BREAKING NEWS . . .
CITY HALL REMOVES 3% MARIJUANA TAX FROM BALLOT
The Raytown Board of Aldermen men in an emergency session this evening voted to remove a ballot question that would have created a 3% Sales Tax on the sale of recreational marijuana in Raytown.
The original bill calling for a ballot question creating the 3% Sales Tax had been approved by the Board at its August 16th meeting.
Upon the review of the ordinance by city staff it was found that are conflicting state laws that require the Constitutional Amendment allowing the sale of recreational marijuana be approved before any laws taxing marijuana be presented to the voters.
The Board of Aldermen voted to reverse the the decision they had made on August 16th.
Attempt at Compromise Fails BY TRUTH WATCH
“Not
the Time for this Tax” is a group of concerned citizens who
successfully put together a campaign opposed to the three property tax increases
on the August 2nd ballot.
Mayor Michael McDonough let it be known
he intended to ask the Board of Aldermen to place the failed tax package from
the August 2, 2022 election back on the ballot in the mid-term elections on
November 8, 2022.
Ward 1 Alderman Greg Walters,
speaking as spokesman for Not the Time
for this Tax, suggested the two sides use the time remaining before August
31, 2022 to discuss a compromise on the amount of the total tax package.
This would have given the city and
Not the Time for this Tax 15 days to
work out a compromise.
Walters told the Board of
Aldermen that members of Not the Time
for this Tax had discussed the matter and had agreed to offer a compromise
of a $24,000,000 million dollar bond package.
The offer to set a time for
such a meeting was not answered by members of the Board or the Mayor. Within 15
minutes of his offer being made, the Board voted to set the date of the
election for November 8, 2022.
Walters told the Raytown Report
he was disappointed the city would not work towards finding common ground.
“The
$37,200,000 million dollar bond tax they are asking for is outrageous,” said
Walters. “Asking for that much in bond debt is not realistic for a city of ten
square miles and a population of only 30,000.”
Walters pointed out that other
area cities of approximately the same land size and population have recently held
bond issues.
“None
of the following cities came near suggesting such a tax burden be placed on its
people.
Walters provided the following
data to back up his statements.
BELTON $21,000,000 MILLION DOLLARS
RAYMORE $23,500,000 MILLION DOLLARS
WARRENSBURG $ 5,000,000 MILLION DOLLARS
LIBERTY $ 6,570,000 MILLION DOLLARS
GRANDVIEW $12,400,000 MILLION DOLLARS
RAYTOWN $37,200,000 MILLION DOLLARS
“Not one of the
cities listed are even close to the outrageous amount Raytown is asking its taxpayers
to pay, said Walters.”
Asked if Not the Time for thisTax would oppose November 8 bond tax proposal, Walters replied, “We came with a reasonable compromise. The city turned it down. Our group will be meeting to determine our next course of action. Personally, I do not think anyone would blame the voters if they turned this tax increase package down as well.”
Bits and Pieces . . .
LACK OF TRUST
As nearly everyone knows, on August 2nd, the voters in Raytown turned back three property tax increases.
One of those increases, which would have doubled the tax levy rate on Raytown
property owners, was defeated by a landslide of 1805 YES to 3210 NO.
Political observers have
pointed out the lopsided defeat indicates that voters in Raytown have lost
faith in their political leaders. Had it passed, the new levy would have given
city hall a blank check with no guarantee of how the tax dollars would have
been spent.
SNAP
LIES is a term given to utterances from politicians who are adroit at
mouthing lies in their conversation. Recently, one local politician told a voter there were only two tax issues on the November 8th
ballot.
The fact is there are three.
Two of the tax questions are the doubling down by city hall of two property tax
questions defeated on August 2nd.
The third tax is a 3% sales tax
that would go into effect IF a state constitution amendment to legalize
recreational marijuana is approved by voters in Missouri.
SIN TAX: The 3%
sales tax on recreational marijuana is what used to be called sin tax. Similar
to the extra taxes consumers pay on alcohol and cigarettes, this tax would be payable
on the sale of recreational marijuana.
