Am I the only one who thinks the new FBI building at I-29 and 112th Street is shaped like a cruise ship? Next time you drive by check it out. Report back to me.
There’s a lot going on locally this summer, isn’t there? Local traffic detours for major road and bridge construction, local candidates campaigning for an August primary, two way-past-their-prime presidential candidates arguing about who’s the better golfer, and a proposed $408 million Platte County tax increase backed by some seriously flawed financial models is on the ballot courtesy of your Platte County commissioners.
Whew. It’s a lot for all of us to follow and stay on top of, is it not? On a scale of one to Joe Biden, how thick is your brain fog right now?
As you’ve been following along, educated letter writers and your favorite newspaper have exposed the fact that the Platte County commissioners, in their zest to get a pet project passed at a low turnout August election, panicked and put together a jail tax ballot proposal that is over the top in its size (half cent sales tax) and lifespan (20 years) while backed with flawed projections that are “unreliable and an embarrassment to Platte County,” according to an accountant who has done work for the county.
Meanwhile, the county commissioners are spending $80,000 of your money to “educate” the public on the jail proposal. That is a polite way to say the commissioners are campaigning with your tax dollars. This “educational” campaign is already making a name for itself, and not in a good way, with incorrect and misleading statements. Their material refers to the jail ballot proposal as “an $85 million project.” That wording is so intentionally misleading it is shameful. This tax is not an $85 million project. Stop the lies. This is a tax that is estimated to generate more than $408 million. All of that $408 million in new tax revenue–the largest tax increase in the history of Platte County–will go for a three-story 471-bed jail and operations of that jail hotel in Downtown Platte City.
It’s sad because your commissioners know statements like it’s “an $85 million project” are not truthful, and they still allow that type of garbage to be used in their pro-tax increase “educational” mailers. “Another part of one of their flyers says: “417 beds are needed now, and for the future.” Good grief. They don’t need 417 beds “now.” The average daily population of the jail last year was 195. And the 417 bed figure is not accurate. They’re not proposing a capacity of 417. They’re proposing 471 (actually they’re proposing 500, but in the county commission’s fuzzy math 180 existing beds plus 320 proposed new beds equals 471 beds. To the rest of the world 180 plus 320 is 500, but I digress).
Using our tax money to perform targeted voter mailings of campaign pieces filled with misleading information under the guise of “educational” pieces is as trashy as the proposal itself. Realize this: If you’re opposed to the jail tax, the county commissioners are using your money to campaign against your stance. How wrong is that? A local attorney used the word “immoral” when he talked about this with The Landmark.
Multiple professional accountants in contact with The Landmark have described the county’s jail tax projection models as “untrustworthy,” “unreliable,” and “amateurish,” with the proposal put together by people who “need to find another line of work.” A Platte County attorney simply describes the county’s jail tax proposal as a “turd.”
But here we are. The commissioners are spending your tax dollars on a campaign to mislead you with information while withholding more accurate information from you. I think “immoral” is an accurate description.
Despite the obvious flaws pointed out in the projections and the plan, Platte County Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker this week said the county commissioners are standing behind the ballot proposal. “As you know, it’s very hard to project anything past three-five years and anyone can always poke holes in long-term projections. But this is our job and we stand by our proposal,” Fricker told Rob Willard, county treasurer, in an email this week that Fricker copied to a whole bunch of folks, including local media.
The commissioners doubling down on what is a trash proposal doesn’t change the fact it’s a trash proposal. One of the problems is that it features double taxation. Gordon Cook, an accountant who has done work for county in the past, points out that about $144 million of the county’s projected $237 million in proposed jail expenses would be covered by the county’s existing quarter cent law enforcement tax. So why are they proposing a new tax for expenses already being covered by an existing tax? This is lunacy.
As Rob Willard, county treasurer, pointed out last week, there has never been a dedicated sales tax in Platte County proposed to run for 20 years like your county commissioners are proposing for this $400 million jail tax.
For instance, the 1996 ballot question for the half cent sales tax that paid for the construction of the current jail was for a tax that would end in “six years or less as the bonds are paid off.” Six years is a far cry from 20 years. And those 1996 bonds were, in fact, paid off early and the tax was ended well short of the six year limit.
Here’s another point. In that 1996 jail tax election, “educational” campaign materials were paid for and distributed by a privately organized and privately funded “Citizens for the Law Enforcement Center.” There was no creepy practice of using our tax money for campaign mailers.
You can’t claim to be a fiscal conservative while at the same time promoting the largest tax increase in the history of the county. Well, I guess you can. But you’re going to look pretty ridiculous doing it.
Dagmar Wood, first district county commissioner, is all about this $400 million jail tax increase. Pushing it like it’s a matter of life or death. (Fact check: it is not.) As you know, Dagmar is now running for assessor.
One of the lines on her campaign flyer says you should vote for Dagmar to “stop runaway taxes.” Lol. So a person pushing the largest tax increase in county history says she will “stop runaway taxes.” That’s rich.
And another of Dagmar’s flyers says a vote for Dagmar is a vote for a “Conservative Republican.” Well I guess it’s a good thing she’s “conservative,” otherwise she’d be proposing a billion dollar new tax instead of $400 million.
The local political world is so darn entertaining right now.
(If you notice any county official using any county resources for campaign purposes email ivan@plattecountylandmark.com or file your complaint directly to the Missouri Ethics Commission)
