Quick news update. The Platte County Commission and the Missouri Department of Revenue filed a motion for an extension of time to file a response to the plaintiff’s lawsuit in the legal action over the children’s services tax. That was the tax easily approved by voters in a very comfortable 56-44 percent margin of victory, yet the Platte County Commission chose not to implement the tax, citing the word “may” as opposed to the word “shall” in what they believe is the key point in the statute. Attorneys for the plaintiffs argue that the word “may” simply “identifies the pre-conditions for a county to have authority to levy a children’s services tax. It does not vest commissioners with discretion to do what they want after a vote of the people.” Plaintiffs’ attorneys go on to say “so the word ‘may’ is just a prelude to how the children’s services tax may be adopted. Focusing on the word ‘may’ in the beginning of the statute ignores what happens after a majority vote in favor of the children’s services tax occurs.”
The respondents in the lawsuit–Platte County and the DOR–were originally ordered to file a response by Monday, March 3. But on March 3 the respondents asked for more time to craft their response. Interesting.
Scott Fricker, presiding commissioner for Platte County, said last week that commissioners are confident they “acted in accordance with state law” and that commissioners “look forward to a swift conclusion with a ruling in the commission’s favor.”
No one with any certainty can say how this legal action will play out in the courts, but some “predictions” on the outcome are out in the public domain. The Kansas City Star back in December reported that several legal experts “are unsure of the county commission’s interpretation of the law.” The Star quoted James Layton, former Missouri Solicitor General, as saying that the statute was not written for a commission to refuse to implement the tax after voter approval. “The statute says that if you have the tax then the governing body shall appoint a board of directors. So the language appears to be mandatory once the ballot measure passes,” the Star quoted Layton as saying.
Michael Wolff, a retired Missouri Supreme Court Judge from St. Louis County, also questions the county’s interpretation of the statute. “I think the statute authorizes them to say no once, but I don’t think it authorizes them to say no against the will of the voters,” Wolff said in the Star. “I don’t think the legislature would authorize the citizens to go through this whole ordeal of gathering signatures, passing their proposition on the ballot for the commission then to say ‘no,’” said Wolff.
Meanwhile, a lawyer The Landmark often turns to when public governing legal questions come up, was more succinct when we posed the question. “I find it hard to believe that the courts will not enforce a tax specifically authorized by the voters,” this attorney told me, adding that “the real problem is with the person who drafted the statute” because the language at least presented a possible argument to raise in court.
We’ll keep you posted. After the county/DOR provides its response then the plaintiffs respond to that response. In a docket entry, the judge in the case, Megan Benton, has said she’ll hold a hearing on the matter prior to April 1.
As if the city doesn’t have enough going on right now. Add this to the list.
A bit of breaking news came late Tuesday after we had already closed up our front page. You may have seen it on our social media accounts Tuesday evening.
Just six or seven months into his tenure, Tom Cole, new city administrator for Platte City, has announced he is leaving the city’s employment at the end of March.
Wow. That’s a bit of a kick to the netherly region for city officials. A major Hwy. 92 improvement project being planned east of I-29, a downtown improvement study in the works, four Platte City questions on the April ballot, the bidding out of city trash service to private contractors, etc. etc. and here the city staff leader is heading for the door.
Didn’t the city just go through this? Yes, yes it did. On the bright side, Cole’s exit doesn’t appear to involve an incident at a Mexican restaurant or feature anywhere near the elongated drama that the eventual firing of Marji Gehr did. Remember those, um, good times?
Anyway, Cole announced he is leaving “to pursue a personal entrepreneurial endeavor.” No specifics mentioned, at least not yet.
What’s next? You know what’s next. Like the Bat Signal, up goes that nighttime spotlight in the sky with the words “DJ Gehrt” aglow.
As they did when the Marji Gehr Experience embarrassingly blew up in their faces, expect city leaders to reach out to former longtime city administrator DJ Gehrt to come serve on an interim basis while the search gets underway for a permanent replacement for Cole.
So long, Tom Cole, we hardly knew ya.
A lot of folks have thoughts, opinions and comments on the Trump/Zelensky Oval Office meeting the other day. If you don’t trust me on that, just skip on over to Facebook and take a gander.
No deep offerings here but I do keep wondering why Zelensky was wiping his nose so often. Was that a Hunter Biden impression?
I spelled Zelensky with only one “y” because that’s how some news outlets do it, probably because that version looks correct, even though we’re told if you want to be technically correct the actual spelling is Zelenskyy.
Spell it however you want in your posts discussing world affairs on Facebook, anything goes over there. The only other name I can recall with a similar awkward extra “y” spelling is the Chiefs’ Skyy Moore.
Just thinking out loud. Why do so many people say “hot water heater?” It isn’t a hot water heater. Think about it. If the water is already hot why would it need to be heated? The correct term is water heater. Not hot water heater.
Stop it. I’d rather hear your nails scrape a chalk board.
Another one for you. You’ll hear a lot of basketball commentators say of a player: “He can really score the ball.”
Since all scoring is done with the ball, all that needs to be said is “He can really score.” Saying “score the ball” is meaningless word salad. Get out of here with that gibberish.
(Discover more thoughts that keep Foley awake at night with an email to ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)
