Dear KAA Members,
Hello again. Fall is in full swing, and so far, all of the members I have recently visited with are reporting a very full fall auction season; which is always good news to hear when our industry is going strong. For those of you who came to our competition at the State Fair to help out the committee, and to those of you who came to watch and support the event, thank you very much for your assistance and support in making it a great success. The contest was well attended and the Competition Committee deserves a big hand for a job well done.
The new contest format worked very well, and many of the attendees that I visited with afterward really liked it and voiced support for us continuing with it in the future. I want to thank all of the contestants for coming and entering again this year, and I also want to congratulate our new State Champion Mr. Jeff Crissup, our Reserve Champion Mr. Lenny Mullins, and all of the Runners-Up. Everyone did a tremendous job, and I know that it was a difficult and tight contest to judge. Speaking of contests, mark your calendars for Tuesday, November 13, for our 5th-Annual Kansas Livestock Auctioneer Contest.
Our host market, this year, is the Plainville Livestock Commission in Plainville, Kansas and the start time is 12:30pm. If you are a livestock auctioneer and regularly employed by a livestock market, we would love to have you come and enter this year and we would also like to invite all of the members to come join us in Plainville for the competition. Please see the Association website for more details.
In addition to the Livestock Auctioneer Contest, the KAA is also hosting our last Regional meeting of the year in Salina the evening prior to the contest. The meeting is on Monday, November 12, and begins at 6:00pm at the Western Sizzlin Restaurant in Salina on West Crawford just off of I-35. If you haven’t been able to attend any of our other Regional meetings this year, please don’t miss this last opportunity. These Regional meetings are a great opportunity to meet potential new members and to gather information on the tremendous benefits the KAA provides to its members and the auction industry.
As the year is quickly passing, it can only mean that the Holidays and Winter Convention are rapidly approaching. We want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving next month. Please be sure to block out the dates of January 10-13, 2013 for our annual Winter Convention at the Clarion Hotel in Manhattan. We’re working hard on the schedule and the education line-up, and I’m very excited at what the committees are putting together for you. Be sure and keep an eye on the Sunflower and the KAA website for more information and details as they become available.
One last item I would like to touch on before I close is the issue of State sales tax related to the auction industry. I know that there are many of you who have issues, questions, and concerns with the collection of sales tax at your auctions. We have had representatives from the Dept. of Revenue at our Winter Convention on numerous occasions and there have still been many unanswered questions. As a result the Board has been taking a very hard look at what we can do to resolve some of the issues.
On Friday, November 2, the Executive Board will be meeting with the Secretary of the Dept. of Revenue to open dialogue between the KAA and the DOR to clear up some of the confusion, get our questions answered correctly, and gain resolution to these problems. We also plan to schedule someone from the DOR to come and present at the Winter Convention in January. This time, however, we plan to schedule an entire seminar period to the subject as opposed to trying to schedule such a complex topic over the lunch period. During this timeframe, we will continue to communicate information as it is received. Please feel free to contact me or any of the Executive officers if you have any questions. Until the next issue of the Sunflower, we hope to see you at our next KAA event.
Sincerely,
Lance Fullerton
2012 KAA President
