RAYTOWN REPORT

USE THIS LINK TO Comment AND VIEW COMMENTS

Board places two

taxes on April 7th Ballot

BY GREG WALTERS

At its last meeting the Raytown Board of Aldermen voted to set an election date of April 7, 2026 for voters to consider two Sales Taxes. Those two sales taxes are:

A one-half cent Transportation Sales Tax for a term of ten years
A three-eights cent Capital Sales Tax for a term of ten years

By so doing, the Board doubled the term length of the term of the sales tax from the original term of five years (approved in 2002), which was subsequently changed in the following two elections to a 3/8 cent tax for a term of ten years in 2006 and 2014.

State law requires all municipal ordinances be read before the Board of Alderman in Public Session twice before they are approved.

The purpose of the two public readings is to gurantee the public has been informed of the upcomign election. This allows the public the ability to reach out to their elected representatives in a two week “window” in which they can communicate with their representatives on the Board of Aldermen regarding the issue.

Two votes were held on the proposed taxes at the meeting. The first for suspension of the rules allowing the majority of the Board to push the legislation through in one meeting instead of (State Law) requiring two separate reading before proposed ordinances are considered.

The vote fairly close, it was approved by one vote (suspending of the rules requires a two-thirds majority to approve a vote without conducting a second public hearing. The moiton was made by Ward 5 Alderwoman Bonnaye Mims

VOTE TOTAL: 7 YES 1 NO 2 ABSENT for suspension of the rules

VOTE TOTAL: 7 YES 1 ABSTAIN 2 ABSENT to approve holding an election on April 7th

Our View . . .

What we find bothersome about the tax proposal is that the Board chose the most expensive date available to them to place the item on the ballot. Consider the following:

APRIL 7TH IS AN “OFF YEAR” ELECTION FOR RAYTOWN

In other words, if Raytown holds the election in April, they will probably be the only city to do so. Elections are not inexpensive to hold. We checked the record. There is no doubt about it. Holding a "stand alone" in April is much more expensive than placing it on the August, 2026 election date.

The reason is simple. The cost of the election per community is based on the number of governmental institutions participating in the election. The August Election date has state, national, political and county elections. All those costs are divided by the number of participants. This lowers the cost per voter dramatically.

In April the only elections planned would be the City and School District. That means those two entities must pay the same cost without the benefit of other governmental agencies sharing in the cost.

AUGUST AND NOVEMBER ARE “MID-TERM” ELECTIONS

Mid-term Elections are held by the Democrat and Republican in State and other regional government entities. This influx of fees to the election Board creates lowers the cost to cities like Raytown that have only two tax issues on the ballot.If Raytown has the only item on the cost will be significant. If other races and issues are on the ballot . . . the Raytown would realize a significant savings in election costs.

TWO OTHER ELECTION DATES ARE SCHEDULED FOR 2026

Both elections are expected to be crowded with State and National elections and issues. Elections are billed to the governmental body holding the election. Larger elections cost more. Smaller elections costs less.

The cost of Raytown holding an election in April is significantly higher than holding it in August or November. That is because State and National issues will be filling up most of the ballot. The savings to Raytown wouldj be significant. It is estimated the City could save up to $30,000 on holding the elections in August or November.

Who knows? Perhaps the Board of Aldermen will jump at the opportunity by using tax dollars saved on lower election cost by spending the savings on improvements on our neighborhood streets.