BOA Sets Park Tax vote
for November
Election BY PAUL LIVIUS
The Raytown Board of Aldermen has set a
sales tax vote for voters to determine the fate of what has become known as the
Raytown Parks and Storm Sewer Tax. The current tax expires in April of 2020.
Voters will be given the choice of creating
a new tax in its place by voting yes. A no vote would lower the city’s current sales
tax rate.
The original bill, sponsored by Ward 3
Alderman Ryan Myer, called for a 60/30/10 split of tax proceeds with 60% going
towards City Parks, 30% going to Storm Sewer Repairs and 10% to be used in the City
Budget at the as determined by the Board in its city budget.
This “split” was amended by Ward 5
Alderman Bonnaye Mims. She asked for a new split of 75% for Parks and 25% for
Storm Sewer maintenance.
The vote on the amendment was 9 yes, 1
no. Alderman Greg Walters cast the lone “no” vote on the amendment. Walters
said he preferred a more equitable split for homeowners with storm water
problems.
He said, “There are many people in Raytown who
are in need of help to solve storm water run-off problems that are not of their
own making.”
“Parks are important”, continued
Walters, “but we have people with flooded basements that is undermining the
foundations of their homes. Some of
those problems are due to inadequate drainage of our streets and storm sewers.
We have a responsibility to help them.”
The final vote to place the vote on the
November, 2019 ballot was unanimous.
 |
| BY GREG WALTERS |
Transparency / Communication
. . . IS LACKING AT CITY HALL
Suspending the rules of regular business
and rushing proposed legislation through without adequate feedback from the public
is bad politics. It creates a message from the Board that screams “let the public be damned.
We know what is best for Raytown".
All city ordinances in Raytown are required
to have two public readings before being voted on by the Board of Aldermen.
This requirement is a Missouri State Law.*
The logic behind two readings of each
proposed ordinance gives the public time to learn what legislation is being considered at City Hall. In turn, it gives Aldermen time to take a pulse of the community and learn what the people the represent expect him or her to do.
At last Tuesday’s meeting of the Board
of Aldermen two ordinances were rushed through with less than 20 minutes of
debate. Unless the public had checked the city agenda, which is published the weekend before the meeting is held, it is doubtful they were aware of
the bills being considered by the Board the following Tuesday.
In this case, both ordinances were of public interest.
- One of those ordinances was about a sales tax vote to be held next November. It is fair to say there are probably more than a few people in Raytown interested in a tax that will affect their pocket book.
- The other dealt with the Board of Aldermen’s role in choosing a new Chief of Police. Judging by the comments on the blog portion of the Raytown Report anything dealing with the police is of public interest.
Let us not forget the meetings are
broadcast through on the internet. The recordings are posted on the city’s web
page . . . so taxpayers do have a way to access information other than
attending a meeting. But it should also be remembered that many people lead
busy lives. Allowing two weeks between the introduction of legislation and
then the final vote is not an unreasonable request.
Raytown has a representative form of
government. That means we elect a representative to speak for us. It is a
simple system that works well. But it takes time for it to work properly. A minimum of two weeks between regular business meetings at city hall allows more
than enough time for members of the Board of Aldermen to reach out to the public
for feedback.
In fairness to our Aldermen, some
members of the Board are already doing this. I write these weekly reports. Some
members take advantage of a policy I have of allowing fellow members to write
guest editorials on this page. Other members have used Facebook.
Still, it would be a good idea to remind
your elected officials something I have known for a long time. There are a lot
of good people in Raytown who are sincerely interested in what is happening in
Raytown. As elected officials we should step up and provided as much
information for them as possible. This practice will lead to better legislative decisions. More importantly, it gives the public time to become informed citizens.
*Board members can vote to suspend the rules of regular business if two/thirds (7 votes) of the Board agree to do so in emergency situations. A sales tax to be held in November is NOT an emergency situation. Neither is deciding who has than final authority on appointing the next Chief of Police.
**Aldermen are paid $450 per month. The
amount includes an auto allowance and the balance is salary.
