Editor’s note: Today’s guest column is a prepared statement presented by Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson during Tuesday’s Barton County Commission meeting, after the commission authorized up to $125,000 to the City of Hoisington for subdivision improvements. The funds come from money budgeted for economic development and will be reimbursed to the City after the work is done. See story on page 1 for more details.

I have been saving this until we finalized an agreement with Hoisington but now, today, we can announce that Barton County has been in collaboration with three different housing developments throughout our County. If we were to announce one housing development in one city, it would be a big deal to our community. In this case we are announcing three different and unique housing developments in three different communities potentially totaling over 40 new homes in Barton County. When I first started this job, one of my most trusted allies in the County confided in me that she didn’t like our slogan… Barton invests in growth. I asked her to hang on for a awhile and see if her opinion changed. This has stuck with me, I loved the slogan, but understood maybe it wasn’t always accurate. Today, between the Facade Improvement main street grants, the economic development efforts and now the potential for 40 plus new homes to be build, I would say Barton County Invests in Growth is not only accurate but a very appropriate slogan. 

This kind of announcement can only come from exceptional collaboration with community partners. A huge shout out and thank you to Ellinwood city council and Chris Komark. They are now offering 14 lots for sale with city utilities. I believe they will get listed this week. Also a huge thank you to the Claflin city council and the Miller’s of Claflin. We are working on a massive water treatment grant and there are already 16 lots for sale, many already sold and construction has began. And last but not least thank you to the Hoisington city council and Jonathan Mitchell for their own 12 home development. These three cities also partnered with the County on the Façade Improvement Grants FIG 3.0 2025 with amazing results. 

I can not finish this without thanking our Barton County employees and Commissioners, it seems as though everyone has had a hand in these collaborative efforts. Everyone stepped up and everyone said yes to growing our communities. This brings me to my final point, without growth we are dying on the vine. Out here in Central Kansas we need more of this type of collaboration and cooperation, no one is coming to save us, we have to save ourselves. We have to innovate, inspire and get creative to incentivize growth. After all, we don’t need more taxes in Barton County, we need more tax payers in Barton County. There only two ways to lower taxes, cut from the budget and services or to grow. I believe both can happen at the same time and today, we proved it. With five consecutive years of lower property tax reliance, investing in our downtowns getting a face-lift, complete renovation of our 100 year old courthouse and now investing in new homes … maybe our next focus should be creating jobs? I believe we are ready! Thank you to the citizens that have put their faith in us and we hope you are as proud of your County as we are! 

Shawn Hutchinson is a Barton County Commissioner representing District 3. Contact Hutchinson by email at shutchinson@bartoncounty.org.