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Rice Tremonti
Barb Schalpia sells Abbigail Larkworthy some cookies at the Annual Rice
Tremonti Craft Sale. The event, which was held this past Saturday and Sunday
drew large crowds. The cold weather did not keep people away from the krafters
or the delicious soup and desserts offered by Rice Tremonti.
 | |
Halloween is over. But this Jack O Lantern has a new job the winter.
Guarding the back yard.
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| BY GREG WALTERS |
Last week I promised a comparison of the property tax levied by cities located in Jackson County, Missouri. The following link shows a comparison of municipal property tax rates in Jackson County. The numbers pretty much speak for themselves.
Suffice to say that if the property tax rates in Jackson
County were a bicycle race, Raytown would be in the top five.
Jackson County Property Tax Rate Chart: TAX CHART
Jackson County Property Tax Rate Chart: TAX CHART
Other Revenue Sources
A regular reader asked what other tax revenue sources the city had. It is a good question – and – one I am familiar with. You don’t spend 27 years on the City Council without learning a thing or two. Following is an explanation of other revenue resources the city routinely collects from taxpayers.
A regular reader asked what other tax revenue sources the city had. It is a good question – and – one I am familiar with. You don’t spend 27 years on the City Council without learning a thing or two. Following is an explanation of other revenue resources the city routinely collects from taxpayers.
FRANCHISE TAX: The franchise tax is the 8% tax we pay on
electricity and natural gas. It is a pass through tax. Technically, it is owed
by the utility company to the city in which it operates. However, the utility,
in turn, passes the fee back to the end user.
Inflation increases the amount of the Franchise Tax you pay
each month. In other words, when the electric bill goes up – so does the tax
you pay on it.
To illustrate how much you pay in municipal taxes on your
utility I have taken my KCP&L Electric Bill as an example. The following shows
how much sales tax you would pay on a $102.34 electric bill:
$102.34 BASE COST OF ELECTRIC BILL
$10.17 FRANCHISE
TAX PAID BY CONSUMER
$2.54 SALES
TAX PAID BY CONSUMER*
*Raytown charges sales tax on the end product and on the Franchise Tax.
In effect you are paying a tax on a tax!
The same formula applies to your Natural Gas bill, your Telephone
Bill (both mobile and land lines), and yes, also on the wireless service for
your computer.
PET ANIMAL FEE: The City of Raytown has a two tiered tax for pets in
Raytown. A fee of $5.00 is paid for an animal that has been spayed or neutered.
A fee of $10 for animal is charged for animals that are not spayed or neutered.
The tax is applied to all warm blooded domestic animals. Warm blooded animals
can carry rabies. Cold blooded animals, snakes and other reptiles do not. The tax is charged to pet owners on annual basis.
If their animal takes off wandering, the fee is assessed (along with a penalty)
when the owner and pet is reunited.
OCCUPATION / LIQUOR / RESTAURANT/ ETC., ETC., ETC.: If you
own a restaurant, serve food at an event, serve or sell alcoholic beverages,
the city will have you pay a license fee, own a business, Thinking of putting a
new roof on your house or a new water heater, remodel your home, all of these
are subject license and fees.
There are many more licenses and fees, too numerous to put
here. As I remember, the fee schedule presented to the Board of Aldermen when it was last updated covered
nearly two pages of line items showing the fee and license requirements.
The following organizations (and individuals) are not required
to obtain a business license to operate. Governmental entities like library,
public schools, churches, and, strange as it may sound, doctors and lawyers.
Paul’s Rant! BY PAUL LIVIUS
Have you ever wondered why there is not a Franchise Tax on your water
bill? I know there isn’t because I checked mine. I asked Greg why this was so.
Back in the 1980’s Greg did some research on the different
taxes routinely paid by taxpayers for utility services. He was surprised to
learn that if you lived in the Raytown Water Company service area, you paid a
franchise tax. If your water came from Jackson County Public Water Supply District
No. 2, you did not pay the Franchise Tax.
He found out the Public Water Supply District was tax
exempt. Therefore, their clients did not pay the 8% fee.
