By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Sometimes you have to spend money to make money. In 2014, Barton County collected more than $1.3 million from the state via the Gas and Oil Valuation Depletion Trust Fund. The Kansas Legislative Policy Group (KLPG) helped recover those funds. Tuesday morning, Barton County Administrator Matt Patzner presented membership renewals for various groups to the board of commissioners, including the KLPG.
"The KLPG is a bipartisan coalition of Western Kansas counties with the common interest in preservation of the county's tax base and retention of local control," Patzner said.
KLPG dues have increased most years from $4,869 in 2021 to $5,471 dollars in each of the past two years. Dues for 2025 dropped to $4,904.97. On Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson's math last year, the 2014 settlement alone would pay 180 years of KLPG dues. The board also agreed to pay $510 to renew membership with the National Association of Counties, down from $553 dollars last year.
"The National Association of Counties strengthens America's 3,069 counties serving nearly 40,000 county elected officials and 3.6 million county employees," Patzner said. "Founded in 1935, NACO unites county officials to advocate county priorities in federal policymaking."
The board once again declined membership with the League of Kansas Municipalities for $1,023. The commission will next meet on Monday, Jan. 13 at 10 a.m. Kansas statute requires counties hold their organizational meeting on the second Monday of the year. County officials and deputies with the Barton County Sheriff's Office will be sworn in.