RAYTOWN'S LEADING NEWS SOURCE
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The
Raytown Fire District alleges the City of Raytown has over-billed the District for its share of TIF obligations on the
350 Live TIF tax district and is negligent in providing state mandated reports to the public.
If
true, the repercussions could be significant.
 |
| BY GREG WALTERS |
Fire District / City
at Odds Over TIF Bills
at Odds Over TIF Bills
The
Raytown Fire Protection District has alleged discrepancies in how the City of
Raytown has been handling tax dollar funds derived from the 350 Live TIF (tax
increment financing) District. The 350 Live TIF District contains the Walmart
store on 350 Highway.
Four
times a year the Fire District sends a check from sales tax funds it receives to pay down the debt owed to bond holders of the 350 Live TIF Development to the city.
The TIF Agreement was signed by the City and Fire District in 2006. The Fire District agreed to waive 50% of its sales tax revenue from sales at the new Walmart Store on 350 Highway. The agreement also stipulates the District is to pay 100% of the property tax receipts on certain properties within the 350 Live TIF District.
The TIF Agreement was signed by the City and Fire District in 2006. The Fire District agreed to waive 50% of its sales tax revenue from sales at the new Walmart Store on 350 Highway. The agreement also stipulates the District is to pay 100% of the property tax receipts on certain properties within the 350 Live TIF District.
In
an internal audit, Fire District officials say they have found the City of Raytown has been
overcharging the Fire District's sales tax portion of the TIF obligation since 2006. The report
also alleges the city has not refunded any of the property tax revenue at a
rate of 50% as spelled out in the 350 Live agreement.
Through a
thorough search of records from the Missouri State Auditor’s office, Fire
District officials also found the City of Raytown has been inconsistent in filing
reports with the State in a timely and accurate manner. In some cases, reports
required by State Law have not been filed by the city.
SECTION
99.865.1 – PUBLIC DISCLOSURE NOT SATISFIED
In
2009 the Missouri State Legislature amended Section 99.865.1 of Missouri State
Statutes. The section requires municipalities with active TIF projects to
provide annual public reports in a newspaper of general distribution as to the financial
condition of all TIF projects.
The
section also requires a public hearing be held at least once every five years to
receive feedback from the public on TIF projects within their jurisdiction. At
which time the governing body of the city is supposed to vote in public session
to re-affirm or deny the TIF.
The
Fire District alleges the City has not followed the 2009 law requiring a public
hearing or the publishing of reports on an annual basis for public review.
Former Mayor David Bower, City
Administrator Mahesh Sharma and City Finance Director Mark Loughry’s signature
appear on some of the documents from the State Auditor’s office.
In
other words, the City of Raytown is aware of timely reporting requirements as
required by state law.
Specifically, the
Fire District claims that since the 2009 revision to Section 99.865.1, Raytown
has failed in three areas as regards reports to the public. Those
areas include:
- Annual Reports to the Missouri Department of Economic Development Reports and to the Missouri State Auditor’s office have been non-existent or incomplete.
- The city is required to advertise in a newspaper of local circulation annually of the reports and where they can be viewed by the public. The City of Raytown has ignored the process.
- The city is required to hold a public hearing every five years in which it is to disseminate information about the TIF projects to the public. The City Council is supposed to re-affirm the creation of the TIF District by public vote at the public hearing. Once again, the city has ignored the process.
ANALYSIS
What’s
next?
Fire
District officials have contacted Mayor Michael McDonough and informed him of
the lack of public reporting and the economic significance of the aledged mishandling
of TIF tax dollars. They have shared an immense amount of documentation with the Mayor to back up their claims.
As for the issue of public disclosure as required by state law It
is clear the City Hall has been negligent in following the letter of the law with reports to the public.
The
Missouri State Auditor’s office has been made aware of the situation, and may
become involved in any investigation if the evidence provided by the Fire District merit.
The
Raytown Board of Aldermen’s liaison to the Fire District is Ward 2 Alderman
Jason Greene. Mayor McDonough appointed Greene as Liaison to the Fire District in May of 2015. His duties include attending Fire District Board
meetings. He is also charged with reporting back to the Board the results of
those meetings.
In
his role as liaison, Alderman Greene has arranged meetings between his fellow
Aldermen and the officials from the Raytown Fire District so that all
information is shared amongst elected officials.
Alderman
Greene’s action as liaison has come under come under some criticism from some of his seatmates on the Board of Aldermen. The criticism is without merit.
An
elected public official has a responsibility to become knowledgeable in all
matters that deal with the city’s finances and how they are managed. Each
Alderman, when sworn into office, takes an oath to uphold all of the laws of
the State of Missouri while in office.
Greene should be praised for his efforts to bring the two governing bodies together to discuss the matter . . . not criticized.
Greene should be praised for his efforts to bring the two governing bodies together to discuss the matter . . . not criticized.
The
Fire District has been very forthcoming in their effort to share what they have
discovered with the City.