Greg felt it was wrong for half of Raytown to have to pay
the tax, while the other half did not. So he sponsored language to eliminate
the franchise fee on water. The Board agreed and the Franchise Tax was eliminated.
I asked him about the sales tax on water. He told me that
he later learned the sales tax was not collected by the Public Water District
No. 2, but is still collected by the Raytown Water Company.
So if any of you members on the BOA are reading this, do
the right thing. Eliminate the discriminatory sales tax on people who live in
the Raytown Water Company area. It is not right that some people should have to
pay a tax in a city while the other half do not.
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61 comments:
Interesting article on the tax stuff. Raytown is about 5th in property taxes, until you remove the school district taxes. Looking at just what the city gets, or even city and fire district combined we are less than other cities. Now I'm wondering why our school district taxes are so high compared to other areas. Oh the other article about RPD oversight- the budget is approved by the BOA as are changes to it, so it looks like there's oversight.
Pull the school district out of the property tax levy and Raytown comes in near the bottom of the property tax list. Nice try to put a slant on it. Franchise fees are a great way to collect city taxes, as the users pay the tax. People that use less pay less of a tax, this type of tax has less affect on people that might not have a lot of extra money. Looking back a couple weeks you bring up the oversight for the RPD, well the RPD didn't get the city into this budget mess, and yes maybe our department is more expensive than others, but that could be the cost of keeping good police in the department. Maybe look at what the budget items are for the other department and ours and see what the differences are instead of just saying there's differences. But if you do compare the budgets of different departments-stick to comparing everything, not like the property tax article where you say Raytown is in the top 5, but forget to mention that that is due to school district taxes.
Come on now, be fair about it. When you look at any bill you look at the bottom line. That is because the bottom line is the only one that really counts. When it comes to taxes, pulling out one entity like the school district and saying if you took them out the taxes would not be so high is just plain silly!
People have to pay all these taxes. It does not matter who gets the larger cut of the tax dollar pie. The end result is the same. There is only so deep you can dig into the other guy's pocket to pay for everything on the wish list of those who tax us.
Acting like it does not count because because the school district creates the lion's share of property tax debt is nonsense. Besides that, check the law. Because Raytown is a fourth class city it is very near the cap the state puts on city's of the fourth class on property tax.
Greg, thank you for always supporting the events at Rice Tremonti we appreciate you.
What is State cap set at and where is the city at?
His point is that the whole budget discussion centers on city taxes amd Raytown as a city does not get much revenue. I wish folks would look into the school district like they comment on the cities budget. One budget is 10 million, the other is over 250 million. If you have a problem with taxes, look at how they spend yours.
Anon 2:17 couldn't agree more, the same is true when I hear people say the fire dictrict gets more taxes than the city. One has a 10 million dollar budget and one has a 3. Makes sense to learn the city charges 12.7% on all utility bills. This folks is how they receive the bulk of there revenue. Greg you forgot to mention all the fees and taxes assessed to cell phones, cable tv and internet providers. These taxes on utilities are robbery and exploit poeple of fixed incomes the most. It's sky high fees such as these that cause senior citizens to make hard choices such and to eat or have heat today. Why is it that a franchise tax does not require a vote to pass? How many times has this been increased in the past 40 years? How many other fees and hidden taxes have been raised in the last 40 years? That's not the argument the mayors tax committee will want to make. I think they are going to be in for a suprise if they think this is going to run without opposition.
I agree look at how much administration staff and waste exists at District HQ, Markley has inflated so much of that staff.
I guess since so much of the city budget is police department related, I am wanting to be sure we are getting the most bang for the buck there.
I believe we would not significantly reduce crime by doubling the police budget.
Conversely, I don't believe crime would double if the police department budget was cut in half.
As we have seen, many of the criminals drift in from surrounding areas. Not too much to keep that from happening.
I think the BOA should commission a study on behalf of the City of Raytown taxpayers to define our actual policing needs. What we have now is something that has grown and grown to include many upper level manager types that may or may not be necessary.
Let do some thinking about that.
Chief Lunch, is your refrigerator running? If so, I'm voting for it next election.