OTHER
BUSINESS BEFORE THE BOARD
A moratorium
on the issuance of new liquor licenses for a period of nine months was approved
unanimously by the Board of Aldermen. Board members expressed concern over the
proliferation of packaged liquor and liquor by the drink outlets in Raytown.
The nine month hiatus is mean to give city staff time to craft ordinances to
address the situation.
Alderman
Jason Greene announced here would a “clean-up day” of the following streets on
Saturday, June 15th. The targeted streets are 55th
Street, 59th Street and 63rd Street. Volunteers are asked
to show up at Raytown City Hall at 8:30a.m., Saturday, June 15th.
Mr. Greene said anyone having questions could contact him at Alderman_jason_greene@raytown.mo.us
or by phone at 816-255-8407.
The
Municipal Committee held its first meeting on rules for the growing, selling
and use of Medical Marijuana in Raytown. The purpose of the meeting was to give
guidance to city staff on how to bring city ordinances in line with state law. State
law allows for the City to require licensing requirements as are applied to
other businesses in Raytown. Alderman Greg Walters suggested that Medical
Marijuana facilities be given the same guidelines (for licensing purposes) as
is applied to other businesses in Raytown selling a controlled substance. As an
example he suggested the City use fee structure and guidelines as required of
package liquor stores.
The City
has nine months before medical marijuana will become legal for distribution to
the public in Missouri.
Brian Morris said building a splash pad, dog park, and repairing the tennis courts at Kenagy Park are high on the Park Board’s list of expenditures. The main question is how to pay for all this. He said some in the community have suggested the Park Board spend the reserves. He said he would love to, but since there is no guarantee how much tax money will be available in the future, it would be irresponsible to spend the reserves when there is a possibility of no income.
Chris Rathbone told the Board the Park Board voted to issue the following statement: “If the Board of Aldermen votes to place the sales tax question of the ballet that would cut the current level of funding for parks, the Park Board will publicly oppose the ballet. The Park Board at this time will support the question that renews the 1/8 cent sales tax with the current split of 75/25% for storm water. The Board of Aldermen must understand this amount is not sustainable for parks and we will continue the deficit spending. We expect to come back to the Board of Aldermen in the not too distant future to work out a solution.”
The Board passed a resolution approving the appointment of Daneen Thurman to the Planning & Zoning Commission.
The Board voted unanimously declaring a nine-month moratorium on the acceptance, processing and issuance of business license applications, building permits, occupancy permits, package liquor licenses and development approval applications for liquor stores, smoke shops, and convenience stores and similar uses within neighborhood commercial zoned districts within the city of Raytown.
The Board heard the first reading of an ordinance approving the final site plan of Somerset Village Apartments in Wilson View. Curtis Peterson, on behalf of KM-TEH Realty, owners of the property located at 9611/13 E 60th Street, is requesting approval of the final site plan in order to replace the building that burnt down. The building that was destroyed contained 11 dwelling units and the proposed replacement building also contains 11 dwelling units. Somerset Village is a complex of 13 buildings that has 156 dwelling units. The complex is located on East 60th Street just west of Raytown Road. The building that was destroyed is located 9811 E. 60th Street and was destroyed by fire in February 2016.
The Board heard the first reading of an ordinance amending Chapter 2 of the Raytown Municipal Code. At the April 2, 2019 General Election, the citizens of the City of Raytown, voted to make the Chief of Police position an appointed position instead of an elected position (vote was 2725/1065). It is necessary to amend the Raytown Municipal Code to reflect the changes necessary due to the results of the election.
The Board heard the first reading of an ordinance authorizing the submission at the special election to be held November 5, 2019 for the question of whether the city shall continue to impose a sales tax in the amount of one eighth of one percent for the purpose of funding local parks/storm water control within the city for a term of ten years and imposing such tax if approved by a majority of the qualified voters. At the April 16, 2019 Board of Aldermen meeting, during a discussion item brought forth by Alderman Ryan Myers, Staff was directed to draft the attached ordinance for the Board’s consideration.