The
Mayor and members of the Board of Aldermen have a responsibility to find out
who dropped the ball in handling city tax dollars, and just as important, who
at city hall decided it is not important to inform the public of information as
required by state law.
Paul’s
Rant! BY PAUL LIVIUS
Have
you noted the similarities between the Fire Department / City dispute and
recent Park Board / City dispute? In both cases, individuals on the city’s
payroll have been careless in their handling of city tax funds.
In
the Park Board dispute, voters were promised a portion of their sales tax
dollars would be used to repair storm sewer problems, the balance would go to
the Park Department. The reality was the Park Department was receiving one
hundred percent of the tax dollars for the first six years of the sales tax.
If
the allegations brought forth by the Raytown Fire District prove to be true,
sales tax dollars were not properly allocated to the 350 Live TIF District.
If
true, it will be the second time in one year it has been discovered city
officials were remiss in keeping the city’s promise and following state law.
Two
positions at City Hall are charged with making certain the city’s business is
managed.
They
are the City Administrator and City Finance Director. It is there signatures
that appear on documents on some of the reports to the State.
The
combined salary of those two individuals is well over $250,000 annually (yes,
one quarter of a million dollars!). It is their responsibility to make certain
city business is conducted on the up and up.
The
problems outlined in the Fire District’s report (which has been made available to
the Mayor and Board of Aldermen) indicate mishandling of city tax dollars.
The
Mayor and Board of Aldermen should step up and find out why state statutes are
not being followed.
The allegations point to serious problems at City Hall.
Our elected officials should consider asking the Missouri State Auditor to
review the situation and make recommendations.
It
was almost one year ago that the voters in Raytown replaced all but one
position at Raytown City Hall. The people of Raytown were very clear in their
desire for reform and change at City Hall. If the City Council and Mayor do not
vigorously have this scandal investigated, then they are not any better than
the people they replaced.
The Paul Livius Report
Raytown
Board of Aldermen Meeting – February 16, 2016
Mayor
McDonough thanked everyone who worked on the Sales Tax/Storm Water Oversight
Committee. He said he was looking
forward to the report at the end of the meeting. He asked for a Moment of Silence for the
people who tragically died in the fire.
He then congratulated the Raytown Police Department for solving the
murder of Harry Stone.
The
Board passed a resolution to amended formal and comprehensive schedule of fees
and charges. Brenda Gustafson told the
Board the City’s contractor fee schedule for a Raytown business license has 36
categories with varying fee amounts from $35.00 to $100.00. The amendment proposes changing the schedule
of fees so that all contractors pay $50.00.
This change is for contractors only and would not affect gross business
(retail) licensing. The change would
help simplify the licensing application for contractors. It would also make paying and online
applications easier for the contractor.
The fees have not changed in ten years.
The
following provides information on what neighboring jurisdictions charge:
Lee’s
Summit Flat - $ 50.00
Blue
Springs Flat - $ 75.00
Gladstone
Flat - $100.00
Raymore
Flat - $100.00
The
following table provides information on how the change is projected to affect
City revenues and how many contractors will be affected.
Contractor’s
breakdown by fee:
Fee
No. of contractors Current Revenue Change in Revenue
$35
contractors 355 $15,731.60 +$5,325.00
$50
contractors 313 $21,030.10 no change
$75
contractors 120 $10,437.50 -$3,000.00
$100
contractors 1 $100.00 -$ 100.00
Net
change to City Revenue +$2,225.00
The
Board passed a resolution approving participation by the city in the Missouri
Department of Transportation Highway Safety Crash Reduction/Hazardous Moving
Enforcement Project and an application for a grant funding in connection with
the Highway Safety Crash Reduction/Hazardous Moving Enforcement grant for such
purpose. If awarded, the City intends to use these reimbursement funds to
decrease hazardous driving related crashes.
The grant allows for approximately 144 hours of enforcement overtime and
to send one person to the annual LETSAC conference. There is no match required
by the City for this grant.
The
Board passed a resolution approving the purchase of computer equipment and
supplies from Dell Marketing, off the Midwestern Higher Education commission
agreement in an amount not to exceed $22,591.
The Police Department utilizes an IT hardware replacement schedule. This
allows the department to better forecast expenditures and avoid large, one-time
expenses of hardware replacement. Sixteen workstations are scheduled for
replacement this year.
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Comments
NOTE: When I was elected secretary/treasurer of a fire district, the previous secretary/treasurer advised me the first year of the documents I was required to fill and when. It is quite possible that elected officials and city employees, even though they are responsible, are ignorant of the filing requirements. In this case, my opinion is, that the City Attorney and/or auditor should be advising and catching these mistakes.
Andy Whiteman
Don't ASSUME anything in this mess at city hall.
It is going to make an ASS out of several.
This includes when you ASSUME that there is a mandated process for a state audit.
It is also bad to ASSUME what was and was not reviewed by the city auditor.
Why do you ASSUME it is the attorney's responsibility?
