Barton Community College waited weeks for its October tax distribution from the Barton County Treasurer’s Office, but by the first of the year the payments were caught up. Dean of Administration Mark Dean said the Oct. 31 and Dec. 18 distributions were combined as one payment of $956,603.
The January payment, which was due on Jan. 20, is more crucial. That distribution, expected to be more than $4.5 million, had not been received by Wednesday morning. However, Dean said he checked with the Barton County Treasurer’s Office and was told the payment would not be delayed.
“They expect that checks will be cut by the end of the day,” he said.
In the afternoon, County Treasurer Kevin Wondra said 57 checks were being written to various taxing entities in the county and all of the checks were supposed to be in the mail by the end of the day. That includes a check to the college for $4,948,343.57.
The college’s last check for state aid was also late, but only by a few days.
“The payments for state aid typically come in on Jan. 1st and Aug. 1st,” Dean said. On Jan. 6, the college received $3,957,516.
Wondra said the next time tax distributions go out, in March, he hopes to have all of the payments deposited directly into bank accounts, rather than mailed.