By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Let the money do the work. Barton County Treasurer Jim Jordan has been on the job for five years. His decades of investment knowledge are beginning to pay off for the county. At Tuesday's county commission meeting, Jordan was recognized for simple accounting moves that generated $1.32 million in interest for the county in 2023. Commission Chair Barb Esfeld put that into perspective.
"That is exemplary, and it's not typical," she said. "For most of you that don't know, I've worked in two other counties and I didn't know the county treasurer could even do that. They just put it in our local bank at whatever the interest rate was and didn't think about that. Sitting in these chairs over the last few years and working with the mill levy, it was easier for us to lower the mill levy having those funds."
There are statutory restrictions on where counties can invest funds, but Jordan utilizes certificates of deposit (CDs) of varying lengths to capture the highest interest rates for the county. All the commissioners, including Tricia Schlessiger, expressed their gratitude.
"I just thank you for going above and beyond because it's a lot easier to just stick it in the bank and just ignore it," she said. You work very hard to get that $1.3 million."
The commissioners presented Jordan with a plaque paid for out of their own pockets.