Why do you ASSUME it is a NEW law?
The following individuals are rumored to be running for State Representative in the upcoming Democratic Primary. If the election were today, who would you vote for? No Republican candidates are believed to be in the mix.
1) Jim Aziere
2) Josh Greene
3) Anwar Khan
4) Ryan Meyer
Who in their right mind really believes he has stayed out of trouble on the Board.
I don't even know where to begin on the his foolish actions.
He has been chair of committees and then never shows, which forces the assistant chair to head the meetings.
He more than once said he wanted a Charter and at the end of the day after serving on the Charter Commission were he voted in favor of 95% of the items. Publicly spoke against the charter, which wasted tax dollars and continues to hold our hostage at the hands of the state of MO.
We should also not forget he was a member of the board when this 350 Live (Walmart) TIF was signed into action.
Maybe he could issue a public statement where he is on the things reported on this blog this week and what steps he believes are needed to get to the truth and who at city hall will be held accountable.
The one good thing I will say is praise the lord that he is not still teaching our children for based on his skipping meetings, flipping on issues and not doing things in the best interest of the city he shouldn't be around kids to teach them that his actions are what is acceptable in society.
Anwar Khan once ran against Bower for mayor. Aziere stays out of trouble on the board of alderman, God forbid that he should be proud of his votes. May be Mr. Meyer is a good man?
That is not really accurate. One candidate is a former Republican Committeeman, but is not now. It is true he has filed as a Democrat. So has the leading the candidate for Governor on the Democratic ticket. The point is, the comment made a false statement in saying the candidate was currently a Republican Committeeman. A couple of other comments made accusations that are purely opinions. In one case, a candidate was accused of missing important votes on the City Council. Fair enough, which important votes did he miss?
The point here is that if you are going to post anonymously, be ready to back up your words with facts. If you are going to take personal shots at someone, man up, or, as the case may be, lady up, and sign your real name to your post.
Otherwise you can expect your blog to be either edited or deleted.
I don't want to call BS on you, but when you step in it you don't need to roll in it.
I noticed comments about one of the candidates for state representative had been removed.
However, I would like to call you out on what was not a fact about that candidate.
Have me uncovered that Paul is real Jim Aziere?
Or at least an Aziere supporter?
The other comment claimed another announced candidate had missed many important votes on the Raytown City Council . . . but failed to mention which important votes were missed.
There are a few other comments so outlandish in their presentation that they bordered on libel. Of course, the comments were unsigned.
I don't mind that comments are placed anonymously, but we will check them for accuracy. As I wrote last night. If you are going to make an accusation, do so with some evidence to support what is being said.
If your comment contains inaccurate information or profanity, it will be edited or removed.
By the way. I am not Jim Aziere. You have eliminated one Raytowner out of about 30,000. Only 29,999 left to go. Good luck!
I agree with your sentiment on removing unfounded, malicious text from this page. However, if you are going to correct somebody's post, I think you should declare that it was corrected as well.
I take issue with you for you comment Paul
ISSUE: DOLLAR GENERAL STORE ZONING APPLICATION
YES: Jason Greene, Steve Mock, Bill VanBuskirk, Eric Teeman
Janet Emerson, Steve Meyers, Mark Moore
NO: Karen Black
ABSENT: Jim Aziere, Josh Greene
As I said both Aziere and Josh Greene missed another meeting. And for Josh this was a vote on
a issue that was for his Ward you would think that the people in his ward would matter.
8:50 am and 8:11 am comment can't both be true so which one is true ?? I'm very curious as to which is factual
I guess the only fact is that they are all rumored to be running. I am certain we will know for sure in the very near future.
Where is the petition so we can sign it?
February 24 at 10:02 A.M. get your facts straight. What a screwed up a mess you wrote.
Someone at city hall has to be responsible. Unless the city council and mayor get rid of the person(s) responsible for the wrongful billing, look for it to happen again and again.
Our elected representatives need to man up and take care of business.
The time for half-baked excuses is over. Fix the problem.
Someone at city hall didnt file a report. Someone gets paid too much...fine, knock the salary back to its original level and give every resident a buck. Wheeee!
We have too many discount stores...BECAUSE WE HAVE RELATIVELY LOW
INCOMES. Demographics dont lie. It's not a conspiracy. Nordstrom and Mortons aren't coming for the very reason Dollar Gen and whoever else has shown up. Dollars and demographics.
What happened to all the Agenda 21 tin foilers who thought the city was about to condemn and take everyone's homes because an obscure United Nations document mentioned something about going green. Sorry, but global domination wont likely begin with a bike path in front of the Raytown IHOP.
Our problems are miniscule and the opportunity to gripe about such small things is a luxury.
I just wish we felt as strongly about maintaining our property as we do about the former mayor wanting a parade.
Come on...clean up your property and ask your neighbors to do the same. We can make a difference in this town if we actually make a difference in lieu of complaining.
Let's go!!!!