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| BY PAUL LIVIUS |
Paul’s Rant!
Some pretty
explosive rhetoric was served up at last Tuesday’s meeting of the Raytown Board
of Aldermen. The issue was a proposed tax increase wanted by the Raytown Park
Board. The Park Board was requesting the City place the tax increase on the
August, 2019 ballot.
Board
members had some interesting back and forth on the topic before casting their
votes. I have included a link to the recording of the meeting at the end of
this story. Item number eight is the discussion for those who want to hear what
was said.
Eventually
the Board voted 5 no to 4 yes on the question of increasing the sales tax for
the Park Department to 3/8 of a cent.
Those
in favor wanted waxed on about the need for upgrades, etc. Those in opposition
were quick to point out the Park Board is sitting on a $900,000 surplus and should
spend that money down before asking the voters for more.
The
discussion was not without drama. When the vote was taken the following
discussion ensued between the Mayor and the City Attorney.
MAYOR: If I
was voting, and since I don’t have a vote unless there is a tie, I’m not. I
would have to vote yes to put this on the ballot.
(at
this point the vote was taken – the final vote was 5 NO / 4 YES)
MAYOR: Oh my,
it looks like I spoke too soon. We have a tie.
CITY ATTORNEY: No. It was four to five.
MAYOR: I am saved
by the bell. There you go. Alright, so it’s a tie.
CITY ATTORNEY: No, no, no. It was four to five. You have nine present tonight. Moore,
Greene, Black and Steve Meyers voted yes. Mims, Ward, Van Buskirk, Hunt, and
Ryan Myers voted no. (Alderman Aziere was absent)
MAYOR: Sorry
I did mis-count. Marked one too many. Motion fails.
The
next day the Mayor formed another committee to look into increasing the Park
Sales Tax again. There was a lot of interesting discussion on park sales tax
question. To view the meeting, use the following link. The Park Sales Tax
question was item number 8.
TO VIEW THE MEETING USE THIS LINK: MEETING
TO VIEW THE MEETING USE THIS LINK: MEETING
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| BY PAUL LIVIUS |
Board of Aldermen Meeting
February 5, 2019
Former
State Representative Tom McDonald read a Proclamation of the State of Missouri
for Police Chief Jim Lynch to thank the Chief for 44 years of service to
Raytown. Mayor McDonough read a Proclamation
from the City of Raytown honoring Chief Lynch’s service.
The Board passed an ordinance after hearing the first and second
reading to amend chapter 42 (traffic and motor vehicles),and adding sections to
article xvi (street obstructions) to the code of ordinances. The Police Department has identified a safety
hazard created by tow truck services responding to the scene of motor vehicle
accidents to solicit for business. In these instances, they have not been
summoned by public safety personnel, nor the motorists involved in the
accident. This creates a safety risk for emergency services personnel, the
involved citizens, the tow truck drivers themselves as well as uninvolved
passing motorists. Missouri statute already prohibits the practice of accident
scene business solicitation.
The Board passed a resolution amending the budget related to the
finance department. The City approved Resolution R-3162-18 on December 18, 2018
with Cochran Head Vick & Co., P.C. to continue providing accounting services
in an amount not to exceed $60,000.00 for the fiscal year 2018-2019 as the City
continues its search to fill the vacant Finance Director position.
The Board passed a resolution approving an agreement with Kapke &Willerth
forspecial counsel services and approving the expenditure of funds of
$15,000.00 as Special Council on the NAACP – DOJ MOU issue. This will bring the
city’s ordinances into compliance with the State of Missouri.
The Board passeda resolution appointing Major Randy Hudspeth as Interim
Police Chief of the police department.
His responsibilities will include:
·
General management and supervision of the
department
·
Preserving peace within the City
·
Any necessary coaching, counseling and/or
disciplinary actions
·
Approval of appointments, promotions and/or
terminations
·
Oversight of department equipment and budget
This temporary assignment will begin on February 15, 2019 and will end
on April 17, 2019 or such time as the ballot measure passes and a Police Chief
position is created and appointed or the ballot measure fails, and the Mayor
appoints, with the advice and consent of a majority of the remaining members of
the Board of Aldermen, a successor Police Chief/City Marshal to serve the
remainder of the current term.
Just the Facts . . .
RAYTOWN VOTERS TO DECIDE THREE TAX ISSUES
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| BY GREG WALTERS |
Voters in Raytown are facing nearly a
full plate of candidates to choose from on April 2nd. They will also
be deciding the fate of three tax questions.
In this article we will explore how
these three tax questions will affect voters. How much they will cost and what savings
taxpayers will receive if they do not pass.
