Rice Tremonti Restoration Underway
Raytown's landmark historic site, The Rice Tremonti Home is being restored back to its glory days in the mid 1800's.

Christy Sewing, Carla Coldwell and Leesa McPheeters have spearheaded an effort to refurbish the home as it was when Archibald Cox owned the plantation of on which the home was located.  

Care has been taken to restore details from the original drawings and photographs of the interior of the home. Christy Sewing is shown above hand painting the stenciled border of the ceiling in the west parlor of the home shown on the right.

Carla Coldwell, has been very auccessful at finding period furnishings for the home. One her most impressive finds can be viewed in the kitchen area of the home. She was able to locate an iron stove which now graces the kitchen.

The three women, along with many other volunteers, have done an impressive job of refurnishing the grounds, of the property as well as the interior of the home.

Rice Tremonti will be holding its annual Soup and Crafts event on October 29th and 30th. The following announcement gives the rest of the details.

This is one event you will not want to miss. So be sure to mark your calendar for an event that will take you back in time, provide a nutritious meal and show off Raytown's premier historic attraction.  

. . . Mark Your Calendar . . .

The Historic 1844 Rice-Tremonti Home 
Fall Soup and Crafts

 at the

Rice-Tremonti Home

8801 E. 66th Street

 Raytown, Missouri 64133

 

October 29 & 30

11:00-4:00 pm

Enjoy a meal of homemade meal of 

 soup, corn bread, a drink and dessert

Adults $10         Children under 10 $5

Enjoy items many for sale from local crafters and vendors

All proceeds benefit The Friends of Rice-Tremonti

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A Quick Review of Last Week’s Lead Story

BY GREG WALTERS

Last week we explored the tax and fee increases Raytowner’s can expect as we near the end of 2022 and start 2023. 

A quick review, for those who have not seen the article, is in order. The following four tax increases are coming doing in 2022/ 2023. For a more detailed look a these tax increases scroll down to last week’s lead story.

It is important to note that all four of these taxes will increase without a vote of the people. It is certain we will be paying these new tax rates in 2022 and 2023.             

UP 24.25%      INCREASE IN JACKSON COUNTY PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX
                        The Personal Property Tax is what pay in taxes on our cars.

UP 7%             INCREASE IN PROPERTY TAX ON HOME VALUE
                        This is the property tax paid based on Raytown's Tax Levy.

UP 7%             RAYTOWN SANITARY SEWER TAX INCREASE
                        This is the tax we pay for our sanitary sewer service.
                                                                                                    
UP TO 35%     JACKSON COUNTY PROPERTY TAXES BILL
                        If your zip code is 64133 expect a 30% increase.
                        If your zip code is 64138 expect a 35% increase.

How much will it cost?
Though we cannot give you an official answer – we have found a way to give you a reasonably accurate estimate of your home’s current market value.

The big question everyone wants answered is “how much” will my property taxes increase if the two bond tax issues are approved? The answer depends entirely on what Jackson County assesses the value of your property.

In its report to the Board of Aldermen, City Staff reported the median value of residential home Raytown is $196,852.00.
 
City Staff reported the median house price was reached by using information from Real Estate Marketing firm named Zillow.
 
The following link will take you the Zillow websites calculator. It will give you the estimated new value of your property.
USE THIS LINK FOR THE . . . Zillow Calculator

The following link is to the Jackson County Government Parcel Viewer. It is a little cumbersome to work (but not hard to figure out) - you have to find your parcel of land on a map in Raytown. Enlarge the map of Raytown to find where your home is located and then click on the outline of your property. It will give the value of your property.

CLICK TO LEARN YOUR Current Property Value

Compare the value of your home (from the Zillow calculator) to last year’s Property Tax Bill (or from the Jackson County Current Property Value link from Jackson County and you will know how much your home has appreciated in value.

There is a reason communities of population and size similar to Raytown have not asked for such high GO Bond tax increases. The simple truth is that there is a limit to how much the people of Raytown can afford to pay. The debt load for these taxes is so high that it could put the cost of home ownership out of reach for those on limited incomes in Raytown.

Our View . . .
There is one point we can all agree on. Everyone wants to have streets and storm sewers repaired.

At the August 29^th Business Meeting the Raytown Board of Aldermen it was suggested the Raytown Board of Aldermen lower their “ask” from $37,200,000 (million dollars) down to $24,000,000 (million dollars). The request originally came from a group of local citizens named “Not the Time for this Tax”.
 
The Board had a nine day window in which to consider the request. The Board would not discuss or even begin to negotiate the offered compromise. In less than ten minutes from when the request was made, the Board had voted to place the $37,200,000 tax question on the November 8, 2022 ballot.
 
Disappointed in their action to proceed without even discussing the compromise, Ward 1 Aldermen Greg Walters later said, “. . . I would not blame the voters in Raytown if they turned both of the GO Bonds down”.
 
We agree with Greg. It is still not the time for this tax.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK . . .
The following quote is attributed to Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.
 “The way to crush the middle class is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.” 

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