Sorry, slow joke day.
Mr Mayor if you want my vote in April two things needs to happen. First, Jim Lynch needs to step down. Second, you need to astablish a public commitee to investigate what went wrong with the 2005 TIF plan and reccomend to the Board of Aldermen actions to be taken to prevent it from occurring again as well as to hold those accountable who are responsible.
10:27 -
I agree with you that Jim Lynch needs to step down. However, a public committee to investigate the TIF is a waste of time, energy and money. I can tell you what happened:
1. There were Mayors and Aldermen who didn't know sit from sic 'em. They relied on lawyers that were incompetent and didn't understand the contract from Walmart.
2. There was a school district that wanted a piece of the money for computers they didn't need and couldn't afford. They talked the mayor, lawyers and aldermen into including and giving the school district $20 million dollars from the TIF that the city has to pay back with no contribution from the schools.
3. The mayor and aldermen agreed to make up any short-fall in TIF payments if Walmart didn't sell as much as they thought they would.
4. No one in the city did their due diligence to make sure Walmart could hit the sales performances that had been projected. (Note - the sales projections were over-inflated)
Spending money to investigate this fiasco now would be a waste.
8:25 you are wrong and here is why and what the next steps need to be by the Board of Alderman.
1.) The former city administrator should have been bonded as well in investigation should tell what other bonds/insurance is on him.
2.) Elected officials should have been bonded too.
3.) Need to check with the State Attorney and Audit on if the money to the school district was justified as allowed by law. If no, there is the big windfall for the city.
There are ways this type of investigation can be done with little to no cost to the city.
It starts with the current Board of Alderman asking the state and federal agencies to investigate the wrong doings of those former boards, (Board of Alderman 2005 - 2011 and school district 2005-2009) as well as the TIF board.
The investigation should not only include those board members and decisions they made, but also into their family members as many of them had a direct link back to the school district, which sure brings up a lot of questions.
Also any one who received a payment from the bond proceeds was the expenditure justified, fair market, allowable and was anyone double dipping (being paid by two entities for same service).
This would be the right time to request an investigation as the Attorney General is seeking a higher office and doing this investigation could making him advance in his political journey or bring question to his ties to dark money.
The state auditor is also up for election and would want to do her best audit ever and being she is not from the party of the Governor and other elected officials the Governor should want to help the Board of Alderman by ordering the audit as it would help his fellow party leadership in the attempt to gain the auditors office as well as drive the Attorney General to the US Senate.
Just think Board of Alderman Raytown could decide the US Senate and State Auditor race by an state investigation an investigation that is in your hands.
I recommend you meet with the Governor and Attorney General soon with a preset date that you hold a press conference that those two elected officials are going to stand with the citizens of Raytown and get to the truth or help hide and protect what could be criminal activity.
Thank you Mr. Jacoby for a lucid and succinct explanation of the Walmart TIF. I agree wholeheartedly that pouring more money and energy down that sinkhole is a waste. Let's learn from our mistakes and move forward.
I am a senior citizen with low income. The reasons I left Raytown were:
1) Living in Raytown was unaffordable with high property taxes (70% going to the dysfunctional school district)!
2) High gas and electric rates topped off with 12.7% Raytown City taxes!
3) Extremely cold winters and hot, humid summers causing item #2 (above) to impact my budget.
4) Health issues caused by the extremely cold winters were very painful!
People didn't seem to understand why I left Raytown, but I just couldn't afford to stay there as well as suffer with the pain in my fingers which were blue from Raynauds.
Andy Whiteman
Sounds like we have several including 10:35 and Mr Jacoby that don't want to hold those accountable and try to recover some of the loss
8:59 You rock and should be mayor we need someone who will work to get answers.
Lynch has got to go!!! He was elected based on crooked politics and nothing more.
You can thank Sue Frank for that mell of a hess. It's been too long running and I am glad this Board has the backbone to step up and take action against Lynch.
It's time to hire a professional PD person so that politics do not play a role in the leadership of the Police Dept such as it has in the past several years under Lynch.