The three tax questions all come from
two sources, the Raytown School District and the Raytown Fire Protection District.
If approved, the taxes will be paid through personal and real estate property
taxes. To appreciate how much this effects
the bottom line consider the following.
Together the School and Fire District
capture 78% of the property tax on your home, cars, and other personal
property. The footprint of these taxes is not small. On a $100,000 home that
78% translates to $1,372 annually.*
*Numbers are rounded for clarity.
RAYTOWN
SCHOOL DISTRICT: The Raytown School
District is asking for the renewal of a $52 million dollar General Obligation
Bond.
Proponents of the Bond Issue are quick
to say this is a renewal and not a new tax. Therefore, if it passes, the
current tax remains the same.
Opponents understand this argument, but
say it is only half of the story. They say that should the bond issue fail, the
tax on homes and cars would be decreased. On a $100,000 home, that decrease would be an estimated
savings of $265 annually.
RAYTOWN
FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT: The Raytown
Fire Protection District has two tax questions on the ballot.
AMBULANCE
TAX: The Fire District is asking for
an increase of the city’s property tax levy.
Proponents say the tax increase is
needed to fund the transfer of the ambulance service from the City of Raytown
to the Raytown Fire Protection District. The amount asked for is a .30 cent increase
on property taxes in Raytown
Opponents say the voters have already
approved a City Public Safety Sales Tax. Voters were promised the tax dollars from the
Public Safety Sales Tax would adequately fund the ambulance service. They argue
the City should keep its promise and transfer the needed funds to the Fire
District.
BOND
RENEWAL TAX: The second tax issue from
the Fire District is more of a re-defining of a current bond than a dollar and
cents tax question. A few years ago the Fire District re-financed its debts on
a current bond. To do so, they recalled the bonds, paid them off, and took out
a new loan at a lower interest rate.
The Fire District opted to “bank” the
difference (the savings) when the bonds were re-financed.
There are still eight years left on
those bonds to be paid off. As a result, the District is collecting more in
taxes than is needed to pay off the bond indebtedness.
Proponents of a YES vote say they only
want to re-define the purpose of the funds collected.
Opponents say the District should lower
the amount of tax charged to homeowners in Raytown because the debt service is
not as high on the new loan.
These three tax questions will share the
ballot with the City, School Board, and Water Protection District elections. So
mark your calendars for April 2, 2019. It is going to be a busy day at the
polls in Raytown.
To leave a comment use this link
59 comments:
I am voting NO on the school district renewal.
I am voting NO on the parks board tax.
I am voting YES for the fire department.
The school district has plenty of money and gets the lions share of property tax.
The Parks board needs to downsize a park or two before I would vote yes.
I like ambulances. They save lives. I want good ambulance service. Go fire department!
No on the school board. They already have more than surrounding districts and are overstaffed with admin. Until they take care of our teachers first.
The Fire District originally said 10 cents, so that's a no for 30 cents. And now knowing they are getting more money on whatever bond. Heck NO to redefining. They need to use that money instead of the 30 cent raise.
No to the Parks under mike. He is running this city down and keeps trying to raise taxes to the max. I saw the meeting he kept trying to ram the tax through regardless.
Does the school and the redefining fire both need 5/7?
Say it with me...
NO
NEW
TAXES
Raytown is already over taxed. We have the highest taxes and these fools want to raise them. The next group to get a tax approved is the city. No one until they get theirs.
Oh great here we go again. Three taxes on the same ballot. Money hungry.
What's taken so long for the street to be repaired? And then it's going to cost more to resurface it? This is crazy how the city spends tax money. No wonder they are always begging for more !
Three things: Inflation, cost of materials and labor, and cost of living. This idea that some have of doing more with less is a dream, keep thinking that way and the roads will be worse, schools will be worse, emergency services will suffer, and other things will rapidly degrade. I guess that it all depends on what your priorities are.
I worked for the Raytown School district and I saw first hand the waste of tax payers dollars. You can throw all the money at those kids and give them every tool they need to learn, but if the parents don't step up and teach them respect for others and authority it is just a waste of money. I will be voting "NO"!
The park board has 900K in their coffers! They must think we are idiots to vote for a tax increase, "NO". I might have to think a little more for the ambulance tax. I need more info..........
"I am voting NO on the school district renewal."
Agreed. Make due, Raytown SD. And while you're at it, increase those test scores.
"I am voting NO on the parks board tax.
Agreed. For the time being, NO. Volunteer corps, community service? WPA?
"I am voting YES for the fire department."