If the Constitutional Amendment fails, the tax will not be enacted.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Board of Aldermen have since rescinded the bill which would have put the 3% marijuana tax on the ballot -- see "Breaking News" at the top of this page.
8 comments:
BELTON: $21,000,000 MILLION DOLLARS
RAYMORE: $23,500,000 MILLION DOLLARS
WARRENSBURG: $5,000,000 MILLION DOLLARS
LIBERTY : $6,570,000 MILLION DOLLARS
GRANDVIEW: $12,400,000 MILLION DOLLARS
-----------
RAYTOWN: $37,200,000 MILLION DOLLARS
Raytown, in relation to the aforementioned cities, please explain why you need 37.2 million dollars.
Unfortunately, I doubt that even they can actually answer the question, and they've already proven time and time again that they don't respect the citizens enough to even respond.
They expect us to remain silent, proceed in a single file line, in lockstep, to the nearest voting station and to comply.
Proceeding to the nearest voting station To vote NO.
"The 3% sales tax on recreational marijuana is what used to be called sin tax. Similar to the extra taxes consumers pay on alcohol and cigarettes, this tax would be payable on the sale of recreational marijuana."
Another compromise would be to avoid putting both issues on the ballot to begin with.
The City needs to slow its roll. Their behavior is outrageous and ridiculous If the rec marijuana measure passes, that 3% would probably be a substantial enough windfall to set the city up quite righteously with funds to fix the roads, without encumbering the citizens within an inch of their lives for years on end. If the money could be used for roads.
I will be following 8:57 am to the polls to vote NO AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN! I don't thrust city hall. Time for a new Mayor!
"The Mayor has made no secret about how his overwork staff needs to be paid more."
Merely as a point of discussion, are staff salaries public information?
For instance, govsalaries.com
How accurate is this website?
Again, for instance:
".........Overview
"...........in 2021 was employed in City of Raytown and had annual salary of $147,282 according to public records. This salary is 179 percent higher than average and 172 percent higher than median salary of Raytown."
https://govsalaries.com/salaries/MO/city-of-raytown?year=2021
How would this information have been sourced, and is it accurate?
Yes, salary of city employees is a matter of public record, one of the drawbacks of working for a city.
The information is accurate and the percentage comparisons are to other city employees.
The thing to look at in your comparisons are the number of employees managed. You can compare other cities our size for that ... position. Don't think our ... is underpaid by any stretch.
"The thing to look at in your comparisons are the number of employees managed. You can compare other cities our size for that ... position. Don't think our ... is underpaid by any stretch."
^^^ Exactly. Therefore the need for performance reviews, with (qualified) citizen oversight, in this instance. Daily activity recaps - very basic, simple, quick to complete. Total transparency. For this position, and other key personnel. These measures would either confirm what many already suspect, or they would assure us that these individuals are functioning adequately in their roles. It would also assist us in providing extra support to them, if they are indeed overburdened in the execution of their duties.
Mayor Mike,
You allowed the the city to waste $20,000 for a company to come up with a slogan for your over price unexplained tax increases.
"One Raytown"
The question remains is there a word missing between "one" and "Raytown"
"Broke"
"Divided"
" Defiant", which is my personal favorite as it speaks volumes to your response to the 3 "NO" votes on August 2nd.
"Failed", which comes in second as it speaks to your leadership where you continue to refuse to work with others in the community on compromise that befits the city as a whole.
" Incompetent", which explains the allowed spending not only on a slogan, but that useless sign at city hall. While at it let us not forget you making our city as department head heavy as your beloved police department that started this financial mess.
Mr. Mayor that is three strikes and as in baseball you are out.
If you really want "one Raytown" you need to sooner than later publicly take ownership, apologize, and announce your retirement from politics when your term end this coming April.
Raytown is a great place, but your behavior and forcing ballot issues on our citizens that have already spoken is only dividing us and causing hate between too many that once called each other friend.
Is that how you really want your term as mayor to be remembered?
I recall a few years back being warned about the tax and spend Republicans in Ward 4.
Based on there continued placement of tax questions on the ballot it is clear they need to slow down the spending and start answering hard questions about where our money is going and why every election you have a new tax you want to impose on hard working and retired people of Raytown.
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