DISCUSSES TRANSPARENCY
IN RAYTOWN
RAYTOWN, Mo. — Two days
after aldermen approved a new budget, Raytown's administration is
answering questions about the city's financial situation.
Our
interview with administrators was scheduled for Thursday after both declined to
discuss the proposed budget until aldermen approved it.
"For me to talk about a proposed budget to you really
didn't give the citizens any more than my perspective on something that
somebody else is getting to vote on," Assistant City Administrator Missy
Wilson explained.
At
least one citizen felt there wasn't much outreach or opportunity for public
comment.
"I actually attended those meetings, and still there's
other stuff in the budget that wasn't discussed during those meetings,"
Tony Jacob said.
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MORE |
| BY GREG WALTERS |
Re-Financing of TIF Bonds
The Raytown Board of Aldermen will hold
its first reading of an ordinance to re- finance the 350 Live TIF Bonds at
Tuesday night’s meeting. The anchor of the TIF project on 350 Highway Walmart.
The TIF bond obligation is the main
reason Raytown has had tight budgets since the bonds were issued in 2007. The
original amount of the TIF project was $39,990,000.00. Despite over ten years
of payments on the debt, the City still owes $31,240,000.00.
The proposal before the Board of
Aldermen would re-finance the loan at a rate of 4.5%. Most municipal bonds in
Missouri are offered around 3%. The high rate reflects the amount of risk
investors expose their funds to by investing in the bonds. Unlike the current
bonds, the new issue of bonds will not be backed by the good faith of the city.
The length of term for the new financing
extends the debt period required by two years (moving the final payment from
2028 to 2030).
This is a very important decision that
will have a huge impact on everyone living in Raytown. The people of Raytown
and their representatives on the Board of Aldermen have had little opportunity
to explain and discuss this very important vote publicly.
RAYTOWN, Mo. — Two days
after aldermen approved a new budget, Raytown's administration is
answering questions about the city's financial situation.
Our
interview with administrators was scheduled for Thursday after both declined to
discuss the proposed budget until aldermen approved it.
"For me to talk about a proposed budget to you really
didn't give the citizens any more than my perspective on something that
somebody else is getting to vote on," Assistant City Administrator Missy
Wilson explained.
At
least one citizen felt there wasn't much outreach or opportunity for public
comment.
"I actually attended those meetings, and still there's
other stuff in the budget that wasn't discussed during those meetings,"
Tony Jacob said.
A
Little Transparency Please
The information given in the city’s
official Ordinance Packet does little to shed light on the additional costs
taxpayers will be liable for if the bonds are re-financed.
It is understood the Board is taking this
action to lessen the cost of future TIF payments. What has not been released
is how much more the city will be paying due to a higher interest rate and an
extended timeline on the debt.
The people in Raytown deserve to know
answers to such questions. Those answers should be made publicly by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.. They should do so in a timely manner and give the people
they serve at least a week to learn of the commitment elected officials are
making for them.
The following story is about an editorial
the Kansas City Star published on Sunday, October 14, 2018). It’s title . . .
KC
voters keep raising their own taxes. When
will it be too much?
“The owner of a $200,000 home in Kansas
City, Earning $50,000 in salary, and spending $12,000 on taxable goods inside
the city, will pay an additional $800 this year for local taxes approved by voters
just since 2013.”
We wondered, where does Raytown match up
in this equation? The answer was surprising. We compared the sales tax and
property tax rates of the cities.
Kansas City’s sales tax rate . . . . . 8.6%
Raytown’s sales tax rate . . . . . . . .
8.35%*
*The sales tax rate is misleading. When
you consider that the sales tax rate at Walmart on 350 Highway is over 10% --
AND – that Walmart creates close to 30% of the sales tax revenue in Raytown, the
true sales tax rate in Raytown is considerably higher.
We compared Kansas City’s property tax
levy to Raytown’s property tax levy. We took care to include the Raytown School
District levy in the equation for those living in Raytown and Kansas City.
Kansas City’s property tax levy . . . .
. . 9.2446
Raytown’s property tax levy . . . . . .
. . . 9.1526
Then we checked other area cities and
found that Raytown is in the upper tier of tax levies. In general, Kansas City
leads the pack with the highest tax rates. The only exception(s) are lake
communities in the metropolitan area.
The Star wrote, “as a result, Kansas City ‘s
overall tax burden is high. According to a well-respected study, the city ranks
eighth in the country in overall state and local tax burden for a family
earning $50,000 a year.”
