EDITOR:
Once again, the clown show at Platte County government continues.
As the Platte County Commission works to pass the Homestead Act and provide much-needed property tax relief for eligible citizens, they once again find themselves between a rock and a hard place because of two elected officials, Collector Sheila Palmer and County Clerk Jera Pruitt, who appear to be standing in the way instead of helping find solutions.
Rather than asking, “How can we make this work for taxpayers?” their response seems to be, “Our software vendor says it can’t be done until next year.” That answer should never be acceptable from elected officials entrusted with serving the public. Elected officials should not be confined to the failures of a single system but proactive in finding solutions that benefit the people we serve.
If a software system cannot accommodate the necessary calculations, then find another way. A straightforward mathematical formula or temporary spreadsheet process could bridge the gap until a permanent software solution is available. But yet it isn’t being done in Platte County.
What makes this especially frustrating is that these same offices supported a 30% pay raise for elected officials back in November of 2025. Taxpayers have every right to expect innovation, initiative, and problem-solving, not excuses based solely on the limitations of a single software vendor, especially when there is an answer.
More than 5,000 Platte County residents could benefit from this tax relief. They deserve elected officials who are willing to think outside the box and work together to make it happen as quickly as possible.
Public service is about finding solutions, especially when they benefit the people you were elected to serve. Platte County taxpayers deserve leaders who ask, “How do we get this done?” instead of accepting, “It can’t be done.”
If you’re going to vote yourself a 30% pay raise then maybe the taxpayers have every right to expect results and maybe a little bit of critical thinking as a return on their investment for that salary you so desperately needed to vote yourself.
It’s funny how the ones who voted against the 30% pay raise–Commissioner Vanover, Commissioner Berberich, Commission Fricker and myself, the county recorder–seem to find solutions to problems and seem to make things happen at county government but the ones who voted for the 30% seem to be stumped by simple math and how Excel spreadsheets work.
What an absolute joke these elected officials have become. And once again, the outsider from the establishment, your county recorder, has to bring this to your attention because the “good ole boys club” up here don’t want you to know of their incompetence.
I urge every Platte County citizen to flood the collector’s and clerk’s offices with calls and emails and DEMAND the tax relief you voted for.
–Christopher L. Wright
Recorder of Deeds
