VOTERS WILL DECIDE TAX PROPOSAL NOV. 5
Metropolitan Community College (MCC) officials believe there’s “a perfect day” brewing in the Nov. 5 election for voters within the Platte County R-3 School District that will result in voter approval of a proposed tax levy increase that lowers tuition for MCC students who live within the R-3 boundaries.
Their optimism counters a 2021 ballot initiative in which voters in the Platte County School District overwhelmingly rejected a tax levy for MCC attachment. Voters turned it down with 68% opposed.
Officials contend a combination of issues should encourage a simple majority (more than 50 percent of voters) to approve the issue, from a recent trend among high school graduates to forgo the traditional four-year college program, making community college education more popular due to a need for skilled workers in a variety of industries offered by programs at the five-campus system.
MCC Vice Chancellor Larry Rideaux, Jr. and MCC Board of Trustees President Chris Benjamin presented information explaining the tax levy proposal during a recent interview at The Landmark office.
The MCC officials said Platte County’s status as the fastest-growing county in the state means more students would benefit from the tuition breaks. In addition, debt resulting from four-year college degree programs has left many millennials struggling to pay off high student loan debt while launching their lives by buying homes and starting families, Benjamin said. Studies indicate average student loan debt is $35,000, Benjamin said, which leaves graduates “carrying the weight of all that debt” into their adult lives.
The tax levy could help alleviate such debt by allowing students to pay $121 per credit hour at MCC under attachment compared with $237 per credit hour they currently pay without attachment. Dual credit students, who obtain a high school diploma at the same time as a two-year associate’s degree would pay only $60 per credit hour under attachment, Rideaux said.
The issue asks Platte County School District voters to allow the college district to “attach” to the district, which will assess a tax levy of 17.8 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
Since 1968, when a state statute became law legalizing attachment, many districts signed on to the program with some voting for the attachment years ago, Benjamin said. Oak Grove, Grain Valley and Liberty joined the program in 2021, he said, bringing the current total to 16 area school districts that have joined.
Representatives of the college district delivered power point presentations explaining the benefits of attachment to Platte County Board of Education members during meetings in June and July, said Laura Hulett, director of communications for the Platte County School District. However, Hulett said, while board members listened to the presentation, the district “neither supports nor opposes” the proposal. She added that “we value our partnership with MCC.”
Advocates of the ballot question say if approved, the levy will reduce debt load and improve the local economy by giving students more money to pay for necessities such as living expenses, transportation and childcare and will provide more disposable income since it will reduce their debt load, Benjamin said, adding that many MCC students remain in the area after completing an MCC program.
In addition, because MCC offers many workforce readiness programs from veterinarian and auto tech to health sciences, robotics and Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), the tuition break could cause more students to complete such programs, enhancing the local workforce. Rideaux said he’s heard from local business leaders that they struggle to find qualified workers with such specific skills.
Benjamin said levy approval would allow a nice pairing with the current Northland Career Center, located in Platte City and operated by the Platte County School District. A larger facility will have more course offerings and is scheduled to open by December 2026 and will operate as the Northland Workforce Development Center to be constructed at Missouri 152 and Platte Purchase Road in the Platte County School District.
The new facility will accommodate students who currently are being turned away due to a lack of space, said Brian Noller, executive director of business services at the career center and campaign lead for what will become the new workforce development center.
The verbatim ballot language follows: “Shall the Platte County R-3 School District become part of and be attached to The Junior College District of Metropolitan Kansas City, Missouri (also known as “Metropolitan Community College”) effective the 21st day of November, 2024? If this proposition is approved, the overall tax levy in Platte County R-III School District will increase by Metropolitan Community College’s tax levy of Seventeen and Eighty-One Hundredths Cents ($0.1780) per $100 of assessed valuation and all residents of the school district will be eligible for reduced Metropolitan Community College tuition at the in-district rate for general education and work force training.”
OPPOSITION
MCC officials told The Landmark that they are unaware of any organized opposition to the attachment question on the Nov. 5 ballot. While opposition may not be of the organized variety, there is opposition out there, as evidenced by the 2021 result and by a recent letter to the editor from a Landmark reader.
In the Oct. 2 edition of The Landmark, resident Mike Stark wrote to oppose the Platte County School District/MCC attachment question. Stark referred to the proposal as a “forever tax” and added:
“If passed, the Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City will annex the Platte County R-3 School District and raise our taxes accordingly. The second question concerns local charitable organizations asking to receive tax-payer funding for what they call “children services.”
Stark continued that:
“The question proposed by this junior college intends to offer reduced tuition rates by raising our property and real estate taxes. A state statute gives them sole authority to do this if the voters approve. These taxes are raised by adding an additional tax levy of $0.1780 per $100 in assessed value. For example, if your home is appraised at $250,000, you will pay an additional $85 per year.
“I assume the tax will benefit a small number of students going to this local college. But for most taxpayers, like seniors or those who have selected other colleges for their children, there is no benefit for Platte County property holders to subsidize this junior college.
“Finally, you might remember in April 2021 that Platte County taxpayers defeated this same ballot question. I guess this is a second bite at the apple,” Stark remarked.
