The Line Creek Loudmouth

2024 Missouri Republican Primary Endorsements

I start this post with a screenshot from one of the best Missouri politicos on Twitter:  the one and only "Dark Prince of Secrecy" R. Gregg Keller who if you are on it, you have to follow on Twitter.

Fortunately but unfortunately a lot of the people responsible for the past two years are term limited out and are now running for a statewide office to keep spreading their ineptness.  I'm not going to name these people because I know a lot of people will get lost in all the names so I'm going to just tell you who I think you should support in next Tuesday's Republican primary.  You also need to realize a lot of those same people are only running as Republicans because they know that's the only way to win 75% of the elected positions in Missouri.  These are the type of people that if the state was swinging towards the well intentioned and wonderful politics of the People's Republic of Illinois they would be running as Dems.

This is a big law enforcement support election and there are some big choices that need to be made.  You can click on the names to get to the candidates home pages and read about them for yourselves.

Mike Kehoe is THE choice for governor.  Tort reform and legislative leadership is what he will bring to the table.  You would think I would be in one of the other camps but the other two have been and will be ineffective at keeping the state momentum moving forward. 

Holly Rehder is THE choice for Lieutenant Governor.  She's got a great life story and her performance in the State Senate showed that she is more concerned about results and reform and not the grandstanding that's made the last two years ineffective.

Shane Schoeller is THE choice for Secretary of State.  He's been in the state house and currently is in local government as the Greene County Clerk.  He's the type of person we need in the SOS office who's there to take care of business.  Under no circumstances should you vote for a couple of the candidates in this race so keep it safe and vote Shane.

Cody Smith is THE choice for State Treasurer.  

Will Scharf is the THE choice for Attorney General.  There's been too many key mistakes in the office that have been happening lately that need to stop.

There are two state amendments and two Platte County ballot questions. 

Amendment 1 eliminates property taxes on daycare facilities.  I'm indifferent on this.  I'd rather they freeze everyone's property assessments until you sell your house.  

Amendment 4 is a revote of an amendment overwhelmingly passed in 2022 but the state Supreme Court ordered a do over because of the fiscal note language.  It passed once and the voters should pass it again.

Now before I highlight Platte County Questions 1 and 2, you need to know that I work for the County and have been intimately involved in these issues.  I pay the monthly fee to Typepad to host this blog and all my comments are being made as a private citizen.  I've got the disclaimer at the top of the page.  I'm writing this before bed while watching Be Cool Scooby Doo with the kids.  There's a clear separation between work and home.  I do this because I care and because you should be educated if you're going to vote.

Platte County has two law enforcement questions, and you can learn more about them by going to Platte County Detention Center Expansion - Platte County Missouri which I encourage you to do.  The County is growing and unfortunately growth attracts things that have to be dealt with so here we are.

You aren't going to be in town Tuesday?  You can head up to extremely charming Platte City and vote in person as no-excuse absentee voting is happening and also download your own ballot from the Platte County Board of Elections.  Just remember that you need to exit at Route HH just past Route 92 as MoDOT is fixing the bridge over I-29.

While you're there, you should check out the downtown Platte City restaurants and businesses on historic Main Street.  The Downtown Platte City Business Association has been setting up some festivals and free regular concerts.  I encourage you to like their FB page here and clear your calendar for the Hot Summer Night event Saturday August 17.  They're promising a 100 foot plus slip and slide on Main Street and I'm looking forward to seeing that.  

2022 November Election

Well between the new job, normal family life, and a major home improvement odyssey, I had to reset my Typepad password because it's been so long since I've logged on.  I hope 2022 has been good to you.  Tomorrow is election day and you can find you Platte County ballot here and your Clay County ballot here.

I only have three things I am willing to comment on.  The first one is for those of you in Clay County.  I won't articulate my reasons because I made a new year's resolution to reduce induced pearl clutching but I need you to vote for my friend and anti-special interest aficionado Jason Withington for Clay County Commissioner. 

If you want nice things like basic infrastructure and improved parks and trails, there will not be anyone more vocal and committed to actually doing something about them.  The state's sixth largest county with a major manufacturing plant should have nicer things than it does. 

I first met Jason over a decade ago because he wanted to talk about how to get better sidewalks to schools in the older part of the County and understand how things work.  It's pretty easy to see who Jason is and he's not an ideologue or partisan hack or career politician and is the type of voice you need on your County Commission. 

Second issue I want you to vote Yes on Platte County Question 1 which on the back page of the Platte County ballot. 

It is a renewal of the County's road sales tax.  Originally passed in 2003 and renewed in 2013 as a 3/8th cent sales tax, it is back on the ballot as a 1/4 cent sales tax renewal.  Because of this tax, the following projects have been completed within the Kansas City portion of the County in the 25 years it's taken to improve two miles of North Brighton in a county with no road sales tax:

I-29 and Barry Road interchange widening, North Congress south of Barry Road serving Park Hill High School and Congress Middle School,North Congress from 152 to Old Tiffany Springs Road including the portion of Old Tiffany Springs Road in front of Tiffany Hills Park, North Green Hills Road from Barry Road to 152, Barry Road from Weatherby Lake to the Grass Pad serving Hawthorn Elementary, NW 72nd Street between I-29 and Overland Drive serving Chinn Elementary, Northwood Road between NW 52nd Street and I-29 serving Southeast Elementary and Walden Middle, North Green Hills Road from NW Platte Brooke Drive to NW 78th Street serving the Russell Jones Center, and as soon as it gets approval from FHWA Waukomis in front of Line Creek Elementary from Englewood up to the north end of Vaydik Park by the Kansas City Northern Railroad will be under construction.

