RAYTOWN REPORT

The last two budget years have been lean ones for advocates of street maintenance in Raytown. Even though Raytown taxpayers gave resounding approval for a one-half cent sales tax for street maintenance, only a trickle of the tax dollars has been spent as promised. To understand the reason for the cut in funding one has to go back two years. When the 2006 – 2007 budget was written, it was discovered at the end of the budget session that the Finance Department had forgotten to include a final payment for capital improvement bonds that had been approved by the voters three years earlier. That being the case, it was decided to use money set aside for street overlay to pay off the bonds in the 06/07 and the 07/08 budget years. The fiscal impact has been huge. Street maintenance has been slashed to one quarter of what it should be for the past two years. The lack of maintenance on the streets is showing in many parts of town. Crumbling curbs and sidewalks, intersections that have deteriora...

Is there a silver bullet that will solve Raytown’s economic woes in the midst of a recession? No, probably not. Recessions are economic times in which developers hunker down and wait it out for better opportunities in the future. They keep their eyes open and look for opportunities. But until the economy revives, and that will not happen until fuel prices stabilize, don’t look for a lot new building going up anywhere. There are still things the city should do in preparation of those better times. In Raytown’s case, tearing down the old First Baptist Church is a good move and will become a reality in the very near future. Plans are in place to rebuild the 63rd Street Bridge and a new intersection at Gregory Boulevard and Raytown Road is in the works. But a huge proportion of that funding is coming from federal, state, and county sources. It alone will not create any new retail venues in Raytown. But the improvements will go a long way in helping to improve the city’s image. If we ar...

How Much Did You Say? At last week’s meeting of the Board of Aldermen, City Finance Director Jeremy Wilmoth let one of City Hall’s better kept secrets out. The discussion was over a resolution transferring $113,069.00 from un-appropriated surplus to various accounts. The un-appropriated surplus is from funds set aside for spending in the 2006 - 2007 budget year that were not spent. Basically, that particular pile of money is left over from the previous year’s budget. It contains money that had been set aside for projects that were either dropped or not completed during the previous budget year. The resolution settles the accounts for the previous budget year. The figute is not an estimate. It has been varified by the the city's annual audit. After the resolution had passed Alderman Greg Walters asked Wilmoth how much money was left in the un-appropriated surplus fund. His answer – two million dollars. Overheard after the meeting, one city department head telling another, ...

A NOTE FROM GREG WALTERS: THE FOLLOWING COLUMN IS BY A REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR TO THE RAYTOWN REPORT, THE GRADUIT. A LOT OF THOUGHT OBVIOUSLY WENT INTO WRITING IT. I FELT IT WORTH PUBLISHING. SO, WITHOUT ANY FURTHER ADO, HERE IS "AN IDEA" by THE GRADUIT. I've been doing some thinking about Raytown's downtown redevelopment, and I think that maybe we've been approaching this problem from the wrong direction. Raytown used to be a respected member of the metropolitan area. Our streets were safe, our schools were second to none. Many members of the Kansas City Athletics and Royals used to call Raytown home. My dentist, Dr. Brock, had signed photographs of the Kansas City Chiefs all over his waiting room because he was their dentist, too. Many of these athletes built beautiful homes that still are assets to the community. After the levy increase, they're now even greater assets than before. But I never felt any stigma living in Raytown or attending Raytown S...