IN THIS WEEK'S RAYTOWN REPORT
Taxes, Taxes . . . Everyone Wants to Tax Us! BY GREG WALTERS
PAUL’S
RANT . . . A Little Diversity Please BY PAUL LIVIUS
GARTH
BARE (1959 – 2017) BY GREG WALTERS
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| BY GREG WALTERS |
Taxes,
Taxes . . .
According to a press release on
Raytown’s official city website, Mayor Mike McDonough has established an “Ad
Hoc Committee to Review Revenue Enhancement”. For those not familiar with the word
smithing going on here, " Revenue Enhancement" is bureaucrat for "tax increase".
Which comes as no real surprise. If
anything was learned in the tumultuous budget sessions at City Hall this last
quarter, it was that the city is running out of money.
The reasons are many. Suffice to say
the increasing debt load owed on the 350 Live (Walmart) TIF and extremely high
costs from the police department combined to create a budget crisis. The cuts
in service and personnel at City Hall are the result.
. . . Everyone
wants to Tax Us!
The City of Raytown is not the first
public entity to announce its desire to raised taxes, levies and fees. In fact,
no less than three other local governmental units have discussed, and some have
even announced their desire to raise taxes in the next year.
RAYTOWN PARKS AND RECREATION: At a
recent meeting of the Raytown Board of Aldermen, representatives of the Raytown
Park Board announced their desire to double the sales tax they collect each
year from Raytowners. The increase would approve voter approval. A date has not
been set for the election. The current Parks Sales Tax does not expire until
2020.
RAYTOWN SCHOOL DISTRICT: It is not
widely known, but the Raytown School District has plans to ask the voters to
approve bonds, backed by property taxes, in the near future. The bond package would
require voter approval. If the bond package does not receive vote approval,
Raytown property taxes would be reduced.
RAYTOWN FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT: The
Raytown Fire Protection District has also held discussions of a possible tax
increase as well. At this point a date over even tax package has not been
settled on. Any increase in property or sales tax would require approval by
Raytown voters.
CITY OF RAYTOWN: The Mayor’s ad hoc
committee has yet to meet. But according to the press release from City
Administrator Tom Cole the date of a tax increase election is “yet to be
determined”.
Facing
an uphill battle.
The problem facing all of these
governmental groups, be it the Park Board, the Fire District, School District
or City or Raytown is that Raytown sales taxes are already one of the highest
in the area.
SALES TAX COMPARISON: The following
list shows where Raytown stacks up in a comparison of sales tax paid on taxable
retail items. The comparison is of the base sales tax rate.
Most cities have special taxing
districts that have higher rates. For instance, the sales tax rate in Raytown
is 8.35%. However, if you shop at Walmart in Raytown the rate tops out at close
to 10%. Other stores with similar (hidden) tax increases are HyVee, Sutherland
Lumber, and Aldis.
8.600% Kansas City
8.600% Kansas City
8.350% Raytown
8.100% Grandview
8.100% Blue Springs
8.100% Liberty
7.850% Lee’s Summit
7.850% Independence
7.725% Gladstone
7.850% Independence
7.725% Gladstone
The question facing the Mayor’s ad
hoc tax increase group is how do you convince voters to approve a sales tax increase
when they already pay the second highest sales tax in the metropolitan area?
NEXT WEEK . . . A look at property taxes.
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| BY PAUL LIVIUS |
PAUL'S RANT!
A Little Diversity Please
A contributor to the Raytown Report
Blog brought up an interesting topic the other day. He (or she) wrote:
Would have thought the Mayor would have put a woman or two
on the Committee. Many talented and progressive female minds in Raytown.
October 28, 2017 at 9:49 AM
The posting struck a nerve with me
so I did a little investigating to see if it was true.
So I visited the city’s website.
Whoever wrote it was spot on accurate. The Ad Hoc Committee is made up of seven
individuals. All of them male except for one person, and she, (City Finance
Director, Briana Burrichter) is on the committee because of her job. As the
City Finance Director it is her responsibility to provide support for all
things involved with money at city hall.
The other thing I find bothersome is
that the rest of the committee, with the exception of one person, are all names
I have seen before.
Steve Knabe and Terry Tuggle have
been on more special committees than I have fingers and toes. The same can be
said about Tommy Bettis.
Not that I have anything against those
guys. It just makes me wonder why, out of a population of 30,000, it always
seems the same names are being pulled out of the hat to get in on the ground
floor at anything at City Hall.
The rest of the committee are public
officials. City Administrator Tom Cole, Aldermen Ryan Myers and Jason Greene,
and one new comer (at least to me) Jason Hull.
