Staff also reviewed the county—s bank depository list and discussed consolidating bank accounts.

At the close of the meeting Colleen Mendoza thanked the board and community partners for support of economic development efforts, saying, "It also does not happen without all of our community partners at every single level. So I just wanted to say thank you so much."