To depict what geographic areas of the county generate the most sales tax revenue, Platte County Presiding Commissioner Betty Knight made a request to see those figures, according to a statement at last week’s county commission meeting.
“We’ve been talking so much about sales tax and where it was going, that I thought it would be a good idea to know where it came from,” said Knight.
Platte County Treasurer Bonnie Brown prepared the 2003 taxable sales comparison chart for the cities within Platte County and the unincorporated portion of the county.
“I wasn’t sure what the sales tax figures would be,” Knight said following the meeting. “I thought this kind of information would help all of us.”
The figures, which depict the 2003 sales tax information, shows that the Kansas City portion of Platte County brings in over $831.5 million taxable sales dollars, equating to 69.835% of the county’s total.
Knight said that she doesn’t feel as if all the money needs to be reinvested in Kansas City, but that it’s important to understand where the county’s revenue is coming from.
“We do need to pay attention where the money comes from because there’s been so much talk about why we spend money in Kansas City and Barry Road. I thought those numbers would illustrate one of the reasons we’re spending the money,” said Knight. “Because that’s where the money is being generated—that’s where people shop, where we get the money to operate our county, our parks, and that’s where money’s generated to fix everybody’s roads.”
Riverside is second with $126 million in sales tax dollars in 2003, or 10.607% of the county’s total.
Parkville and Platte City each brought in over $60 million. Parkville’s percentage equaled 5.326%, and Platte City equaled 5.125% of the county’s total.
The most surprising figure was that of the unincorporated portion of the county, with over $65.7 million in taxable sales dollars, equaling a percentage greater than either Parkville or Platte City of 5.523%.
“I was shocked to see that the sales tax for the unincorporated portion was higher than Platte City and even Parkville,” said Knight.
The total taxable sales for Platte County for 2003 were $1,190,704,203.57.
Knight stated that the figures for 2004 will be available in May or June.
In other action, the commission received one bid for flooring at Shiloh Springs Golf Club from Wilson’s Flooring in the amount of $8,654.98.
Commissioners also awarded a bid to Thoroughbred Ford for new Ford vehicles and Ford program vehicles for the sheriff’s department.
The commissioners also renewed a health professionals contract with HPL, who provides health care services to the inmates for the sheriff’s department. The contract includes a five percent increase per month for services. The increase, which is a budgeted item, was anticipated during the middle of last year.
Commissioners also approved a bid request by the parks and recreation department for Phase II improvements to Platte Ridge Park. Projects included in the bid are for a concession restroom, concrete sidewalks and pad site, a lateral sanitary system and lateral field, and seating. Bids are due by 1:30 p.m., March 24.
Charles Daniel Rhodus II was appointed to the planning and zoning commission for an unexpired term effective immediately.