Agreed. Whatever they need, they get. While the Lynch retirement is an unexpected, welcome upgrade, it probably would behoove RPD's 65-member executive management team to take some cues from the FD.
When the mayor lays off people because he can't find money, the independence support group (unleashed) to the defense for poor mayor.
When the school district does the same, she picks up the pitch forks with bad information she's had to correct twice and then admits again she doesn't know the correct terms or what the jobs really do.
Why doesn't she keep that drama in independence?
It appears her ignorance far surpasses just the mayoral campaign, she is ignorant regardless of the topic.
Thanks! I believe getting injured people or seniors who are having a heart attack to the hospital a good thing. Go Fire Department!
Doesn't inflation raise home prices and things at the store?
Those are taxed so...
For instance I'm not paying the same property tax on my home as when I bought it 20 years ago. I wish! I'm paying 300 dollars more.
I pay more for milk and eggs, both of which happen to be taxed.
The Cato institute actually did a study and showed given the same tax percentage now as 50 years ago governments would have a surplus if spent in the same portions.
$300,000 of that is in the last year alone! And the president said we didn't have money to replace the tennis courts because it would cost $200,000.
So they could be replaced the tennis courts and had an extra 100,000?! And now they want to triple that so they'll have a million dollars more than what they spend?! Are they crazy? And this mayor brags he put them in there. That's the terrible fiscal policy he has.
No to the Parks tax, no to the mayor.
Here's a question for all you naysayers. Did you know the Parks department are hard working volunteers? They don't make any money, and you're going to blast them for a budget you don't know anything about. We spent wisely and had left overs, that's a good thing. We need more money to increase the Parks when the trails come through to bring people in here. If you have any brighter ideas try showing up instead of just complaining on here!
Regarding the Meet the Candidates event at Doughboy's on Feb. 16.
Which candidates will be attending this event?
Thanks
So the mayor can't count to ten. Great.
I guess he was board by the older ones droning on and on, but then to argue with the Attourney and everyone on the Board that he got to vote.
Great job by the attorney by the way, she did double duty and did well.
Who had he laid off? If you’re talking pd, he didn’t lay anyone off, they left on their own. And good for them.
How many tennis courts do we really need? I think we have an over abundance of them. If one wants to fix the park system. Unload a park or two. The smaller ones that are in South Raytown. Sell the land and then put all this money together to fix supersplash that was making money before it closed.
The CATO study is an interesting comment. Most taxes are tied to inflation. All of the sales taxes are definitely tied to inflation. So is the 8% franchise tax we pay on utilities like natural gas and electricity. Every time the raise their rates, the income from sales tax and franchise taxes raises with it. Even our property taxes are tied to inflation. The value of the property goes up -- so does the property tax. Check your property tax from the last time you bought a new car.
Don't buy into the lie that taxes do not keep up with inflation. They most definitely do.
If my house was in Lee’s Summit it would cost $40,000 more and I would be paying more property tax.
I watched the meeting on tv like you guys suggested. What on earth is this long-winded speech the mayor gave at the beginning of the meeting. I mean, it is great that he went to St. Regis (which isn't even located in Raytown) to talk to the students there. And I am sure he was impressed with how smart the kids going to school there are, but what on earth does that have to do with running a business meeting of the City of Raytown?
He was elected mayor. Not cheer-leader in charge of the "Department of Feeling Good About Ourselves".
The vote on the Park Board tax sounded like a man who had rehearsed what he was going to say and when to say it. He acted like the outcome was pre-arranged! Kudos to the Board members who stopped that robbery of our pocket books. You guys did a great job. The Mayor and feel good team mates are a huge disappointment.
Well from listening to the meeting the Parks tax is dead, so moving on.
The school already has too much money, so it is a no on the bond because it is a tax raise. Without it passing taxes would go down. They just want to raise it back to its current level.
The fore district is a toss up I will wait to hear them out. Right now I'm thinking no because 30 cents is a lot. And if thats the case whats the city going to do with all the money they aren't giving to the ambulance? Was it just poor management?
The Facebook post says all are welcome.
Perhaps you should ask the candidates if they plan on attending the open invitation?
If you come to the Parks board meetings you would know super splash wasn't making profit for a long time, everything it made went back into repairs. No net gain. Come to the meetings!
Great question, I would like to know this too!
Surprise! They just fired a bunch of aids. So guess they don't need the money too bad, if they're going to keep letting people go and down sizing, roght sizing whatever mid year.
We already have now 4 ambulances. That's twice what the city had before. The current arrangement is fine enough for me. It's not broke don't fix it!
"Regarding the Meet the Candidates event at Doughboy's on Feb. 16. Which candidates will be attending this event?"
