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From Greg and Paul

TO VIEW THE VIDEO OF THE BOARD DISCUSSION USE THE FOLLOWING LINK . . Code of Ethics and Conduct (go to item 8 on the agenda)

BY PAUL LIVIUS

Board Approves Updated

Code of Ethics and Conduct

One half of the Board of Aldermen wanted to hold over a controversial Ethics Package at last week’s Raytown Board of Aldermen meeting, the other half wanted to rush it through the legislative process. In the end, they both got their way.

To understand the order of events leading to last Tuesday night’s kerfuffle one needs to go back to the previous meeting of the Board of Aldermen, held on November 26^th.

NOVEMBER 19, 2019: Ward 5 Alderwoman Bonnaye Mims presented a revised Code of Ethics and Conduct for Elected and Appointed Officials. Apparently, Ms. Mims, at the request of Mayor Michael McDonough, had written a new Code for the Board. None of the Board was aware of the McDonough/Mims plan. Mims quickly distributed the ten page document without any discussion by the Board. The item was carried over to the next meeting (November 26, 2019).

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NOVEMBER 26, 2019: The Board votes to carry Code of Ethics and Conduct over for further study. The motion to carry over the Ethics document for further review is made by Alderman Bill VanBuskirk. Alderman Greg Walters seconds the motion. The Board approves VanBuskirk’s motion by a vote of 6 to 4.

BOARD ADJOURNS TO EXECUTIVE SESSION: The executive session was called on an item not related to the Ethics issue.

MAYOR RE-CONVENES THE

PUBLIC SESSION OF THE MEETING:

WARD 1 ALDERMAN FRANK HUNT ASKS TO SPEAK: Alderman Hunt asks for the floor. Hunt tells the Board he made a mistake when he voted “yes” to carry consideration of the ethics proposal over to the next meeting. He asks the Board to re-consider the vote so he may vote “no”.

BOARD RE-CASTS THEIR VOTE: This time Alderman VanBuskirk’s motion fails 6 to 4. A lengthy debate begins over the proposed ethics document. 

The following is a list of the amendments made to the document.

AMENDMENTS

Section C: SANCTIONS (a) Acknowledgment of Code of Ethics and Conduct:

The Mayor and Aldermen who do not sign an acknowledgement that they have read and understand the Code of Ethics and Comments shall be ineligible for intergovernmental assignments or Board of Aldermen subcommittees. Board, Committee and Commission members who do not sign an acknowledgement that they have read and understand the Code of Ethics and Comments are not eligible to hold office.

Motion by Greg Walters to remove Section C: Sanctions (a) Acknowledgement of Code of Ethics and Conduct. The Board approved the amendment unanimously (10-0).

Section C: SANCTIONS (a) Behavior and Conduct:

Mayor and Board, Committee and Commission Members: (end paragraph)

The Mayor and Board of Aldermen may impose sections on Board, Committee and Commission members whose conduct does not comply with the City’s policies. Such conduct is cause for removal from office. Any form of discipline imposed by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen shall be determined by a majority of at least a three quarter vote of the Board of Aldermen*, after written notice of the change(s) is provided to the member, and after a noticed public meeting and such action shall be preceded by a Report to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen with supporting documentation.

*AMENDMENT IN BOLD ITALIC FONT

Motion to amend by Alderman Bill VanBuskirk. The Board approved the motion unanimously.

ENTIRE DOCUMENT: A motion to insert the words “Mayor and Board of Aldermen”* into the document any place the words “Board of Aldermen) had previously stood alone. This ensured the Mayor was included under the same conditions as all other elected officials in Raytown. 

*AMENDMENT IN BOLD ITALIC FONT

Motion to amend by Alderman Greg Walters. The motion was approved by a vote of 8 to 2.

ANALYSIS: The Board of Aldermen took the appropriate action in making the above changes to the Code of Ethics and Conduct for Elected and Appointed Officials. The original document was deeply flawed, particularly in the area of constitutional law. Raytown is a Fourth Class City in Missouri. That means Raytown is a statutory city. Its laws must comply with those laws allowed by the State of Missouri for a fourth class city.

Sections giving the Mayor and Board of Aldermen powers not allowed under Missouri State Statutes is an invitation to a lawsuit which the city would ultimately lose.

A Code of Ethics and Conduct is an important part of any city. This document should have been worked out and vetted by the entire Board of Aldermen before going public.

The end product approved by the Board at its last meeting was definitely an improvement (thanks to the amendments) over the original document. But the fact remains it is a still a cobbled together mess of other cities’ code(s) of conduct.

The entire Board, working together, could have created a much better document.

TO VIEW THE VIDEO OF THE BOARD DISCUSSION USE THE FOLLOWING LINK
Code of Ethics and Conduct (go to item 8 on the agenda)

Property Tax / Sales Tax Comparison

BY GREG WALTERS

Everyone reading this who owns their home has undoubtedly received their tax statements from Jackson County. More than likely, the County driven tax increases have increased considerably since two years ago.

The following analysis of the levy increases was received from a friend of mine who is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). According to the chart shown below, the Raytown Property Tax Levy is the highest Eastern Jackson County.

The following is the narrative from the report.

“Can’t guarantee 100% accuracy but it’s close. I used the school district for each city although the districts overlap city boundaries.  But if you lived in the city with that city’s school district that is the levy amount.

My total property taxes had I lived in Raytown would have been about $1150 higher.  The highest combined city-fire district taxes are Raytown and Blue Springs which both have fire districts as opposed to city fire departments.  So it appears that cities have dumped their EMS on fire departments which are able to easily raise taxes.

Because of the Hancock amendment my tax levy in Independence decreased 45.4 cents. In Raytown the levy increased 5.85 cents

Missouri gives some property tax refunds for those making up to $30,000 single and $32,000 married.  A single person with social security and other income totaling $30,000 would pay zero in federal and state income taxes but if they lived in a modest $100,000 home they would pay about $2,000 in property tax.  I can tell you this is a hardship on lower income citizens.

As the chart shows Raytown leads the area with the highest levy at $9.4792 per hundred dollars valuation. It is often said the city’s tax rate is low in comparison to other cities. This is true. But when the Fire District levy is added to the total, the difference is more than made up.

The sales tax rate for area municipalities is shown as well. Raytown ranks second behind Kansas City and Blue Springs (who are tied for first).

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