I don’t know
Mr. Hull, but I did look him up Facebook. No mention of public service activity
there. So, it looks like Mr. Hull is the only newby brought to the table.
On Another
Subject . . .
All last week television
and radio stations were announcing that this past Saturday was National Drug
Take Back Day. Law enforcement agencies across the nation allowed people to drop off
expired and unused prescription drugs at various drop off points within the
community.
I checked on
the TAKE BACK DAY.DEA.GOV website see where we could take our unused
prescriptions.
Raytown was not
on the list! I don’t know why because, Raytown has a permanent drop off spot
for unused prescription meds.
There is a secure
mailbox type of container that was donated to the city by Jackson County Water
District No. 2, in the reception area of the Police Department. By the way, the
Police Department is open 24/7 – 365 days a year, so feel free to drop off the
unused meds at any time.
 | ||
| That's Garth on the right! |
Former
Raytown Ward 2 Alderman Garth Bare passed away on October 22nd.
Garth was a unique and talented man who lived a life of accomplishment that
many who read this page are not aware.
Garth held
Degrees in Law and Chemical Engineering. He served as President of the student
body at the University of Missouri at Columbia. He also travelled the world. He
volunteered and did Missionary work for his church in the jungles of the Philippines.
It should probably not come as a surprise that he also earned the rank of Eagle
in the Boy Scouts.
Garth
served two years on the Raytown Board of Aldermen (1983 thru 1985). At the
time, he was the youngest elected official in the history of Raytown.
During
his term of office he co-sponsored legislation to televise broadcasts of public meetings of the City Council. Raytown was the first city to bring this service to the public. It was Garth's idea to "request" the use of television of equipment from Jones Intercable as part of the deal to give them a license to operate in Raytown. To the Board's surprise, Garth's request was embraced by the cable giant.
Garth
was an environmentalist. When he and I learned that a local electric utility
company planned to use a defoliant under power lines to trees from growing into
the line, Garth went work. He had a unique skill set If you wanted to find out
something about anything he would dig in and literally become an expert on it.
In this case he learned all about the defoliant the utility planned to use. He
identified the main ingredient of defoliant as the the same used in jungles of Vietnam
by the United States Army to kill of dense growth of jungle. That defoliant was
named Agent Orange. It had been linked to cancer in soldiers returning from
combat duty in Vietnam.
In the
early 80’s we did not have social media. People relied upon the local
newspapers to keep them informed. Garth took his findings to the two local
newspapers. When the Kansas City Star picked up on the story, the utility
company backed off its plans to use defoliant in homeowner’s back yards.
He
stayed involved in local campaigns and politics after he completed his term of
office. In 1999 he partnered with me to create the Raytown Reporter. It was a
lot different in those days. Blogs had not yet been developed. So we would
write out stories, correspondence from readers would come in the form of
emails. We would manually re-copy the page to our website.
Then
one day, he called me up and said he wanted to try something new. Blogs had
come into existence. He showed me how to format and operate the page. Without
his help and guidance, you would probably not be reading this page today.
Most
people are unaware that Garth served two years as President of the student body
when he attended the University of Missouri at Columbia. He and his friends had
decided to run Garth for President. So they scraped together 150 signatures to
get him registered as a candidate. By comparison, the lead party had gathered
over 2500 tickets.
Garth
and his conspirators formed the Birthday Party. Students were surprised to find
themselves being served Birthday Cake when they visited the library and book
store. He and one of his “committee” found some used black suits at a used
clothing store.
When he
would arrive at public speaking events during the campaign he would be flanked
by a contingency of body guards to protect him, wearing the black suits. He
promised his fellow college students that, as President, he would flood the
College football field to hold mock naval battles for those who study history. He proposed painting parking curbs in
fluorescent colors so students could find their way back to their dorms late at
night.
When
the votes were counted, Garth had been elected in a land-slide of a record
turnout of voters. His closest opponent (the one with 2500 signed petitions)
received only 1500 votes!
Garth
was one of kind.
Being
in politics, I am aware of some of the oddities of national politics.
Things
like the “push-pull” line. Push-pull lines are photo opportunities in which an
accomplished individual is photographed shaking the hand of the President of
the United States. It is called a “push-pull” line because those who are
shaking the President’s hand are literally pushed into place, the hand is shook
by the President, and then the shaker is “pulled” away while the next
individual is pushed into place.
Garth
is the only person I know who actually participated in a push-pull line. Take a good look at the picture of Garth and President Carter. The button he is wearing reads "Stop The Draft".
Like I
said . . . he was one of a kind.