Pfft. Just Suz tryin' to get things whipped up again. Disregard. Nothing to see here.
We already have now 4 ambulances
Really the RFD has 4, my wife just used one of them and whenI spoke to the EMT he said that they
had 2 vehicles. Somebody is telling storiesl, not the first time.
If my house was 5000 square foot bigger or in New York city it's be more valuable too.
Maybe if we would've had any road repair over the last four years, or if the mayor and chief wouldn't have put out a press release and played chicken with the Board causing half the police officers to flee maybe we wouldn't have a black eye.
Maybe if the city would answer ANY questions from the media or even just regular citizens it wouldn't look this bad.
Because....went on FB and APOLOGIZED for misleading people with the ad.
Thanks, "You call it pot stirring. I call it transparency" SUZ!
How 'bout 'splainin' how all those people that disagree with the views of the "admins" simply disappear from your "group"? As well as their friends and relatives? Abracadabra. Poof.
I marvel at the tremendous expenditure of negative energy one would be compelled to expend to keep all those unsuitables at bay.
My question is when is Raytown going to take action against that skewed, supposed "Raytown" Facebook page? Those 4-5 people do NOT represent this city....only the WORST of it.
We so tire of that raggedy thing.
We do not have four ambulances.
We have one assigned to station 52 (7611 Raytown Road) Fully Staffed
We have One assigned to Station 51 (6020 Raytown Trafficway) Fully Staffed as well.
We have a Third Ambulance in Reserve (not staffed) much as the same as a reserve fire truck in case the front line rigs are damaged or down for routine maintenance crew switch out into those.
The Fourth Ambulance was damaged so badly that we will never be able to use it.
The money that the District Board and Chief have decided on covers the operation of the Ambulances and ensures that we will always have two ambulances on the street. This is a big deal and for the ones that claim the public service sales tax money was used and should be transferred to fund the ambulance. The city did a poor job of separating the money and giving the EMS department the money needed to be successful. The lack of funding from the City caused employees to leave and a service to decline. The Fire District has hired the needed amount of cross trained dual role people to handle the call volume staff both ambulances and maintain staffing on the district fire suppression units to meet national safety standards and to maintain your ISO rating 1. We have also cross trained the only two employees that came over in the transfer. Both will be serving as dual role employees just like the rest of the department. I have spent 27 years as a employee of this district i have served as Union President I have worked on the truck with the Fire Chief and i understand his plan and steps that have been taken to provide top notch Advanced Life support care from any apparatus the shows up to your emergency and quality Fire Suppression to protect you,your family and your property. That being said it does come with a cost and that cost is 30 cents. If you have questions reach out to the Fire District go to the stations and talk to the crews take a look and the trucks and ambulances see how things operate ask the guys questions we are always open for business.
I hope to see you on election day and i thank you for your continued support of the district and allowing us to serve you.
Capt Doc Summers
Sta 52 B Shift
I've seen a couple canidatite forums. My question, is there going to be a debate between the two mayor canidatites? I understand one says he is trying but the other was running scared, to be honest I haven't really paid too much attention to what's going on until recently so I don't know.
I too would like to see a debate.
The mayor's already said he won't debate. He will only do a forum where his supporters will submit questions he had prepared answers for.
This effect can be seen from the vote mentioned in this article. He has to prepare and is taken off track when things don't go to plan.
Meanwhile I wonder how the challenger will stay within the time limit for responces without being a firehouse of words.
Someone asked what candidates will be attending the Meeting the Candidates Event next Saturday from 12 noon to 4pm on Saturday, February 16th.
Doughboy's is closed this week but will be open on Saturday.
Elisa Breitenbach told us the Meet the Candidates Event is open to all candidates running in Raytown for office. That includes School Board and City Council candidates. There is not a list of candidates who plan to attend, but all are welcome.
Anonymous said:
"The mayor's already said he won't debate. He will only do a forum where his supporters will submit questions he had prepared answers for...He has to prepare and is taken off track when things don't go to plan."
You nailed it. ANY challenger would win hands down against this guy, in our opinion. We'll allow you to envision why. At least he's aware of his shortcomings. As are we.
If the school district tax passes and the fire district tax passes we will have the highest taxes in the area and depending on st Louis ballot returns, the highest in the entire state.
This is before the massive parks increase and the city adding a tax every ballot as promised by the mayor and aldermen.
The way I see it only one can pass without destroying raytown. What I worry about is the bond passing without it passing to move the licence or vice versa.