And I agree with an audit of the 350 TIF and those accountable should be brought forward to answer for their actions. Look at Sue Frank, Curt Wenson and Dan Estes for why such a lop sided deal was given to Walmart so much that it crushed the city's ability to provide basic services and protection.
8:59 -
Good lord - how many witch hunts do you want going at any one time? You want to investigate the city administrator, and the board of aldermen, and all their families, and anyone who received TIF bond payments.
You want to expose the attorney general's dark money, aid the state auditor, and decide the US Senator race.
That’s a very ambitious agenda. When do you find time to do anything else?
Andy Whiteman
1. What do you want the Board of Aldermen to do about the school taxes? They are high because the people voted for the tax increases. The BOA has NOTHING to do with the schools.
2. What do you want the Board of Aldermen to do about the cost of gas and electric? Those rates are set by the utilities, not the BOA.
3. What do you want the Board of Aldermen to do about the extremely cold winters and hot, humid summers? You'll have to contact Gary Lezak, not the BOA.
4. What do you want the Board of Aldermen to do about your health issues? You need "Healthcare.gov" not the BOA.
You are very wrong about one thing. The BOA does set the rate of the Franchise fee taxes. They can lower them. But they cannot raise them because they are already at the top of the scale allowed by state law. They could do away with the sales tax that is taxed on the franchise agreements. It is bad enough the city takes an additional 8% over your electric and gas bill. They they slap a sales tax on the Franchise tax! There are a number of them at city hall who like to act like they have the best interests of the people of raytown in mind. Here is a chance for them to correct a wrong that has been there a very very long time.
The problem is there is a complete absence of public confidence in the City right now. Sure people will get on here and jump on the Mayor McDonough happy train of ignorance and bliss, but the reality of the situation is that the majority of our voting populous still feels misled and burned by the bait and switch which occurred on April 7, 2009 known as the Public Safety Sales Tax. I say bait and switch because that is exactly what it was, let me quote the actual ballot language to make my point " Shall the City of Raytown, Missouri impose a citywide sales tax at the rate one-half of one percent for the purpose of improving the public safety go the city?". Now let me quote the Former City Administrator in the August 21, 2015 edition of the Brooking Eagle paper " The Public Safety sales tax was designed to take some of the pressure of operating the police department from the General Fund, in turn freeing up funds that can be spent on the much needed capital improvements". This exact same sentiment was shared by Joe Creamer earlier this year in one of his famous letters to the editor. There is a huge difference between improving public safety and maintaining what you already have to free up money, which we learned last month has all been going to support the Wal-Mart TIF. So to all of you that think an investigation into how the TIF was administered is a waste of time and money I have to ask how can you be sure if we pass another tax increase it to won't be promised as one thing only to again be more of the same. Its funny how short some peoples memory can be. It was hardly a year ago the Mayor and the City staff were certain the City was in great financial shape and shaming the Fire District for saying otherwise. This past Spring the Mayor went on and on during his state of the City address about all the “Cool” things happening around Raytown and how “the future has never looked brighter”. Well it turns out talk is cheap and facts don’t lie. It turns out the City is in worse shape than the Fire District claimed they were and it turns out the future looks grim. So when you ask why should we investigate how the City spent 40 million dollars, my answer is simple…Because we cannot trust that the City knows or worse that they have always known and don’t want the public to find out. This leads back to my opening statement regarding the absence of public confidence and this is what it looks like when that occurs. You want to earn my trust back, you have do to just that….Earn It. Demonstrate to me that you can be trusted with more of my hard earned money, show me your a responsible agent of public funds… Most of all make me believe your going to do what you say you will.