Garth
was only 59 years old when he died. He left us too soon.
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Comments
Just an observation from the cheap seats:
I own a sedan and an older SUV very much like the new police models. I would much rather try to get a perp into the back of my sedan than into my much higher SUV.
However the 4WDs, sitting higher, are much cooler looking and somewhat intimidating especially w the blacked out windows.
That being said, we have much bigger fish to fry here in Raytown.
Normally on Drug Take Back day the police dept has an officer and a volunteer at Kenagy Park and at City Hall to collect the meds.
It was cancelled this year because of the money troubles. As Greg said, the drug bin is located in the lobby of the police dept where you can drop off unused drugs at any time.
What does it take for them to have had the police station added as many other cities in the metropolitan area did exceptionally when there is a box that can be used 365/24/7.
I am not interested, nor am I voting for any school, fire or park tax. Will gladly agree with you on a big fat NO. They have all had their turns multiple times! When is it Raytowns turn??? I want good roads, sidewalks, streetlights, storm drains and police. The school district is the biggest portion and if they have money to buy the YMCA then they have money to burn. What I do disagree with tying a possible City levy To the overall tax burden, as a point of opposition. How can we fix Raytown without increasing the levy? And this is where you have no answers. Instead, you are saying too bad for the city. How can you justify this?
I wonder if I am the only one who thinks this is soooooo wrong.
What if the bizarre behavior is because the animal is rabid? If the raccoon runs to another yard, will animal control pursue it? Or will they wait until they receive another call. Finally, what if someone calls in the report but does not live on the property where it is running at large. Will the property owner who owns the property (but did not turn in the complaint) be billed for the service?
There is something wrong with an emergency service that gives a litany of conditions for them to do their job.
By the way. Raccoons are creatures of habit. They do not have bizarre behavior unless there is something seriously wrong. Like all warm blooded animals, they can carry the disease.
Somebody at city hall needs to re-think there job description.
When I lived in Independence, a sick raccoon came into our subdivision wandering around in the broad daylight. I called animal control and they showed up pronto and took care of the critter.
Services that are short staffed will limit what they can do, and cut corners.
7:05
Lazy???? The RPD has drug take back day EVERY day 24-7 in the lobby. I don't know but maybe they didn't add themselves to the list as the box in the lobby is not a special collection event as it's there all the time.
The officers would spend from 10am-2pm parked at city hall and Kenagy Park w/the volunteers. The officers would have to be paid for their time. There is no money in the budget for that. Do you work without getting paid?
Would you rather have them take drugs back or patrolling on the street?
I'd rather have them on the street.
You asked why people were concerned. I told you what they feel comforted when a policeman drives by and the personally know him or her.It is really that simple.
I can see how the dark tinted windows may be a handicap in an emergency situation, particurlarly if the the officer in the vehicle is in trouble. No one can see what is going on.
There are varying degrees of tint that can be used on driver and passenger side windows. That makes more sense than going overboard. The windows remind me of the stereotype highway patrolman who wear mirror like reflective sunglasses. Not really something you put on to put people at ease.
Seems to me we have more to worry about than window tint.
Instead of playing games, why don't you just say it outright? We're talking about millions in tax dollars and you want to play guessing games. What are you, eight?
It would have been nice for those who saw the information on the news and checked the website to know they didn't have to drive outside of the city.
Is that really asking too much?
To think the mayor has set up a committee to find new ways to tax us so him and his fellow conservatives can spend like there is no tomorrow.
You have decimated and ruined the EMS service and Public Works.
Good luck officers you deserved better I hope the city council in Kansas City do you better than you got here.
Thank You for what you did for us.
Gravel roads then. Smart real smart.
Yes the street lights are not as good. The fixture might be mounted too high. KC passed a sidewalk and streetlight tax many years ago and every street is lite up like a Christmas Tree. Raytown went with LED to save money.
I don't know your take, but being many in the community have gotten to know those same officers that the city should have done some kind of open house in the BOA chambers to say good by and best wishes to the officers.
Just more proof that the man at the top is the problem and his lack of professionalism has cost are city dearly.
There are plenty of people who live by that philosophy today. During the campaign Donald Trump said he didn't pay income taxes because he was too smart. He's one of those people who allow others to pay for his share of costs. I know folks complain about the welfare recipients, but people like Trump and his crowd are just as bad. They are all takers and users.
https://www.jacquielawson.com/ecard/pickup?code=7032069135526&source=jl999
This was on Fox 4 earlier today, but the report failed to indicate if he asked these same top brass officers if they see their responsibility as well as the union in Lynch's mismanagement.