The attached ordinance proposes to extend the existing sales tax rate of 1/8th of one percent for the purpose of funding Local Parks/Storm Water Control within the City for a term of 10 years. The monies received from the Local Parks/Storm Water Control sales tax will be distributed as follows: 60% to local parks; 30% to storm water control and the remaining 10% shall be reserved for Local Parks and Storm Water Control purposes. The special election date of November 5, 2019 is the requested date for this item to be placed on the ballot. The final date of certification for the November 2019 election is August 27, 2019. The Parks Sales tax was first approved by voters in November 2003 as a Local Parks sales tax. In May of 2010, staff was directed to draft a renewal that was consistent with statutory language changes to include the language of Local Parks/Storm Water Control.
The Board approved a resolution approving the purchase of mobile and portable radios and accessories from Motorola Solutions. The Police Department radio system is part of the Metropolitan Area Regional Radio System (MARRS). The radios used by the Police Department are the Motorola XTL2500 Mobile Radios. Motorola stopped production of the XTL2500 series radios in 2014. On January 1st, 2020 support will no longer be available for the 2500 series Motorola radios.
The MARRS Board has established minimum standards for radios purchased for use on the MARRS system, which are; capability for AES and DSS encryption, 700-800 MHz, multi-key, OTAR (Over the Air Re-keying for encryption) capable and P-25 Phase Two capable. The Motorola APX4500 Mobile radio meets these standards. This is an annual purchase, in the fourth year of a five-year plan, to replace all of the 2500 series radios in use by the Police Department. The radios are to be purchased through the Johnson County, Kansas Radio and Accessories Contract 07-13201/DL with Motorola Solutions, Inc. The cost of 12 Motorola APX4500 mobile radios will be $35,402.40 from Capital Sales Tax.
Programming and P25 certifying all radios will be $540.00 from Capitol Sales Tax. This purchase is a budgeted item and has been approved by the Sales Tax Oversight Committee on April 23rd, 2019. On April 6th, 2019 the Board of Alderman approved the acceptance of the 2018 Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG), resolution number R-3196-19. The police department is utilizing these funds to purchase three additional Motorola APX4500 radios and programming. The cost will be $8,985.60 from the General fund, and the cost will be reimbursed through the JAG grant. The total purchase price for 15 radios with programming will be $44,928.00.
The Paul Livius Report
Raytown
Board of Aldermen Meeting – May 21, 2019
Mayor McDonough issued aproclamation
recognizing Public Works Week. He issued
aproclamation recognizing EMS Week. Matt
Jones, principle of Westridge Elementary, issued a proclamation recognizing the
nine students who created the Autism Awareness Team.Brian Morris said building a splash pad, dog park, and repairing the tennis courts at Kenagy Park are high on the Park Board’s list of expenditures. The main question is how to pay for all this. He said some in the community have suggested the Park Board spend the reserves. He said he would love to, but since there is no guarantee how much tax money will be available in the future, it would be irresponsible to spend the reserves when there is a possibility of no income.
Chris Rathbone told the Board the Park Board voted to issue the following statement: “If the Board of Aldermen votes to place the sales tax question of the ballet that would cut the current level of funding for parks, the Park Board will publicly oppose the ballet. The Park Board at this time will support the question that renews the 1/8 cent sales tax with the current split of 75/25% for storm water. The Board of Aldermen must understand this amount is not sustainable for parks and we will continue the deficit spending. We expect to come back to the Board of Aldermen in the not too distant future to work out a solution.”
The Board passed a resolution approving the appointment of Daneen Thurman to the Planning & Zoning Commission.
The Board voted unanimously declaring a nine-month moratorium on the acceptance, processing and issuance of business license applications, building permits, occupancy permits, package liquor licenses and development approval applications for liquor stores, smoke shops, and convenience stores and similar uses within neighborhood commercial zoned districts within the city of Raytown.