The problem is there is a complete absence of public confidence in the City right now. Sure people will get on here and jump on the Mayor McDonough happy train of ignorance and bliss, but the reality of the situation is that the majority of our voting populous still feels misled and burned by the bait and switch which occurred on April 7, 2009 known as the Public Safety Sales Tax. I say bait and switch because that is exactly what it was, let me quote the actual ballot language to make my point " Shall the City of Raytown, Missouri impose a citywide sales tax at the rate one-half of one percent for the purpose of improving the public safety go the city?". Now let me quote the Former City Administrator in the August 21, 2015 edition of the Brooking Eagle paper " The Public Safety sales tax was designed to take some of the pressure of operating the police department from the General Fund, in turn freeing up funds that can be spent on the much needed capital improvements". This exact same sentiment was shared by Joe Creamer earlier this year in one of his famous letters to the editor. There is a huge difference between improving public safety and maintaining what you already have to free up money, which we learned last month has all been going to support the Wal-Mart TIF. So to all of you that think an investigation into how the TIF was administered is a waste of time and money I have to ask how can you be sure if we pass another tax increase it to won't be promised as one thing only to again be more of the same. Its funny how short some peoples memory can be. It was hardly a year ago the Mayor and the City staff were certain the City was in great financial shape and shaming the Fire District for saying otherwise. This past Spring the Mayor went on and on during his state of the City address about all the “Cool” things happening around Raytown and how “the future has never looked brighter”. Well it turns out talk is cheap and facts don’t lie. It turns out the City is in worse shape than the Fire District claimed they were and it turns out the future looks grim. So when you ask why should we investigate how the City spent 40 million dollars, my answer is simple…Because we cannot trust that the City knows or worse that they have always known and don’t want the public to find out. This leads back to my opening statement regarding the absence of public confidence and this is what it looks like when that occurs. You want to earn my trust back, you have do to just that….Earn It. Demonstrate to me that you can be trusted with more of my hard earned money, show me your a responsible agent of public funds… Most of all make me believe your going to do what you say you will.
Phil,
Thank you for the demonstration of not knowing how a true investigation works.
What is next you don't want the government to checking into how Russia interfered with the 2016 election.
What do you have to loose are you on the magic list of those who double dipped on money from the TIF funds or a relative of someone who got something in exchange for a vote.
Raytown needs answers! Raytown needs restitution!
Maybe you like less officers and a criminal kingdom, but we need to celebrate free thinkers with a plan like 8:59.
I am so glad I watched the BOA meeting tonight and what I found most interesting was what Jody Smith said about a statement Pam Clark made on a television interview.. I have always gotten my appliances from her as well as service calls. I will never buy another thing from her or ask for a service call. From now on NFM has mine and my families business. Shame on you Pam.
Jennifer and Phil Jacoby,
Why don't you use the screen name "Negative Nancy".
When you write you never either want to get to the truth and hold folks responsible or you make comments about things others never wrote.
Pam Clark sure wasn't ashamed to ask the city for a 353 tax abatement on your old building and you did VERY LITTLE to improve it. You sure did like the alderman then. Pam there is more to this city an Easter Hunt and the downtown Christmas lighting.
I didn't know that Raytown Unleashed let people from Lee's Summit into their group. I must say she is a perfect fit for this group.
Pam Clark barking on TV and making sure your store is in every shot on the news while you rip the City and spread venom hurting our reputation once again. Then I’m told you don’t even have the stones to show your face at the council mtg. I dealt with your father for many years. What a quality man and person. You..Not so much!!!
Jennifer Jacoby,
My comments were about property taxes as well as climatic conditions making living in Raytown unaffordable and totally miserable. They were not about the BOA! The BOA could stop double taxation and lower the franchise tax. I spoke during Public Comments but a previous BOA ignored me.
Andy Whiteman
I have an idea, if Jim Lynch is such a great police officer, maybe instead of drumming up propaganda he should lead the investigation into how the TIF and Public Safety Sales Tax was managed. These are the real villains in his life, not the Aldermen who do not have the funds to give him.
each time i used to read smaller articles which also clear their motive,
and that is also happening with this piece of writing which I am reading now.
You should do a news story on how the Raytown Police Department is not operating a jail right now!
2:40 many cities don't operate a jail
maybe that is the bigger story. you know about how they save money.
