RAYTOWN'S LEADING NEWS SOURCE

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NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION: It may sound corny, but why not resolve to do something nice for someone every day?
 

BY GREG WALTERS

Committee on Sales 

Tax Making Headway

The special committee on the Storm Water / Park Sales Tax held its third meeting last Tuesday. The meeting was held specifically to receive public feedback on the fate of the division of revenue from a sales tax approved by voters in 2010.

About 20 people were on hand to give and hear testimony at the meeting which lasted one and one-half hours.

Nearly all those who took the podium expressed a desire for the city to honor the ballot language of the tax which specifically called for a division of the revenue between storm water repair and park needs.

Another topic that frequently came up by those addressing the Committee had to do with the fate of city’s water park, Super Splash, USA.  Many speakers suggested the park department shut down the water park which has run a six-figure deficit in operating costs for many years.

Committee Chairman Ralph Monaco and a number of the committee members responded they appreciated the testimony on the water park, but their main focus was how to split the tax revenue between storm water and park needs.

Monaco closed the meeting by stating a compromise was needed to resolve the Committee’s work. He went on to say the Committee’s work will now be focused on the percentage of a split for the tax revenue.

The next meeting was set for January 12^th at 6:30 p.m. at Raytown City Hall.

BY PAUL LIVIUS

Paul’s Rant

Greg’s report on the Storm Water / Park Sales Tax Committee pretty much sums up the progress made in a relatively short time by the committee. It appears the committee may wind up its work at its next meeting.

I am pleased it is coming to a conclusion.  The final decision may not satisfy either side of the issue completely, but at least this will bring it to a close.

So far the sales tax has gone 100% towards park funds for the first five years of its existence. The Board of Aldermen has allowed the status quo of 100% of the revenue to flow to the park department in the 2016 budget year. So in reality, the park board had captured more than half of the funds the tax will create in its ten year life span. The tax has a sunset clause that ends its existence in 2020.

From my point of view it is time to reverse where the tax revenue flows in the future. As a recent study of storm sewer needs by the city has pointed out, there are plenty of areas where flooding in Raytown during heavy rains should be addressed.

The Committee should recommend the remaining years of the tax be devoted entirely towards storm sewer needs. In doing so, the City would be keeping its word with the voters of Raytown.

The Park Board has received six of the ten years worth of revenue. It is time the City kept the promise it made in the 2010 ballot language which led voters to believe storm water problems would be addressed if the tax passed.

It would also show the public that this Board of Aldermen is sincere in treating the public in a fair and honest manner.  The good will it would create is a plus the city could use after eight years of the previous administration’s mishandling of the city’s business.

Another Park Sales 

Tax on the Horizon? By Greg Walters and Paul Livius

ETC INSTITUTE/LEISURE VISION is a commercial firm that specializes in selling tax increases for local governments. As they state on their website “The firm has extensive experience conducting surveys as components of plans leading to successful voter elections.”

ETC has been contracted by the Park Department to evaluate park programs and to make recommendations for the future of the park department.

So it comes as no surprise that their spin machine was working overtime last week when they rolled out the results of a survey mailed to select Raytowners.

ETC reported 486 “completed” surveys were returned. But the numbers do not support the claim.

One crucial question regarding Super Splash asked respondents to choose two options they would support regarding Super Splash.

If two answers were required, the total “completed” surveys should have had 972 responses. At least half of those filling out the survey failed to respond properly. The incomplete surveys make the results meaningless.  Of the 486 “completed” surveys, only 580 responses were recorded.

The two response requirement would also skew any statistical results away from a solution calling for the closure of the failing water park. Despite the that hurdle, nearly 25% of the respondents chose to mark “Close Super Splash” as one of their answer.

The Real Reason for the Survey

Anyone interested in the real reason for the survey should take a long hard look at the data provided on pages 370 through 471 of the report from ETC Institute/Leisure Vision. Those pages are a summary of voter indications of for all previous questions in the survey.

It may be why the Survey was constructed in such a way that if person mailed it in, the mailer was known to ETC Institute. As explained in the Executive Summary Report on page 2 . . .

The survey was mailed to a random sample of 3,250 households in the City of Raytown. An option to complete the survey online was also available to residents who had that preference. Once the surveys were mailed, resident households who received the survey were contacted by phone. Those who indicated that they had not returned the survey by mail were given the option of completing it by phone.

The information gathered in the survey can come in pretty handy when creating target lists of possible voters in a sales tax election for Parks and Recreation.

If you are wondering why $50,000 of the taxpayers money was spent for this survey, now you know!

There is more . . . the second part of the ETC Contract, which has not been enacted at this point, has been budgeted by Park Board at a cost of another $40,000. Final approval of the contract requires approval of the Raytown Board of Aldermen before it can go forward.

View the survey results . . . PARK SURVEY

Thinking Outside the Box

END THE FIVE YEAR EFFORT TO SAVE SUPER SPLASH

City and Park officials have been struggling for over five years to find a way to make Super Splash a viable operation.

Despite their best efforts, nothing seems to bring more bodies to Super Splash. They have tried private management. It did not work. They have tried re-vamping management from inside the Park Department. It did not work.

In the 1980’s Raytown had many young families with many children who made Super Splash a success story.

The increased competition from other water park operations and the loss of a young population base to make use of the facility has dealt the Park Board a one-two punch they have not been able to overcome. 

Add to that an aging facility in need of major repairs, and you have created a public version of a money pit.

The Raytown School District recently opened the doors of the old YMCA facility to senior citizens. Why not create a partnership between the Park Department with the School Board to expand the use of the old YMCA? It could be open year round and serve more of the public.

The city and park board should quit throwing good money after bad. Shutter the Super Splash operation. Sell the property and put the money to work developing something that makes sense for all of Raytown.
 

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