BY PAUL LIVIUS

Paul’s Rant!

BACK STORY

Back story is a term I give to the story behind the story.

For example, most Raytowners know the Board of Aldermen passed a motion directing City Staff to waive the penalty fee for late sewer bill payments.

In a recent press release City Administrator Damon Hodges wrote, “Sewer bills due on May 10th, 2020 will not be charged a fee for late payment. Late fees for this sewer bill will be removed from the next sewer billing cycle, mailed out on May 15th, 2020.”

Greg Walters was the Alderman who came up with the idea. He tells me he was simply following the lead of other municipalities and utilities in forgiving late fees.

Good for him . . . he deserves the credit of bringing the idea forward as the does the Board of Aldermen for unanimously accepting his suggestion.

Incidentally, Greg credits the unanimous approval of the motion was due to an impassioned and effective plea by Ward 4 Alderwoman Mary Jane (MJ) VanBuskirk for the motion to pass.

He also tells me initially there was considerable “push back” from some at City Hall about the suggestion. He shared the following with me about some of the unexpected twists and turns of the legislative process.

Walters originally reached out to four of his fellow Board members for their thoughts on waiving the late fee. All he spoke to told him they thought it a reasonable request and indicated they would support the waiver.

Greg asked one Board member to co-sponsor the motion – initially he was told “yes”, but that yes was changed to a “no” when a city staffer said “it was not necessary, we already write off the late fee”.

Greg had suspicions the whole story was not being told. He did some checking at City Hall and found out late fees were forgiven, but only If someone “asked” for a late fee to be forgiven.

The catch here is that most people do not ask for their late fee to be forgiven because they are not aware the city forgives late fees.

The blanket waiver for late fees is only for a one month period. After that, the fees will be re-instated.

Keep this in mind after the one month grace period is over. If your bill comes late, is lost in the mail, or you are out of town when it arrives, remember you will be required to “ask” for forgiveness of any future late fees.

So, now you know the “back story”.

FOOTNOTE: Greg tells me forgiveness of late fees is done by other state and local agencies as well. The State of Missouri Revenue Division allows for one late payment of taxes on an annual basis. But to receive it, the taxpayer has to ask for it to be forgiven. He also shared that sometimes the lateness of payment is caused by late billing on the part of the taxing agency. This happened in January, 2019 when the State of Missouri Sales Tax Division gave a blanket waiver for taxpayers because tax forms were sent out late.

Crime and Police

Activity Overview

• On April 20th, at approx. 6:15 am, officers were dispatched to a residence in the 5500 block of Ditzler regarding a vehicle arson. Someone threw gasoline on a car parked at the residence and set it on fire. The resident was able to put out the fire with a garden hose. The investigation is ongoing, but it is possibly related a long-standing dispute involving the registered owner.

• On April 23rd, at approx. 9:45 am, officers were dispatched to a residence in the 8500 block of Everett regarding a drive-by shooting that had occurred at 3:00 am. The resident stated that someone in a passing car fired a gun at the house one time. He believes the incident stems from an ongoing issue his son has with another juvenile. There was minor damage to the house, but no one was injured, and the investigation is ongoing.

• On April 25th, at approx. 8:45 pm, officers were dispatched to Colman Park, 5901 Lane Ave, regarding an armed robbery. The victim stated that he arranged to purchase a cellphone via the “LetGo” app and was to meet the seller at the park. While completing the transaction, the seller displayed a firearm and demanded the cash and the victim’s keys before fleeing the park. The investigation is ongoing.

BY GREG WALTERS

Bits and Pieces . . 

I received a call from a friend the other day who wanted to know why there has not been many comments on the blog portion of the Raytown Report. She wondered if you readership had dropped.

Two questions deserve two answers.

1. The readership has not dropped. If we can believe our Google Stat Counter          we are growing, and proud of it!

      2.  We have received a bunch of posts we did not publish because they were              (politically speaking) below the belt. Paul and I have written many times              about the need for those who are intent on attacking others that they must          sign their name. Plain and simple. If you want to talk nasty about someone        – you best sign your post.

•  I am so glad the Kovid19 shutdown is ending. My neighbor and I were talking about it yesterday. Our hair is beginning to look like 1970’s retro longhair styles. It may have looked good when we were young. But receding hairlines take something away. It is definitely time to get a haircut. 
• One concern about the end of the shutdown is that people will quite being so conscientious about social distancing, washing hands, and, those wonderful masks. 
• Remember this the virus is still active and very contagious. Some get slightly ill from it. Others die. Since we are in a 70’s mood tonight, remember the famous words of Clint Eastwood as “Dirty Harry” . . . Do you feel lucky? 
• I mentioned our crack down on scurrilous posts. Here is a good example of one. A reader wrote berating a well known politician for being hypocritical about social distancing. The readers wrote of the politician pontificating about the need to follow social distancing rules. Only to be seen the next day at HyVee or Walmart, greeting all the people with hugs and handshakes.

 A couple of word of advice to end this list of what we call “shorts”.

KEEP WASHING THOSE HANDS
SOCIAL DISTANCING
STAY HEALTHY

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