The more I learn about the police administration in Raytown the more convinced I am the problem is not the City Council. After watching last nights meeting I am convinced the mayor is little more than a cheer leader type who has absolutely no intention of trying to reform Raytown. The City Council, for the most part, (there are always exceptions) appears to be sincere in their effort to bring some sort of organization and professionalism to how the city is run. Those that oppose them fall into two categories. Some protect the good old boy system of government that works when there is plenty of money. They do this through fear tactics and intimidation. Now there is not plenty of money. The facts and figures of the city budget tell the story. The city council deserves credit for keeping this city from going into bankrupt.
Keep up the good work.
Just sat through four hours of watching last nights meeting. What a complete waste of my time. All the crap on the news, all the crap on the Facebook was just that crap. So what if they update a 40 year old ordinance to include the City Administrator in the chain of command... News flash people, it already says what the Chief is running around town telling people the Board is trying to add. Yes Jim Lynch you have to answer to the Board.... So what, so does every other Police chief in the State. Yes we all know your elected and that's never been in question, but you were elected as the City Marshal, not as the Dictator of the Police Department. So what if you have a boss, you will get used to it I promise. The rest of us in the real world have. Grow up chief, put on you big boy pants and get to doing the job we hired you to do. I for one have had enough of you and the Mayor working behind the scenes to spread hate and venom.
The biggest mistake I ever made was voting for Mike McDonough. Pat Ertz wouldn't have been much better, but at least he's honest!
RBB...
Nice post and probably saved me 4 hours.
6:32 Raytown didn't have a choice and as for honest goes you might want to checking into how the public water district is managed.
RBB,
Thank you for sharing.
The one thing you left out was if Lynch doesn't like the change he just needs to retire.
When and on what channel was the Pam Clark interview?
It is only fair to share it so we are all on the same page and without it for all we know she might have been on the city for the wasteful management, which would be the truth wouldn't.
A question for all those piqued, afflicted Facebook people that are continuously coming unglued because they feel that some members of the council are being evasive and/or unresponsive to them and aren't following the directives of the citizens.
Because, after all, the "Mayor" and aldermen were "elected".
Evasive? Unresponsive? Voters, you elected these people and you ALSO elected the marshal. How many of you have spoken directly to Lynch? How often has this "Chief" reached out to the voters of his own accord to educate, inform, provide reassurance and justify his decisions and recent behavior?
This isn't the Wizard of Oz and this marshal shouldn't be hiding behind a figurative curtain until he's called up before the council.
Regular, open dialog from this marshal might have either reduced the level of generalized antipathy these past few months. It also might subdue any number of eruptions that are bound to pop up in the future.
Yep, it's a tough crowd right in Raytown now, "Chief". We can only imagine some of the comments you would review.
But that's what leaders do.
You simply cannot be "too busy", inconvenienced or find any other justification in not doing so.
Transparency.
Start a blog. Do something. We predict that this would eventually become quite the positive for you.
Hustle all that knowledge and experience right on out there.
And most importantly, get some more ideas going. First person. YOUR original content, not any work throughs via Mr. Hudspeth or anyone else in *OUR* police department.
Tick tock.
This will always be OUR police department. You may feel differently because you've been around for so many years, but that simply isn't the case. And as sometimes you have been the ONLY candidate, you were merely selected by the voters to run the department and be compensated for doing so for a specified number of days.
Pat Ertz honest hahahaha, tell me another joke.
Here is the Channel 41 news feed where Pam Clark is publicizing her store while throwing Raytown under the bus! All the City Council wants to do is revise a 40 year old ordinance by including the City Administrator that was not there 40 years ago.
http://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/raytown-aldermen-propose-greater-oversight-of-police-department
How much money did Jim Lynch waste on converting the briefing room into office space for officer we now don't employee?
Watched the Pam Clark interview. I give her credit for being a business owner who actually lives here. That being said, I did not think her remarks did the city or her business any good.
Also, I'm pretty sure the millions she claims she spent for the rebuild mostly came from insurance proceeds. No matter, I'm glad she made that decision.
Not true. The ordinance does say by review of the City Administrator and with the approval of the Board of Aldermen. Even the three amigos that brought that forward could not each explain what “ and approval if the Board of Aldermen” means. Approval of what???
Crickets !!!
The only thing this Mayor did is trust Mahesh and Loughry to feed him bad info !!!
