ABILENE, OCTOBER 24, 2016 – Great Plains Theatre proudly presents The Best Medicine, our youth improv troup! Saturday, October 29th, The Best Medicine will performing at 6:00 p.m. before the movie. The show is $5 entry at the door, the movie is a separate charge. 

Improv teaches quick thinking and problem solving with fun games and hilarious exercises. Fun to do and fun to watch, improv is a treat, especially since this is a spooky Halloween themed show!

Bring your friends and family to enjoy some improv and get ready to give suggestions. Tickets are $5 at the door.

Brownies, cookies and cakes – oh my!

The Geary County offices will host their annual United Way Bake Sale Fundraiser this Thursday, October 27th and Friday, October 28th.

Kathy Tremont, Geary County Treasurer, said that with the high volume of activity in the Geary County Office Building this is an easy and effective way for them to raise money for the United Way of Junction City – Geary County.

“We’ve been doing this for the past six to eight years and it’s kind of an easy way to raise some funds for United Way…the Geary County Office Building is a pretty fast paced office building so we felt like that was probably the easiest thing for us to do and everyone is contributing a little bit to help out for a worthy cause,” said Tremont.

Some of the items Tremont said they will have include pies, cinnamon rolls, rice krispy treats, puppy chow and cakes.

The bake sale will be October 27th and 28th from 9:30 am until 4:30 pm in the foyer of the Geary County Office Building located at 200 E 8th Street in Junction City.

All proceeds will benefit the United Way of Junction City – Geary County.

Kathy Tremont, Geary County Treasurer has announced that the 2016 tax statements will go out approximately around November 10th. Taxpayers that have their mortgage company escrow their tax will be sent a ‘copy’ of the bill for informational purposes.

The 1st half taxes are due December 20th , 2016. Taxpayers are encouraged to avoid waiting in line by mailing their taxes. If mailing your payment, they should be postmarked no later than the 20th. Anyone wishing to receive a receipt will need to indicate this by marking the appropriate box on the payment stub.

Once you receive your bill and you have questions regarding the assessment of the property, you can call the appraiser’s office at 785 238 4407. The treasurer’s office is responsible for the mailing and collection of the statements but, does not assess properties for valuation purposes.

Real Estate taxes may be paid in full or half by December 20 th , 2016. Second half taxes are due by May 10, 2017. Postmark accepted on current payments.

Statutorily, at least half of the personal property tax is due December 20, 2016, if you fail to pay the first half, the full amount plus interest becomes due. Once you pay the first half, the 2 nd half is due by May 10th , the same as real estate. No motor vehicle transactions can be processed for persons having delinquent personal property taxes.

Participants in the neighborhood revitalization program must have their taxes paid in full before a rebate check will be issued.

Interest for real property is going up this year: Various statutes provide for percentage point adjustments to the K.S.A. 79-2968 rate for Kansas property tax purposes depending on the type of delinquency. The 2016 legislature increased the interest rate on delinquent real property taxes by five percent (5%) beginning in tax year 2017 and after. Please carefully review the rates for the 2017 calendar year.

Interest Rate Applied when a County Collects Interest 2017 Calendar Year

• Taxpayer’s late payment of real property taxes: 10%
• Taxpayer’s late payment of personal property taxes: 5%
• Taxpayer’s late or underpayment of $10,000 or more (real): 15%
• Taxpayer’s late or underpayment of $10,000 or more (personal): 10%
• Taxpayer’s late unpaid portion of advanced payments: 5%

If a taxpayer does not receive a tax bill, please call 238-6021. It is the responsibility of the taxpayer to ensure their taxes are paid. If you do not receive a tax bill or you have multiple properties please bring pertinent information that enables us to locate the property you are paying on. Owners can also pay online by going to the Kansas County Treasurers website at https://www.kansastreasurers.org/ or they can use the drop slot located at the entrance of the south door to the building at 200 E 8th Street.

Taxpayers can use the following methods to pay for their taxes: Cash, Check, Money Order and Credit and Debit cards (those choosing to use this option are subject to a convenience fee charged by the company providing the service) Also, taxpayers will be given the opportunity to make monthly payments. Interested persons should contact the office and ask for the “Payment Program.” This program helps ease the burden of the tax by spreading it over a period of months as opposed to either a half or full payment due late in December.

Taxpayers choosing to come in to the office to pay will also see changes to the office in that they can come in a ‘have a seat’ instead of standing in line!! We have a new queing system so, customers are asked to stop at the front kiosk, choose their service, take the paper ticket and have a seat. The monitor will then prompt them to the next available clerk.

The office of the County Treasurer will be closed the following days:

• Friday, November 11th Veteran’s Day
• Thursday, November 24th & Friday, November 25th Thanksgiving Day
• Friday, Dec. 23rd & Monday, December 26th Christmas

Vehicle owners are reminded that they have until December 31 st , 2016 to renew auto tags U,X,Y,Z. Large trucks (12,000+) and trailers will expire December 31st , but will be allowed a grace period until the last day of February, 2017. Large truck and trailer license plate renewals go on sale after Jan. 1, 2017.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — The committee searching for Kansas State University’s next president has selected 15 candidates to interview for the position.

The Manhattan Mercury reports that 81 people applied for the position. Regent Dennis Mullin, who heads the Kansas Board of Regents’ committee, says the number of applicants and the number of qualified candidates were higher than expected.

Mullin says he hopes the committee can select someone in early November or by Thanksgiving Day at the latest.

Former president Kirk Shulz announced in March that he was leaving the university to become the president of Washington State University. An interim president has been serving since late May.