The Board heard the first reading of an ordinance approving the final site plan of Somerset Village Apartments in Wilson View. Curtis Peterson, on behalf of KM-TEH Realty, owners of the property located at 9611/13 E 60th Street, is requesting approval of the final site plan in order to replace the building that burnt down. The building that was destroyed contained 11 dwelling units and the proposed replacement building also contains 11 dwelling units. Somerset Village is a complex of 13 buildings that has 156 dwelling units. The complex is located on East 60th Street just west of Raytown Road. The building that was destroyed is located 9811 E. 60th Street and was destroyed by fire in February 2016.
The Board heard the first reading of an ordinance amending Chapter 2 of the Raytown Municipal Code. At the April 2, 2019 General Election, the citizens of the City of Raytown, voted to make the Chief of Police position an appointed position instead of an elected position (vote was 2725/1065). It is necessary to amend the Raytown Municipal Code to reflect the changes necessary due to the results of the election.
The Board heard the first reading of an ordinance authorizing the submission at the special election to be held November 5, 2019 for the question of whether the city shall continue to impose a sales tax in the amount of one eighth of one percent for the purpose of funding local parks/storm water control within the city for a term of ten years and imposing such tax if approved by a majority of the qualified voters. At the April 16, 2019 Board of Aldermen meeting, during a discussion item brought forth by Alderman Ryan Myers, Staff was directed to draft the attached ordinance for the Board’s consideration.
The attached ordinance proposes to extend the existing sales tax rate of 1/8th of one percent for the purpose of funding Local Parks/Storm Water Control within the City for a term of 10 years. The monies received from the Local Parks/Storm Water Control sales tax will be distributed as follows: 60% to local parks; 30% to storm water control and the remaining 10% shall be reserved for Local Parks and Storm Water Control purposes. The special election date of November 5, 2019 is the requested date for this item to be placed on the ballot. The final date of certification for the November 2019 election is August 27, 2019. The Parks Sales tax was first approved by voters in November 2003 as a Local Parks sales tax. In May of 2010, staff was directed to draft a renewal that was consistent with statutory language changes to include the language of Local Parks/Storm Water Control.
The Board approved a resolution approving the purchase of mobile and portable radios and accessories from Motorola Solutions. The Police Department radio system is part of the Metropolitan Area Regional Radio System (MARRS). The radios used by the Police Department are the Motorola XTL2500 Mobile Radios. Motorola stopped production of the XTL2500 series radios in 2014. On January 1st, 2020 support will no longer be available for the 2500 series Motorola radios.
The MARRS Board has established minimum standards for radios purchased for use on the MARRS system, which are; capability for AES and DSS encryption, 700-800 MHz, multi-key, OTAR (Over the Air Re-keying for encryption) capable and P-25 Phase Two capable. The Motorola APX4500 Mobile radio meets these standards. This is an annual purchase, in the fourth year of a five-year plan, to replace all of the 2500 series radios in use by the Police Department. The radios are to be purchased through the Johnson County, Kansas Radio and Accessories Contract 07-13201/DL with Motorola Solutions, Inc. The cost of 12 Motorola APX4500 mobile radios will be $35,402.40 from Capital Sales Tax.
Programming and P25 certifying all radios will be $540.00 from Capitol Sales Tax. This purchase is a budgeted item and has been approved by the Sales Tax Oversight Committee on April 23rd, 2019. On April 6th, 2019 the Board of Alderman approved the acceptance of the 2018 Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG), resolution number R-3196-19. The police department is utilizing these funds to purchase three additional Motorola APX4500 radios and programming. The cost will be $8,985.60 from the General fund, and the cost will be reimbursed through the JAG grant. The total purchase price for 15 radios with programming will be $44,928.00.
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20 comments:
To me, parks are wants. There are a number of parks that are high maintenance that are outside the city limits. The city has verified needs! Such as storm water issues, roads, in which $36 million is needed just to gat all roads to average. There are sewer lines crumbling due to age. The city needs more money, period, but they can’t get it because some people don’t “trust” them. But hey, we'll give it all to the subpar school district and the fire district.
