We keep hearing gasoline prices are down. Right? We’ve heard that message out of Washington, D.C. for months now.
But are gas prices really down compared to last year? No, at least not in the Kansas City market.
According to GasBuddy, the authoritative voice for gas prices and the only source for station-level data, the average price per gallon of gas in Kansas City right now is 16 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.
According to GasBuddy, average gasoline prices in Kansas City have fallen 3.2 cents per gallon in the last week, now averaging $2.78 as of Monday of this week. But GasBuddy says last year’s average price of gas in Kansas City on Nov. 17 was $2.62.
I mentioned recently that a trip through St. Louis on Nov. 2 showed gas prices along I-70 in that city as low as $2.43. Can’t find that price along the interstate in Kansas City, for some reason.
The cheapest station in Kansas City was priced at $2.49 this week, while the most expensive was $2.92, GasBuddy reports.
Gas in Platte City at this writing ranges from $2.75 to $2.79. I was over at Sam’s Club at Legends on Monday night picking up office supplies and the price of gasoline there was $2.65.
A Platte County taxpayer in the senior tax credit program reached out to taxing authorities seeking an explanation because his tax bill went up “when we were all led to believe that this would be a tax freeze.” I was copied in on his message, and also copied in on the response he received, which I thought might be enlightening for others in the senior tax credit program.
Perhaps the most important thing to remember is not to refer to the senior tax program as a freeze. It’s not a freeze on the total amount you pay, even though some county officials when they were in the process of adopting this program repeatedly used the term ‘freeze’ in their discussions, and that was misleading to most folks.
Here’s what this taxpayer was told:
*Under the senior tax credit program, property values may still change from assessment cycle to assessment cycle based on appraisals or state-directed adjustments.
*Total taxes may still change if property values change, or if specific levies (like debt service or the State Blind Pension Fund) change, because those are not frozen under state law.
*What is frozen are the operating levy rates set by local taxing jurisdictions (cities, schools, fire districts, etc.). These frozen rates cannot increase as long as the taxpayer remains eligible and reapplies each year.
So for emphasis, the senior tax credit program does not freeze total taxes or property values. Instead, it freezes the operating levy rates (excluding debt service and the State Blind Pension Fund) that apply to a qualifying property beginning in the year the taxpayer first enters the program. It appears the goal is to create stability in tax rates for eligible seniors, not to lock in a fixed total tax amount.
Let’s all clip and save what I believe to be a helpful explanation.
Let’s follow up on last week’s topic of the Platte County Salary Commission voting to raise salaries for elected offices by 30 percent effective with the next term of office. The move will put most offices at $100,305 in annual salary at the beginning of the next term. Associate county commissioners by law must make $2,000 less than the presiding commissioner, so associates will be at $98,305.
This week I reached out to the four officeholders (Scott Fricker, Joe Vanover, Allyson Berberich and Chris Wright) who voted against the 30 percent hike with a question. With your ‘no’ vote on the salary increase, if you are re-elected will you accept the pay increase that you voted against? Or will you turn it down?
Fricker said under the law “elected officials have to take it, we don’t have a choice.” He went on to say “but if some of the yes voters lose their seats in the upcoming primary, very possible considering the public reaction, if the law allows I will push for a 30 percent reduction at the next salary commission meeting.” He emphasized “if the law allows.”
Berberich, first district commissioner, answered by writing: “That is many years from now, I’ve not considered if I’ll run again. Nonetheless, I believe it is a misdemeanor offense to make such a statement/promise about not accepting the pay.”
Wright responded by saying “I will do whatever the law allows me to do.”
Vanover has not yet responded. He’s probably still in character as Darth Vanover, fighting what he called the “forces on the left” who overwhelmingly defeated his bloated jail tax proposal.
The pay increase percentage for the offices whose term began on Jan. 1, 2023 will actually be 38 percent. Two years ago the Platte County Salary Commission approved an eight percent pay increase for offices. So add in the eight percent to the 30% that was approved by the salary commission this year, and for offices whose next term will begin Jan. 1, 2027 the percentage of increase over their current pay will be 38 percent. Those offices are presiding commissioner, county clerk, auditor, collector and recorder.
The 2023 salary commission approved that eight percent pay increase on a 5-3 vote. Voting in favor were Scott Fricker (interesting), Kevin Robinson, Jera Pruitt, Shanna Burns and then-treasurer Rob Willard. Voting against were Joe Vanover, then-first district commissioner Dagmar Wood, and Chris Wright.
(When a senior tax ‘freeze’ is not really a ‘freeze’ it’s best to call it a senior tax credit, apparently. Email ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)