Hey RBB the Marshal is the Chief of Police and is the Executive Officer of the Police Dept.
Know what your talking about
Looking over the comments and wondering what on Earth are people thinking? Raytown places fifth in property tax among the 20 or so cities that make up Kansas City in Jacksion County. Take away the lake communities and Raytown ranks 3rd! Lake communities are always higher in property tax because the taxpayers also pay to maintain large bodies of water used for recreation. Makes sense, right?
It turns out Raytown has taxes on utilities set at 8%. The taxes are based on consumption. That means those who use more, pay more. It also means that when electric rates, natural gas rates, telephone rates, and internet rates goes up, so does the tax we pay.
We also pay a sales tax on top of those already high rates. It pushes the real rate up to about 10%!
Raytown's problem is not a shortage of tax money. It is a habit of over-spending and agreeing to give some departments at city hall anything they want. At least until this year.
Fix the accountability problem at city hall. Establish that we are a democracy and not a kingdom and that the elected representatives are those charge with making the final decision and you will solve most of your problems in Raytown.
8:01 ^^^ And there you go.
This is why I pay close attention to this blog. I haven't reviewed any of this, but if these numbers are correct, why in the world would I vote for a property tax increase?
Instead, I err on the side of fiscal responsibility, OVERSIGHT and common sense. We have to get to work and pay attention to these people in city hall and develop (for the most part) a new slate of candidates. Raise our standards and get these goofballs out once and for all. And in the meantime, we'll toughen up and take our medicine.
It’s become very apparent most of this current Council is focused on accomplishing some major legislative issues that have been ignored and not dealt with by previous administrations. It’s a shame Teeman had to step down as he seemed to be a sharp guy not afraid to ask tough questions. He completely left Chief Lynch with a deer in the headlights look the other night with his question. I think when we look back at groups of Council members who really accomplished some major items that will benefit Raytown and it’s Citizens long after they are gone, you will track a large list of beneficial changes this group was willing to tackle. Been Impressed!!!
Pam Clark. Shame Shame Shame...
There are really only two things wrong with the city and they need to be changed
#1 the mayor
#2 the chief
I agree with the earlier posts that call for reform. The way Raytown has been run, yes, even in the police department is not a success story. How about more professionalism? Jim Lynch's sorry statement at the beginning of the last meeting left me feeling hopeless. Jason Greene's attempt at leadership fell flat when the other board members gave sincere viewpoints. A BIG thanks to Ward 5 Alderman Eric Teeman. You are going to be missed, buddy. Bonnaye, we love you! Keep up the good work.
Says a Iot about you if you think Jason Greene is the problem and Teeman should be idolized. He actually had the nerve to yell at citizens at the town hall meeting.
"Jim Lynch's sorry statement at the beginning of the last meeting left me feeling hopeless."
Although compassion isn't my strong suit, I must admit that I felt a little embarrassed for him.
The video can be reviewed at http://www.raytown.mo.us/index.asp?SEC=689FEB0F-D44D-49EA-8E6C-E54E1642EBDB&Type=B_BASIC
Select "Board of Alderman".
The November 7th meeting.
Click on "Public Comments".
Lynch was the first to speak.
Neither Eric Teeman or Jason Greene yelled at anyone during the BOA meeting. Greene was visibly upset that his motion did not receive a second from any of his seatmates. There were some very rude people in the back of the council room who were shouting for Alderman Mims to sit down when she was speaking.
Whoever wrote that post about the yellling must have attended another meeting.
I thought Green gave spot on comments about this situation and his motion. He has been a leader this whole process as he seems to not take sides or vilify PD or Alderman. Your comments seem left field, maybe something personal there.
Rich
People---
That alderman yelled at people at the TOWN HALL meeting, not the regular board of aldermen meeting.
I was at the town hall meeting. No, Teeman did not yell at anyone. There were some pretty rude folks in the audience who yelled at Alderman Karen Black. Perhaps you are confused.
10:57 pm
I was at the town hall too.
A lady in the audience even said to Teeman "Why are you yelling at us?"
Watch the tape.
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