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Logan County Board
August Finance Committee Meeting
[August 15, 2025]
On Tuesday, August 12th, the
Finance Committee of the larger Logan County Board held their
monthly meeting. This meeting was in the Blue Room of the Logan
County Safety Complex starting at about 6:30 p.m. Four of the five
members of the committee were in attendance. Present members
included Chairman Kathy Schmidt, Vice Chairman Joseph Kuhlman, Lance
Conahan, and Keenan Leesman. Member Dale Nelson was not in
attendance.
After attendance was taken and guests were introduced, Schmidt took
the committee to old business. There were two items on the agenda,
the first being the budget. Schmidt gave an update, sharing that the
committee had met with several departments at the end of July to
discuss their budgets and what each of them needed. She also shared
that they were currently working on the budget.
The second item for old business was the county jail expansion.
Schmidt repeated some of the information that Sheriff Mark Landers
shared at the Safety Meeting held just before Finance. The asphalt
at the back of the building had been removed, and O’Shea Builders,
the company overseeing the jail expansion, was going to be putting
several pillars into the ground soon to secure the foundation.
This then brought the committee on to new business. The first item
was a donation request form from the Lincoln Art Fair. There was
something on the request form about being non-eligible. Schmidt
stated that she was going to look into it and get an answer before
the Workshop meeting on Thursday.
The second item was the reappointment and salary increase of
Jennifer Bryant to the Logan County Assessor’s Office. Bryant was
present at the meeting and was asked if she wanted to speak. Bryant
spoke for a few minutes, sharing that she has enjoyed the last four
years and that she feels she has done a pretty good job. She also
shared that taking on new GIS duties has been challenging, but that
she feels it is going well.
Bryant also shared that, a couple of years ago, she enrolled the
county in a program called True Roll. With this program, she was
able to put about $3 million of tax money back on the tax roll. They
used this program the year after that but were unable to bring in
nearly as much money. Bryant stated that the program costs $11,700
per year, and in the second year they were barely able to bring in
that much. That being the case, she decided not to use it for a
third year but may revisit it in a few more years.
Schmidt stated that the board is pleased with the job that Bryant
has been doing. Conahan then made a motion to approve Bryant’s
reappointment and salary increase, that being $85,000 with an
additional $5,000 for her added GIS duties. The item was then added
to the Workshop meeting agenda.
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The next item on the agenda was
a larger than average number of tax sales. All of the sales were
sent to the Workshop agenda at one time.
The next agenda item was for
Positive Pay fraud protection. Logan County Treasurer Penny Thomas
stated that the county currently has four of their bank accounts
protected by Positive Pay, and they get this for free. There are
another thirteen or fourteen accounts that are not protected,
however. Thomas shared that this fraud protection tracks things like
odd bills, sending them to the county for manual review and
approval. She also shared that the cost would be $15 per account,
something that the interest the accounts make would cover each
month. This item was sent to the Workshop meeting as well.
The last item the committee discussed was the funding agreement with
the Logan County Tourism Bureau (LCTB). Conahan shared that they
worked out an agreement with the LCTB for a lump sum payment of
$30,000 per year for two years. The city of Lincoln made their own
agreement with the LCTB for $30,000 per year as well. The main
difference between the city’s agreement and the county’s agreement
is that the city will be paying in monthly increments, not one lump
sum.
Leesman brought up the question of what happens if the city decides
to pull their funding, as they will not be out a lump sum. If the
county then decides to pull their funding in response, they would
not get any of that $30,000 back. Conahan stated that if this
occurs, the county would be able to purchase The Mill for $1.
Conahan stressed that The Mill is worth more than $30,000, and that
they would in fact be coming out ahead in this instance, should it
occur. Conahan also shared that the board still has two seats on the
LCTB board of directors. Leesman then made a motion to move this
item onto the Workshop agenda.
Schmidt then asked if there were any public comments. Seeing none, a
motion was made to adjourn.
[Matt Boutcher]
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