Tough question too tough for fake news Fox.
Don't be out Foxed by Fox!
Yes, there are many who actually think this way.
You just don't get it. How thankful were all the people when they lost their jobs when Trump declared bankruptcy? I tried to look up how many bankruptcies there were and stopped counting at 15! That's 15 failed businesses. How many other companies ( the trickle-down effect) went out of business because Trump ran up huge debts and didn't pay? Yes, there are many who actually think this way.
The only thing that we are promised is no taxation without representation. That's as good as it gets.
I disagree with your idea that it's ok to not pay taxes. The poor should pay taxes, not have it all given back to them plus more.
The rich should pay taxes, not be able to hide from it with tax shelters and other schemes. Everybody should pay something. No exceptions.
Plain and simple the city gets very little property tax from the total collection. Still, can’t run a city on 40 year old budget.
And why is this amusing to you? We don't ask the President to fly fighter jets in wartime.
11:43
Hilarious!! NOT!
PD always gets the bad guys! Good job!!!!!
https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/two-kc-men-charged-armed-robbery-conspiracy
Don't jump to conclusions.
Yes, property taxes have not been increased by the city in over 40 years, but they have gone tax happy crazy with sales taxes in that same time frame.
We need a citizen committee to look at waste before we look at any new tax for the city regardless if it is property tax or sales tax.
We need to start with, but not limit the review to the police department and investigate if there are criminal changes needing to come forward for not hiring the promised staff from the public safety sales tax.
We need to make sure all properties are turned on for taxing and those that are not need to be on a public list and highly monitored for upkeep.
We need to find a professional individual to oversee the codes department that will ensure code violations are being enforce, which will keep property values where they should be.
We need review property values and challenge the county on any that are under valued to ensure they are paying their fair share starting with blocks properties on 350 highway.
We need to review and find a way out of those bonds to include, but not limited to a state investigation of wrong doing against block and company, Raytown School Distinct and the TIF board.
We need to review staffing across all departments and ensure there is not duplication of duties and other over staffing starting with the finance department and parks.
Until we complete this full review and cleaning we shouldn't even be talking about a tax increase or having some insider committee to make tax recommendations to the BOA.
Raytown is a great city, but after 40 years a good house cleaning will only make it better for future generations.
I like the way you think.
Andy Whiteman
You can blame the school district for your high taxes as it takes up the greatest portion of your tax bill.
Especially #2 and #3:
"We need a citizen committee to look at waste before we look at any new tax for the city regardless if it is property tax or sales tax."
"We need to start with, but not limit the review to the police department and investigate if there are criminal changes needing to come forward for not hiring the promised staff from the public safety sales tax."
The qualifications, behavior and actions, recent past and present, of each and every council member, mayor and chief of police needs to be reviewed by unaffiliated third parties, and where applicable, by the State. Immediately.
Andy Whiteman
"The qualifications, behavior and actions, recent past and present, of each and every council member, mayor and chief of police needs to be reviewed by unaffiliated third parties, and where applicable, by the State. Immediately."
Reviewing the qualifications of elected officials by the State is irrelevant. The voters do this at the polls. And the statutes for 4th class cities define the qualifications, which are quite basic.
Review the behavior and actions, recent past and present of each and every elected official? What the heck for? State your accusations what specifically are you accusing them of? If you can't provide charges and evidence then you got no legs to stand on.
Tin foil hate time..... Great one 9:51!! It's so easy to bat down the nonsense here.. Fun times for all.
If you need a better understanding of how an investigation would work you might want to check out the current "Russia" investigation.
I would say it is interesting to see they have uncovered at least money laundering and I would bet there will be more before everything is over.
I would also like to add that the tax oversight committee be put under a microscope and actions reviewed.
I understand they are under the impression their only job is to review how the money will be spent and does it meet the spirit of the taxing purpose.
They also should be reviewing the bids, bid process and actual justification for the purchases.
That would be true oversight and the lack of explains why Raytown has a spending issue.
Ok. You have made an allegation. Money laundering. Who is in on it? What EVIDENCE do you have to make such an allegation? What have you seen or heard?
How are you in a position to know?
If you can't answer these questions, then what you are doing is called fanciful speculation and guessing. Unfounded allegations......Smearing...
And my guess is that you have NO evidence whatsoever.
And you want to talk about bullying??!! One of the worst forms of bullying is to falsely accuse someone of being or doing something they did not do.
You have just accused all elected officials of corruption. PROVE IT! Convince us.. If you can't you are also a hypocrite... And a false witness.
Again.. So easy to bat down nonsense on this board. I could do this all day.
