Hey Parkville voters, you approved the wrong tax question this week. You voted in a new half cent sales tax for public safety. Your city has virtually no crime. Your police chief talks about wanting more time for engaging with the public and serving meals to senior citizens at Christmastime. He doesn’t talk about an increasing crime problem because Parkville doesn’t have a crime problem.
With the new tax revenue, the city will use the new sales tax money on the police department and will be free to take the general fund money that had been going to police and spend it on anything they want. Yes, they got you on this one.
Meanwhile, the use tax would have been applied to online purchases and would have leveled the playing field for your brick and mortar merchants in Parkville. It’s a fair idea, already in place in the county and in several local cities. That’s the question you should have approved on Tuesday.
Just wait until Platte County comes back with a new countywide sales tax question for something like, say, a new jail that some of your county leaders love to talk about. Let’s say that’s another half cent sales tax proposal. Let’s say it gets passed countywide. Add it to Parkville’s new half cent sales tax, and can you imagine what the sales tax rate is going to be in Parkville when added to all the special taxing districts in place in your city?
Yikes. Could be scary times ahead for Parkville shoppers and merchants.
So is Platte County going to come back with another massive county jail proposal for downtown Platte City? Similar to the one that was smashed by voters in 2019. Let’s hope not. Do we have reason to hope?
Maybe. Maybe there’s something smarter in mind this time. Let’s not get too excited but maybe there is hope. There is at least some hope for a regional proposal. Probably wise to investigate that, as Platte County is in the minority when it comes to wanting a state prison-sized county jail. That’s not the trend in today’s society. Heck, even Gov. Mike Parson is on record as being against any more prisons at the state level, which again makes you wonder why there’s overwhelming fascination among some Platte County elected officials with wanting a much larger detention facility than the one they currently have.
“The county commission has had early stage discussions with multiple counties about either a regional jail or Platte County entering into a long-term commitment to pay another county to house part of our inmates,” Joe Vanover, second district county commissioner, told me a couple of weeks ago.
Joe, please tell us more about these regional jail discussions–like with whom and where?
“None of the discussions have progressed to the point where we want to identify potential partners,” was the answer from Vanover.
He did say that one example is the current relationship between Kansas City and Jackson County. According to a Feb. 14 story by radio station KCUR, “signaling a long-sought agreement, Jackson County officials said Tuesday that they would agree to share space and services at a new detention facility with Kansas City.”
“Also, St. Joseph and Buchanan County have shared a facility for their police station and sheriff’s office for years,” Vanover said.
Some Platte County officials certainly aren’t shy when it comes to shouting about allegedly increasing crime rates–though the number of felonies in 2022 was down by 44 when compared to 2021 and is only 31 more than occurred in Platte County three years ago–and the need for more jail space. People in other parts of the metro who watch the news are likely getting the impression Platte County is a haven for crime. If so, Platte County has only itself to blame. It’s probably time to tone down the hyperbole a bit. Save that silliness for your next jail tax campaign.
It was interesting that a couple of weeks ago the county commission hired its consultant (for only $940, which is an indication there wasn’t going to be a whole lot of time put into it) to update his jail population study from 2018-19, and even before the consultant had time to submit his report the presiding commissioner has come to the conclusion there is an urgent need. “We need a plan to improve and expand our existing jail, and we need it as soon as possible,” Scott Fricker said this week.
Well alrighty then. Kinda sounds like some decisions had already been reached before the commissioners even asked the consultant to update his numbers. Gives the impression they just wanted “an updated study” so they would have an “expert document” on hand to match their already-established desires and opinions.
Fricker not being able keep his powder dry at least until the study is done kind of exposed some things going on behind the curtain.
It’s entertaining to watch Dagmar Wood get all juiced up when talk turns to jail population and boogeyman crime stats. Some of us get excited talking about sports and ice cream. Dagmar gets excited talking about boogeymen and incarceration. Kind of a weird thing to get your motor running, but you be you. I’m here for it.
It’s like the crazy aunt at the family reunion getting giddy about raisins in the potato salad.
On the streets of Platte County. . .
Dagmar: “The jail is overcrowded. There are criminals out here! Crime is running rampant. The jail is overcrowded. There are 9,000 more bad guys who should be in our jail! We’re the fastest growing county in the state but everybody moving here must be a criminal. Sometimes I grab my gun and go to the shooting range with the guys from the sheriff’s department. The jail is overcrowded!”
Response: “Ma’am, this is a Wendy’s.”
(All vested up and working the dangerous streets of Platte County for you, Foley can be reached at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)