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Bourbon County holds budget hearing as residents urge cuts, back local fair and question consultant hires
Summary
At a Sept. 15 budget hearing, residents pressed commissioners to reduce salaries, restore fair funding and explain new consultant contracts; the board approved routine consent items and closed the hearing for later action.
The Bourbon County Board of County Commissioners opened a public budget hearing Sept. 15 as residents urged the panel to cut expenses and to restore funding for community programs.
Public commenters pushed a range of budget priorities. JD Handley urged the commission to forgo or substantially reduce commissioners’ pay, calling county finances “not in the best financial situation” and saying commissioners “have the power” to act. Joseph Smith, a former member of the county budget advisory committee, said the commission had added expenses after the committee’s recommendations — citing a contract to replace IT staff with an outside firm and a new finance adviser he said duplicated the county clerk’s role. Diane Brellhart of the Bourbon County Fair Association asked commissioners to reconsider a proposed cut to the fair’s allocation and cited KSA 21-129 as the statutory provision she believes requires commissioners to cover fair premiums and judges’ pay.
Commissioners and staff answered factual questions during the hearing. County staff confirmed liability and health insurance increases are in the draft budget and warned that reserves could be depleted if revenues fall short. One commissioner noted the county’s cash reserves and said the topic would receive additional discussion at the board table.
On routine business before the hearing, the board approved the agenda and minutes and approved a consent agenda that included accounts payable totaling $380,626.82 and other routine items. The board later recessed the hearing for additional internal discussion and closed public testimony; no final tax-rate decision was made during this meeting.
The hearing produced no immediate changes to the budget document; commissioners agreed to return for additional discussions next week to continue work on revenue and spending trade-offs.
Residents also raised narrower issues related to county operations — including road maintenance and equipment replacement — that commissioners said would be handled in separate agenda items or follow-up meetings.
The commission scheduled further budget deliberations for a special meeting the next day and indicated staff would bring more detail about projected insurance renewals, cash reserves and specific line-item changes.
