Kearney Residents Head to Polls

Kearney residents will head to the polls on Tuesday to weigh in on two tax initiatives. It is important voters understand the two separate issues as one allows the city to collect on revenues which are already being paid through current taxes and the other is would create an increase to assessed property taxes, although ballot language omits this information.

In the first initiative, instead of raising taxes for Kearney residents, the City is asking residents to vote for the use tax. The use tax is not a double tax: residents will not pay the use tax in addition to the city’s sales tax. It is designed to be one or the other; never both, and will be the same rate as the sales tax. The use tax brings in tax dollars from the purchase of large ticket items over the internet or through the out-of-state sale of items like motor vehicles, boats, and trailers.

“There is a need for additional revenue to undertake many improvements of infrastructure identified over the courses of the last several years, as well as other capital improvements in the city of Kearney,” said Pogue on Kearney Live on January 20. “We have a lot of projects and issues that are not funded including a water repair in Shadowbrook, a major repair over off 12th Street Culvert, and many other repairs and sanitary sewer relining in Kearney Manor and Southbrook Subdivision.”

The Use tax could also generate funding that would be used to fund a debt financing, or a pay-as-you-go storm water project and other capital replacement projects the city has been unable to fund.

This issue is time sensitive because municipalities have until November of 2022 to receive voter approval for the continuation of the collection of the local sales tax for motor vehicles, trailers, boats and outboard motors purchased from private sellers or out-of-state dealers and then titled in Missouri.

Cities neighboring Kearney, including Excelsior Springs, Liberty, Gladstone, Smithville, Platte City and Kansas City all have a use tax to help pay for municipal projects. There are also over 160 other cities and counties around Missouri using a use tax.

Pogue sees the benefit of having a use tax to help with city infrastructure projects because sales from online, out-of-state vendors do not create local funds to help pay for city infrastructure: “With our changing retail buying habits, more than ever, a use tax can help broaden the City’s tax base, while creating a level playing field for our local merchants.”

More information about the use tax can be found on the city’s website.

The second issue is a question placed on the ballot by the Metropolitan Community College It is a measure that would annex the Kearney School District into their in-district tuition schedule, saving students approximately $91 per credit hour.

Despite the tuition decrease for the students who attend the community college, all residents of the school district will be seeing an increase to their assessed property taxes. Unfortunately, the tax increase information was not included in the ballot language voters will be seeing on April 6.

The language appearing on the ballot reads: “For the purpose of providing greater affordable access to quality higher education by providing in-district tuition rates for residents within the Kearney R-1 School District, shall the Kearney R-1 School District be attached to The Junior College District of Metropolitan Kansas City, Missouri, effective the 22nd day of April 2021?”

The Metropolitan Community College resolution states that it will levy an additional $0.2128 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to residents of that school district. For passage, the question only requires simple majority.

In a March 11 article, the Platte County Landmark newspaper explains the increase this way: “The average market value of a single family home in Platte County is around $282,000. Based on that value, the MCC tax would cost the owner of an average market value home $114.02 per year.”

The Platte County Board of Elections confirmed with the Landmark that per state statute, the Metropolitan Community College has the authority to ask the ballot question, gives guidance on how it should be asked, and is not required to place tax information in the ballot question. In other words, the college can make the ballot question sound wonderful, and not have to tell voters it will raise their taxes.

When asked about the ballot question, the Kearney School District responded with a statement similar to other districts: “KSD had nothing to do with placing this issue on the ballot. All of the revenue generated through MCC’s tax levy will go to MCC, not KSD. KSD does not support or oppose the issue.”

The Kearney School District is not the only school district where the question appears on the ballot. Other districts with the April 6 ballot question are: Platte County, Smithville, Liberty, Grain Valley, Oak Grove, Harrisonville, and Raymore-Peculiar.

The Platte County Landmark added an important note in its article about the tax levy ballot measure: “Each school district vote is separate from the others. The “attachment” to MCC and the accompanying tax levy will go into effect in each school district where it is approved by voters and will not go into effect where it is not approved by voters.”

The Metropolitan Community College resolution to lower the in the in-district tuition schedule for certain districts and apply a tax levy to residents in the school district boundaries can be read here.

KPGZ News - Jim Dickerson contributed to this story