I for one am upset about the parks tax. I was told it would be voted on June 4th and so I planned to go make a public comment in support of the quarter cent proposed by the parks board. Now I'm not able.
Also it should be noted the sales tax won't be reduced for over a year if this fails.
I think the city missed out on an opportunity to get the needed money for storm water and parks here.
Maybe they didn't want the auditor to be there for this issue and had to pass it before.
Also, if you have Comcast/Infinity as your cable provider the BOA meetings are broadcast live on ch. 7.
I hope you all share your concerns and comments on this blog with the state auditor.
This Nation has seen too much corruption from elected officials and we don't need it here in Raytown, which is why the citizens want the state audit.
Good idea, and have codes show up at your house the next day. The mayor won't have any disagreement, look at the last couple meetings, he's kicked a citizen out for disagreeing and went off on an aldermen.
So after months of doing nothing with the parks tax request it had to be done in one night?
The parks board threatened rebellion and after a closed session came back with giving the board everything they asked for and went back on everything they said?
I can't wait for the audit.
Well I guess that I am old school. dsI drive some around Raytown and on streets like 72d st. and
many others there are holes along the curb . I drive on streets that are very rough and have so
many patches that the patches are being patched. Now I know that it takes money to fix these
streets sand money is in short supply.
Now we are supposed to impose a new tax for the park dept. so that they can uild a dog park and a
splash pad for the kids. After we build these if the tax passes they will have to maintain them at a
cost to the taxpayers for years to come.
Why do not dew just maintain what we have, If we ever vote to increase our taxes to maintain the
streets the way we should then we may have a better street to go to the park which is still being
maintained.
I am well aware to the Walmart problem (and I wonder if some of our leaders really are aware of it)
but we need to take care of infrastructure or we will not really need to have a dog park and a
splash pad.
Please please act in good faith for our city take care of what we have.
@May 26, 2019 at 6:47 PM
Just to be clear, the park and storm water ballot issue the Board of Aldermen passed was *not* what Parks wanted. It was much closer to what the Board of Aldermen wanted. That said, it was passed in a spirit of good faith and compromise between the respective boards. I am very grateful to Mr. Rathbone and Mr. Turner for their help in temporarily resolving the issue. By doing so, we've bought some time to explore some other funding and revenue sources that will help the city, including the Parks Department.
As possibly the first person who signed Tony's petition, I support the audit. As I've said before, it can only do two things: (1) show us where we need to improve, or (2) confirm that we are running a tight ship. I will be satisfied in either event. But the audit will have nothing to do with this particular vote.
-derek ward
Alderman, Ward 5
I have read where the park board conducted a study with a survey for about $90,000 two years ago. I do not wonder if the results would be different if the same poll was conducted today. It would be radically different. People are more concerned about getting their streets fixed and decent police protection.
Those alternatives for use of our taxes were not in the parks very expensive survey. Do you wonder why?
The survey that was conducted would probably be the same today as it was then. The questions were not how to fix everything in Raytown. The goal was to find out what the residents wanted to see in their parks.
The tax dollars collected by the parks can't be spent on the streets. The residents voted the money for the parks and storm water and it has to be spent on the parks and storm water.
Mr Ward,
Thank you again for working to keep us informed.
I would like to offer some options on the ballot laungage, which as Mr Walters pointed out is more than enough time being the board put the item on the November ballot.
Why not make it a two question item?
Question 1 would be about the renewal.
Question 2 would have three options much like deciding an Alderman, but in this case of the split on the tax money.
Something like this
75% for parks and 25% for storm sewer
50% for parks and 50% for storm sewer
25% for parks and 75% for storm sewer
As long as question 1 passes the split will be set by which item above from question 2 gets the most votes.
To be honest with you if my only option is 75% for parks I am a NO vote and I am not alone. Like you I have spoken with neighbors and friends in Raytown and we expect money for storm sewers to be at least 50%.
I think when the board decided to make it 75%/25% it is their way of saying fail this.
Can the board really take the 4th turn down on tax request in a little of a year time frame?
