By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Paying for tags and taxes is rarely anyone's idea of fun, yet it's a necessary process to drive a vehicle in the state of Kansas. At Tuesday's Barton County Commission meeting, Treasurer Jim Jordan updated the board about a recent audit by the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOR).
"As you're all aware of, we're mandated by the state to do motor vehicle work here at the county," he said. "Just so the public is aware, we must follow all the state's requirements on anything related to motor vehicle. KDOR started doing audits in our office in 2018."
The office has made steady progress in its audits since 2018. The first year came in at just 46 percent, followed by 75 percent in 2019, and at least 90 percent from 2020-2022. The number was 95 percent in 2022, and for 2023, Jordan congratulated his staff on 100 percent accuracy.
"I wanted the commissioners and public to know how hard they work to walk that fine line between the customer and the state while trying to keep them both happy," Jordan said. "I wanted publicly to praise my staff and the hard work they've done."
Jordan also praised County Counselor Patrick Hoffman and Renee Kasselman in the Barton County Appraiser's Office for work they have done recouping several thousand dollars in back taxes dating as far back as 2006.