You're right. And the worst of the bullies are Jim Aziere and Joe Creamer. They put out months and months of false information and lies. It wasn't until Aziere had his back up against the wall that he came clean and admitted it was all untrue. That's the problem with allowing anonymous posts. Anyone can say anything with no consequences.
I too read 9:07 post and it clearly reads they are talking about the investigation related to the election.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/us/politics/paul-manafort-indicted.html
If you are as upset as you seem to be the only other question is which elected official are you and what are you afraid an investigation into the elected officials would revile.
I again hope it was just too early for you and you had been reading into things.
10:04 pm
She is not the head volunteer. One of several folks.
What is stopping the fire/ambulance services from having their own volunteers? I bet they could put folks to work and save some money by having them help out somehow.
10:04
She is not the head of the police volunteers--just one of several folks.
What is stopping the fire/ambulance depts from having their own volunteers? I think it would be a great idea to save money.
BOA - do Yourself and Raytown a favor - and get a state audited started. We all deserve and need to know where our money went. What fee's etc. was not collected (can you say street cuts for both water districts - remember one district did have a sitting member of the BOA for four years)
Until some of the above is answered - WITH REAL NUMBERS FROM A STATE AUTHORIZED SOURCE - don't ask for any more taxes. I will worker harder than you to educate Raytown on the continued waste and lack of accountability with the city.
at this point I do not accept the "city auditiors as a valid source" they have played int he sand-box to long and are used to seeing "funny math" from Raytown.
Yes I know this will cost the tax payers of Raytown. But at this point I'd rather pay for the accountability than to continue to allow city hall to wast my money
STATE AUDIT - STATE AUDIT - STATE AUDIT
I think you are suffering from a Napoleon complex. Apparently you think by speaking a course of action that people will take you seriously. If you don’t like taxes, move to Cass County. Your days as an Alderman are long over Joe. Let it go.
Only ways is for the Governor to call for it or by petition.
I've been reading the comments on here and there are some really nasty posters--or just one poster who keeps spewing forth his/her anger over and over.
I'm not surprised folks won't take the time to come here given the level of animosity shown. Sad.
Maybe we should be required to give our names. I think it would elevate the discussion greatly.
"2:06 For the love of God do you even know what you are talking about?"
I guess we are supposed to read your mind to find out what your objection is to a specific post? Your comment doesn't enlighten us at all.
If you have an issue with a post, be specific with it.
We don't have time to wonder what you are feeling and thinking and what your life experiences have been.
Your own outburst and lack of understanding that the tax was in place for a good 7 years just justifies an investigation to obtain the truth and hold the correct "certain" politician(s) accountable.
By the facts presented you must be one of the departments hierarchy and or "certain" politician who has been holding our tax dollars hostage since the Jim Lynch administration.
If there was no wrong doing wouldn't in FACT you want an investigation to validate this?
Who is she? Is it Sue Frank who started the destruction of Raytown, with buying First Baptist Church, the Walmart and Block deal or getting her husband a promotion within the police department.
Why would an use volunteers? Being they are not paid how can one ensure they will show for a shift and what can they really do as all three fields outlined now require certifications.
We live in the real world and while television and movies are great they are for entertainment only.
When you can show a full list of duties Lynch will really end up allowing his VIPs do we can dwell further into this subject, but until that time please continue to ensure your television viewing.
Don't think I am correct look at the number of unarmed folks they have killed in the past two years.
Now they are taking it a step further in Raytown and getting others to drink from their cups of lies and tales making them look as confused and untrustworthy.
I am not sure if Lynch is trying to turn Raytown into Ferguson with his hate and lies, but they should end with him either resigning or being forced out of office because of them.
Lynch and his union buddy have a lot to say, but cannot offer any proof and run from those the ask for proof over opinion much like the play ground bully when confronted.
We do not need these thugs with a badge to leave our city in the mess the Ferguson police left their city!
Remember on of the 10 commandments is thou shall not lie.
We must pray that this abuse of power ends and that we the people are provide with the transparency and truth we are entitled to.
We must pray that those who disagree with others not only stop the lies, but the name call and other actions of bullies.
We must pray that as God delivered the world from the hand of the Nazis he will deliver Raytown from the hate and misguided actions of this elected official.
"In God We Trust"
This is a bunch of liberal unthinking nonsense.
Don’t ask for Gods Blessing. God would never be so ignorant to bless what you just said. Full of race baiting. And then to call people you don’t agree with a Nazis is the worst form of bullying. Your post is full of manipulation and it’s vile and evil. I can’t believe you got yourself elected to the BOA.