“In Kansas City, that family paid $5,444
in state and local taxes in 2016 – more than Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston,
Atlanta, even New York City.”
Given Raytown’s ranking in tax rates in
the Kansas City area, the statistics show how deeply we are affected by high
taxes in Raytown.
Remember these facts next time someone
tells you how low your taxes are in Raytown.
Speaking
of Taxes . . . VOTER BEWARE!
There is a state-wide Missouri Gasoline
Tax increase on the November ballot. Voters would be wise to carefully read the
fine print. The gasoline tax is not a low impact tax.
The first year of the tax increase will
cost the average driver about $26 a year. However, once the tax is fully
implemented the cost per year balloons to $104.00 annually.
USE THIS LINK TO VIEW THE EDITORIAL: KC STAR
41 comments:
I'm sure going to try and make this meeting. It should be packed!
I agree with the headline. A little transparency PLEASE. How much is this going to cost? Apparently the city council and Mayor do not think it is worth telling. Since I am going to be one of the people paying the bill I think I deserve to know how much?
I wish the Mayor and Council would treat the public with more respect.
Raytown has some of the most amazing people that I have ever had the pleasure to know. This Tuesday night will be a very important night for the city of Raytown. The Board of Alderman will be deciding what they should do about the budget also what to do about the 350 TIF. Those that truly care about Raytown should make this meeting. I know that I am going to do my best to try and make this meeting myself.
The last meeting I attended was very disturbing when the Raytown Ambulance Service was formally handed over to the Fire District with out any input from anyone from the Raytown Ambulance Services. These people have worked in our city for many years. Some of them live right here. To watch then all be treated so coldly was shocking to me. I find it hard to believe this will save the people of Raytown money. To top it all off in order for it to all go through the voters must vote on this yet the board just gave them all their walking papers with out the voters blessing. The Kansas City Star said we had financial mismanagement and a lack of accountability. Now we are going to watch them spend one brief meeting talking about the Raytown budget and how they are going to refinance the very worst TIF the state of Mo. has ever seen. Again it looks like it will be another very disturbing meeting. Hope to see a room full of people who care. Thank You! Elisa Breitenbach
Is the City going after the utility company who made a mess of Sterling going North? What a washboard job they did by resurfacing patches instead of a smooth complete resurfacing. What a bumpy ride!
The tiff needs to be refinanced if possible. What did you reasonably expect was going to happen? The needs are great and the resources are not. So yes, things are going to be reorganized and tough decisions are going to be made. But this is what you advocated for and some tried to prevent. Elections have consequences and you had a hand in it.
I recently received a post from a write complaining his blog message was not posted. I went back to check the record and could not find the post. So I scrolled back through past issues of the Raytown Report and finally did find the message. It had been directed to a story from nearly three months ago.
I talked to Greg about this and we did some checking to see why the post went where it did.
We think we have found the answer.
Each week we publish the Raytown Report. When we do so, we update the comments section to the current date. The reason we do this is so posts from readers are timely. We realize that many people go back and read old issues we have archived on the Raytown Report. However, any links that still remain with the post section will direct the comment to the old post.
The reason we update the comments section to the current post is to help keep the discussion current and on track.
We will continue to eliminate the old links as we move forward. To be sure your comment is published, please use the link on the current post.
On a related subject. We do monitor the posts we receive. We have one un-bending rule. If you use profanity, even if it is an abbreviation, your post will not be published.
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No surprise that the City have to pay a higher interest rate to refinance. Their bond rating has dropped to a B.
Let me get this straight, The board wants to refinance the Walmart deal and pay interest of 4.5 % all the while now we are paying around the 3% figure. Now we are paying 3 dollars for one hundred dollars and under the new configuration we will be paying 4.50 per hundred dollars. If these anticipated amounts are correct we are paying a lot of extra interest. Apparently under the new arrangement we (the city) will not be liable if the project (Walmart) goes belly up in Raytown. I would not refinance my house under that arrangement, am I missing something here? What kind of rose colored glasses are our 10 aldermen and 1 mayor using?
I am sure that the BOA will settle everybody down on the TIFF refinance. You will learn that the current TIFF is more costly. It’s not the interest rates you need to be looking at.
So the federal deficit has climbed to almost $780 billion for 2018 due largely to the recent generous tax-cuts.