The proposed .30 Fire District tax will also come with a compassionate care benefit to the citizens. Meaning if you need to be taken to a hospital by our ambulance service, you will not see a bill. The district will bill your insurance company and that will be it, no out of pocket expense. So, if you own a $100,000. house the tax would cost you $30.00 a year. I will gladly pay that over a 1235.00 ambulance bill. This is a no brainer to me.
Too many games going on behind the curtains at city hall and council these days. No wonder some of the Alderman are bailing.
Glad to see that Rick Thode has filed for School Board. Guy has no political agendas and is super sharp in the financial oversight arena.
@ February 12, 2019 at 7:20 AM
Great point! If anybody is worried about taxes. Just vote NO for the schools, which will free up tax money to allow you to vote YES for the Fire Department. Sounds like a win-win to me.
How long is that garunteed for? I didn't see that on the ballot language. Maybe for a year and then they raise the prices...
Not just from their jobs but some are moving out of town, what do they know that we dont?
Two questions for the city:
1. Who schedules road work for November and December in Missouri on a main roadway?
2. Where is all this money we saved by passing the refinance on the TIF? The mayor says 2 or 3 million, maybe we can use all that for the ambulance service and the Fire District doesn't need it after all. I already pay the public safety sales tax.
A debate should be compulsory. It might help weed out the unqualified, as well as discourage those who have accomplished nothing whatsoever from running again. Problem is, we need to find qualified people to run for office. Look what keeps happening. It's sad, isn't it?
You are so correct. Super Splash was not making any money, BUT, the bills were still being paid. So if you close down Super Splash it means you are not spending money there. Where did the money go you are not spending? Simple. it went into the $900,000 surplus. You do not need to go to a Park Board meeting to figure that one out.
As with any city department unforeseen maintence issues can occur and with the present state of city funds it is pretty wise to have some reserve funds in place by Parks Department. With the renewal tax question looming by 2020 if that were to not pass they are going to burn through that surplus in a very quick fashion. Very smart of that board to sit tight until the ballot question is settled by voters.
Why are you so against the mayor's appointees? They are volunteers and shouldn't be expected to know all the budget information.
A survey was sent out and they took the communities 300 responces and made a plan. That's all that matters to me, they have a plan and say they need money for it. We have two choices, give them the money or stop complaining.
They said they had a surplus but that doesn't mean they don't need more money, sure they could've repaired the tennis courts or built a dog park but then they wouldn't be able to bank as much. With the tax increase well be able to give much needed raises to the hard working parks people and still be able to save money, and be able to afford newer better vehicles for them.
I don't have kids in the district so I'm voting NO. I also have lived here just over 20 years and never called the fire department or ambulance service, so I shouldn't have to pay even more for things I never have to use.
What I'm reading says there were 9 votes and no abstentions. He thought there was a tie?
Maybe that's why our books won't balance. Maybe that's why we are running deficits. If he can't count to ten and then argues with everyone that he's right, maybe that's the problem.
And what about those of us without insurance?
No agenda? Probably why I've never heard of him. Nothing he wants accomplished, no thanks.
"If he can't count to ten and then argues with everyone that he's right, maybe that's the problem."
It's concerning that this individual refuses to participate in a mayoral debate.
A pop basic math quiz might sideline him. This is troubling.
Mr. Thode served on the School Board previously and was highly respected by all that worked with him. Also served on Police Pension Board. It was an oversight to say he doesn’t have an agenda. He does. Accountability.
I am a BIG NO for the parks and school tax. My biggest problem with those taxes are if you have money in reserves such as the parks does why haven't you done maintenance in the years past. It is like being a home owner, you do maintenance as you go along not wait until things are falling apart then cry for more money. If you can't keep up with what you have why would you want to add a dog park and splash pad?. My spouse asked me what I wanted for Christmas last year and I told him a new car with all the bells and whistles and what I got was a match box car with all the bells and whistles, because we couldn't afford it, nor did I need it. As for the schools they too waste money and lots of it. Where the money needs to go is teachers salaries and I don't see that happening. So make me a big NO for tax increases., Still undecided on the fire department, but I do think they are getting greedy.
If this weather keeps up the city will be bankrupt on snow and overtime cost alone.
Not to mention the potholes it is creating.
I might have attended had I known which candidates would have been present with the weather being what it was the streets being what they were there's no need for me to get out if you are an income of voting you out fix streets clean up our Police Department and address are code violations or move on just like our department heads
3:13 PM. I would reach out to Bob Cochran (Ward 4) Alderman candidate if you have not had the chance to meet him. He and his wife Tina made the decision to move back to Raytown and are outstanding community supporters. Bob has no political baggage or agendas. Very refreshing! Lifetime music teacher and his ex students and parents just rave about him.
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