There is NO JUSTIFICATION in giving the park board more money when we have issues with them spending the money they have as well as all the water issues we are facing because of the weather this year.
The people have time and time again said we need money for STREETS and the city elected officials have done everything but what we have requested.
There is NO trust with our elected officials because of the past history of giving the city money that is not spent as promised.
I do feel for you as being on the board at this time given our cities history there is a lot that must change to restore our faith, which has to only add to the stress related to your position.
Please stay strong for us, but understand us too.
That would be 4 ballot questions and really expensive and confusing. This isn't a hoghschool test ots real life woth millions of dollars at stake.
3:18 Thank you for supporting a NO vote
We need streets!
I am a voter and a taxpayer. I will say NO to 75/25 but I would agree to 50/50. Like a previous poster already said.... 25% for parks is enough already, so 25/75 would get a sign of support in my yard.
I really don't get why the two were ever joined at the hip, except that it made the original proposal easier to sell. Then, curiously, the parks glommed onto all of it until their hand was caught in the cookie jar by Alderman Black.
I know several of our elected officials are challenged with numbers and once again it appears they or their alternate personalities are alive and writing on this blog much like good old 3:18 PM on May 29th.
Rechecking the bloggers writing that I you, 3:18, are talking about they would be correct with two questions.
As they wrote 1 is the yes/no for the tax and 2 sets the split.
It seems a very reasonable approach for living in a free society to allow actual input from those who take the time to vote.
As for me it wouldn't mater as to question 2 being I will be voting no on question 1.
Based on the money the parks department has in reserves and the public attacks on the Alderman by the park director and park board president it will be some time before I see they need for more money going to the parks department.
Something I have questioned since the first parks/storm water ballot that I voted on:
Why a split???????????
Why not vote on them as separate issues which they are? One question for parks and one question for storm water. Why not let the voters chose one or both? When I voted, I would have voted NO on parks but the only reason I voted YES was because of storm water. My YES vote on parks was forced because I wanted to vote YES for storm water.
Andy Whiteman
11:17 NO WE DID NOT!
What the city asked was money for the general funds that they claimed would go to streets, but based on their history we know that was a lie.
They also said they wanted a tax on gas that had to go to streets, but refused to add anything to the ballot language that they couldn't reduce the current budget by the amount the new tax would generate.
Please understand the history of this city and how government pays games with tax dollars before making blanketed statements.
Andy,
Please review the state statue (law) that allows this.
That is right it is the great minds in Jefferson City that said these two questions can be one.
Hope that answers your question and that you have a blessed day.
Stupid me that believes spending money on storm sewers needs to be a higher priority over some splash park for the homeless to come shower.
As I have driven our streets the past couple of weeks of heavy rain, it is clear we have to do something about the storm sewer water as that water is eating away at our streets.
This means the dollar amount projected to fix our streets is growing greater with every rain storm.
Join me this November 5th and say "no" to the things we don't need and cannot afford at this time.
Part of being an effective and transparent public servant especially in Raytown in the role of Alderman is providing unbiased and necessary information to their constituents. The average citizen does not follow the inner workings of departmental budgets and other issues prevalent at City Hall and that is not a slash at them. Heck if you simply look at the low % of voters who actually make the track to the polls it is very apparent people are rarely interested in politics locally in most towns. But with that prevalent apathy also can lead to very vulnerable people who if you push the right hot buttons can be be swayed quite easily if you can appeal to their present issue. In discussing and educating those citizens I mentioned I feel it is immperative to mention/educate that the 25% of the Parks /Storm water Tax that was decided to be presented in November to voters is NOT the total amount of budget dollars allocated to address the storm water needs in Raytown. I recommend contacting your particular Alderman and establish a dialogue and relationship and have them outline the revenue stream discussed here and also share the as stored projects and budget established to fund these. Take interest in your town Raytown and get to know your leadership. Demand transparency and also a timely response to your inquiry.
Enjoy your summer folks and get out to the many family events your Parks Dept is putting together for our enjoyment!
Steve Meyers
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