Dear Editor,

We have all embarked on Year 2026. This includes the Nemaha County Commission. It reorganized on January 12 and started a new year.

However, it continues to pay for two unrequired positions. Neither the State of Kansas nor the Federal government requires a County Administrator nor a County Counselor as far as I can ascertain.

Presently the County is not only paying for both, but actually continues to pay for TWO County Administrators until at least April.

The contract under which the current County Counselor/County Administrator is employed not only pays a salary but allows additional payment when more than two trips are made to the County a month and the County can be charged $300 an hour ($5 a minute) for time the Counselor feels is “beyond the scope of… regular duties.” In addition, the Counselor has a separate contract for the work he is doing on drafting the Zoning (Land Development) Code. These contracts are public information and may be acquired from the County with a KORA request.

During the holiday season we heard many times about “spending local” to support our local businesses and communities. It is too bad the County Commission did not listen to this as all of the payments for County Administrators and Counselor leave the county! The current County Counselor has offices in Johnson and Sedgwick Counties in Kansas.

Additionally, the current Administrator has purchased items from outside the County when local businesses could have provided the items.

When questioned about rising taxes, County Commissioners do not account for unnecessary expenditures such as the County Counselor and County Administrator. Redirecting those funds to essential and required offices would prevent closures caused by understaffing and inadequate funding.

If you are not aware of these problems, please become aware of the happenings of the County Commission.

In fact, not only become an informed citizen but an involved one, especially about the County Commission actions. These actions have a very direct impact on your tax bill.

Freda Dobbins

Goff