It's kinda like if you wanted to give your kid $100 for their birthday and went to the bank and got a cash advance on your credit card to do it.
I know it's just business as usual, but it still makes me wonder.
The economy is booming. Jobs are up. Unemployment down. Fewer people on food stamps. And you fine something to whine about. All of the above has happened because of the tax cuts. The deficit will go down because of the growth. Take those blue sunglasses off and breath the fresh air of success.
Is the city so broke that they can't re-stripe the streets before winter sets in? I know it is hard to stripe "gravel".
Lots of lower paying jobs with no benefits. Not at real recipe for success. The economy is not booming.
Just another part of the make believe that is justification for robbing the middle class and our children... "the deficit will go down because of the growth".
We have a perfect example of the lie that it is right next door in Kansas.
We can thank one former alderman and several current alderman that our bond rating has dropped, along with the string of citizens up at BOA meetings complaining about Wal Mart. Job well done you idiots. You have no one to blame but yourselves.
If you would have passed the tax increase, the refinance would not be so critical. You have to keep the lights on somehow
What happened to everyone who caused this TIF crisis? I get the elected officials are not in office anymore but what happened to the City employees who failed to ensure everything was done appropriately. They should be charged criminally for fraud. Have we learned from our mistakes? Do the current leaders have a performance bond to ensure we are protected when we learn how incompetent they are in a couple years.
9:06 –
Mahesh Sharma became the County Administrator in Iowa. David Bower and the rest of them went back to being private citizens. Except Jim Aziere, who's still on the BOA. There were no repercussions from this. They still claim it's a good deal for Raytown because Raytown was able to keep Walmart in the community.
Where is the TIF commission? Both the amendments made that allowed a car wash and the bond refi should have gone before them first. As far I can tell they haven’t met in several years. Who is even on the commission?
I faithfully watch the BOA meetings on television when they are broadcast. I have sat and watched the mayor make faces and roll his eyes when someone on the board wishes to talk but he only does it when it is someone he does not like. The mayor wants respect from the board then he needs to learn to give respect to them also. As for Alderman Meyers he needs to grow up. Using foul language while up on the dais and throwing a two year old temper tantrum show a lack of maturity. You said you wouldn't serve again I feel that is the best decision you have made for the city. I am tired of dealing with a bunch of overgrown kids.
I agree 100% with what you wrote. I watched the meeting last night too. That was not a business meeting. That was an exercise in using up time to pretend it was a business meeting.There was more discussion between the Mayor and Alderman Steve Meyers about a High School Football game than anything else.
Absolutely no discussion by Board members on the city budget. Not as word about re-financing $30 million dollars of the city's debt.
Folks, this is not how city business is supposed to be conducted. Public meetings are held to inform the public. In Raytown it looks like they are to be a good old boy meeting with absolutely no intention of informing the public about anything.
One other note. Alderman Meyers, perhaps you should check with some professionals about anger management. Alderman Aziere's comments did not deserve the fit you threw after he spoke.
Alderman Meyers finally once and for all told it like it was and I’m glad he did. Aldeman Aziere if anyone remotely follows what goes on around here is consistently absent for meetings blaming swim stuff when swim season isn’t even occurring. He by far misses the most meetings of anyone on the board and walks in late to early work sessions etc with deer in the headlight look. Heck he didn’t even know the Board had already discussed and actually voted on passing the budget for christ sake.You never see him at any of the Raytown events around town either. Rumor has him running again for re-election. Why Raytown? Why give this man the opportunity to continue to be an embarrassment and draw a check from the taxpayers for which he doesn’t put forth the equitable effort. Meyers is far from the problem folks!
Alderman Meyers and his behavior is going to get the city into a law suite. He sure does need anger management before he hurts someone, or someone hurts him. He does not represent Raytown well and as far as that goes neither does the mayor. Mayor I could care less if you went to your high school reunion and saw the king. Keep it to city business.
Wondering why my post regarding the coming attack on social security and medicare due to the large deficit created by Trump's tax cuts has not been published.
If you want to talk about missing meetings because of school events let's include Alderman Jason Green. He misses meetings due to coaching events he has. So let's com[are apples to apples.
Just finished watching the Council mtg. My god what planet did Aziere come from and please let’s take up a donation and send him back. Time marches on man and to continue to hold up the Make Raytown Great Again like it was 20 years ago banner is getting stale. If this is the beginning of your campaign season put it to bed Jim and get to work to try to make a difference instead of just empty words when the cameras are rolling.
Perhaps Alderman Meyers attitude would have been better if he had stopped in at the local bar for a drink or two before the meeting.
"...I have sat and watched the mayor make faces and roll his eyes when someone on the board wishes to talk but he only does it when it is someone he does not like...I am tired of dealing with a bunch of overgrown kids."
Yeah we've also witnessed a great deal of pantomiming from the one up front and center. Gotta wonder about what goes on in the mind of someone who is obviously completely incapable of equitable conduct in a public forum.
Raytown Newbie - your previous post shows up on October 16, 2018 at 5:51 am
I thought Jim Aziere's comments were refreshing. The city does need to do some forward thinking planning. Particularly when it comes to fixing our streets properly. Properly means not using the slurry seal that does not work on our neighborhood streets.
As for Mr. Meyers, all I can say is that vulgarity has no place in a public meeting, particularly one that is televised. Try to learn how to control your potty mouth.
I see old one term David Bower has not changed. He and his mentor, Sue Frank, brought the Walmart disaster to Raytown. You would think with the evidence of the last two budgets that he would admit his mistakes.
Remember Aziere was one of the group that supported the NO VOTE for more revenue allocated for road improvements. Now he is advocating an even more expensive method of road repair that has had to be shelved for several years due to the expense level. Hey Jim I know you weren’t paying attention when the budget was being presented at the council mtg Tuesday and couldn’t make any of the budget meetings,or work sessions, or finance committee meetings, but city is on a tight budget! Yea guy is definitely in full campaign mode.
Jim Aziere at your doorstep coming soon!
Gee. We had 3..... Count em....... 3 tax questions and one was dedicated to roads. All failed. This have your cake and eat it too mentality is unrealistic for Raytown. There is an unrealistic view as far as what a dollar will buy. Magical thinking has to end.
So am I missing part of Alderman Meyers “vulgarity” laced rant? Was part of it deleted or edited on the city website that has the meetings available for replay? Because if you go to item 5 where they approved the funding for the emergency street repair and then the Mayor let Alderman Aziere speak on the budget yes there is a stern and direct follow up comment by Alderman Meyers. But no vulgar or curse words were utilized in his comments. So enough of the Fake News people.
Looking back it was the mayor when he ran for office who said he wanted to bring Raytown back to what it once was. He is not looking forward at all. He wants mom and pop stores he doesn't want to bring retail stores to the city. He is the one holding the city back.
Tired of yet another news report putting down Raytown. And it’s the same caped crusader who is trying to advance his own political career. The stories are negative for a reason. POLITICS. It’s damaging our image as a town. It’s beyond ridiculous and it’s time for responsible leaders who are mentoring the lad to rein him in for the common good.
"As for Mr. Meyers, all I can say is that vulgarity has no place in a public meeting, particularly one that is televised. Try to learn how to control your potty mouth."
Just another Sideshow Meyers moment.
Aldermen Night. So much material, so little time...
I thought Jim Aziere's comments were refreshen
Come on his comments are an admission that he does not know what is happening. There still is
no endless supply of funds. They have to keep the reserve large enough to cover any large expenditure
The city still owes 30 million dollars in the next roughly 10 years, we just have to hope that
revenue stays high enough to cover that.
Jim Aziere please do not run again all you do is fill an empty seat at least part of the time.
I will not vote for Steve Meyers if he does run again.(n I pray he doesn't). I want someone to represent me that doesn't display a temper and dirty language.
The foul words that came from Alderman Meyers mouth was as he got up to leave the dais while Alderman Aziere was speaking. I hope there wasn't any visitors I the audience watching the actions of aa adult or at least that is what he calls himself. Wonder why people make fun of Raytown well here is a prime example.
So let me understand this. We have Alderman Aziere that completely brain farts that he just voted on the biggest item on the agenda that evening and wants to revisit the item which the Mayor did not have to do btw. Then he proceeds to take a stroll down memory lane and act like our finances are busting at the seams and go back to overlay which hasn’t been done except in extreme cases due to lack of budget funds. Heck seemed like he hinted Super Splash should have never been closed either. But of course Aziere has been MIA at just about every meeting and work sessions regarding the budget so how would he know right. Then wants to direct the rest of the board how they need to buckle down and refocus their efforts. Yea didn’t hear the comments by Meyers when I watched the meeting but frankly don’t blame him. Time somebody called absentee Aziere out.
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