I will admit my attention span isn't what it used to be and I don't have a good list of roads and bridges outside of KCMO but I do know that over 30 county bridges/box culverts, Jones-Meyer Road, Route 45 from I-435 to Union Chapel, the Humphrey's Road Bridge, and numerous other projects in smaller cities have been completed and benefited from the sales tax.

Over 20 years, that's a pretty impressive list of simple upgrades from hilly narrow Ozarkian roads to urban streets with sidewalks and street lights.  Here's an articles and the renewal campaign website.  Kansas City passed a resolution and has identified that it would want the county to finish improving Waukomis Drive south of NW 68th Street and NW 56th Street from the schools along Northwood over towards I-29:

Section 2. That the City Council expresses its support for utilizing any renewal approved by voters and for successful partnership agreements to improve N.W. 56th Street from I-29 to Northwood Road, Waukomis Drive from I-29 to Englewood Road and from N.W. 62nd Street to N.W. 68th Street, North Green Hills Road from Old Tiffany Springs Road to N.W. 108th Street, North Coventry from N.W. 68th Street to N.W. 76th Street, and Platte Purchase Drive from N.W. 96th Street to N.W. 104th Street which are all currently unimproved roads which do not meet urban and complete streets standards.

Lastly, I hate everything about weed.  The smell, the carbon footprint, the water usage to grow it, the commercial/corporate farming of it, what legalization has done to Colorado and Denver, etc and legalization via Constitutional Amendment is a ridiculous way to legislate so I'm asking you to Vote no on Missouri Amendment 3. 

Also, read the header at the top of the page before you click out, enjoy your flyer free mailbox until March of 2023, and realize that Billy Idol released a new CD in 2014 and it rocks...

Song credit to Billy Idol.

 

Platte County Specific Ballot Questions 8/4/2020

I've been having so much fun this summer that I forgot my blog password!  We've been taking advantage of cheap travel rates this summer because people are too scared or unable to get out of the house.  I did need to log in tonight and make sure you are aware of two really big questions on the ballot next Tuesday 8/4/2020.  After initially posting, I've been given some constructive feedback that I just need to tell you to vote "YES" on the two Platte County questions.  However, if you want the reasoning, continue on.

Before we get into the questions, I want to set the tone.  The week after the April 2019 election where the jail tax was defeated, a few of us were sitting around going "holy crap, we're headed into a financial train wreck in 2021." 

Why were some of us deeply concerned?  Somehow county politics was devolving into some tribalism and it all revolved around the 1/2 cent parks and storm water sales tax.  One side of the electorate just couldn't believe the County is collecting and spending $9M a year on parks and storm water when the Sheriff's Office wasn't fully funded and was losing deputies hand over fist because the County salary structure wasn't anywhere close to being competitive with other governments.  The other side of the electorate saw a serious effort to eliminate the parks and storm water sales tax and wasn't going to budge from renewing it at the 1/2 cent.

Both sides in my observation cared deeply about the County but were aligning in a very adversarial position and it wasn't going to be good for anyone because the parks and storm water sales tax expires in December of 2020.  I was not horrified but we were looking at a horrible situation in January 2021 where we would have no parks and storm water funding to build and maintain what we want and no resolution to the law enforcement funding.  Both sides would have nothing and the County would not be better for it.

So some of us called our Commissioners the same week and basically said there needed to be a process to vet out the options with people who are not tied to County staff, the Commission, or any elected office.  It needed to be an independent review by people with different backgrounds and not biased for or against either position.  The committee members were selected by the Commission and if you read the committee news release, you can see the varied backgrounds of everyone.   I was on the committee. 

You might think I selfishly wanted this so I could get control over the discussion.  You would be right in the fact that I selfishly wanted on the committee because this is such a crucial decision point and I'm not planning on moving anytime soon.  I wanted to make sure all sides were heard out and meshed together to understand each other's viewpoint so a long term solution could be worked on.  I feel that spending $9M a year on parks and storm water when the sheriff's office can't fund salaries is not good government.  I also am a proponent of parks and trails and while I'd love trails everywhere and a playground in every neighborhood, we shouldn't be building things we can't take care of.  However, there does need to be some capital to maintain what we have and to build things as our population grows.  My selfish agenda was to come up with something blended that worked for both sides and didn't over fund so that someone would go out and build a bunch of public buildings that cost so much to maintain. 

I could go into more detail on everyone on the committee but the news release does a good job.  Everyone brought something to the committee from their perspective and biases that was heard out and I feel reflected the both sides of the debate and limited government conservatism.  We heard budget and operation presentations from the sheriff's office, prosecutor's office, parks and recreation department, and county auditor. 

In summary, after six months, the committee was 100% unanimous with a recommendation that the existing 1/2 cent tax structure be put to the voters as two separate questions.  While it appears that the sales tax was cut in half to appease both sides, this was based on some superb revenue and expense projections done by two folks which looked at the next ten years.  I can't give enough thanks or kudos to Gordon Cook of Cook Consulting Group who took time from his business to interview and discuss details with department heads and the county auditor, Kevin Robinson, who also did a lot of work reviewing Gordon's data.

You can read the entire 21 page report here.  I am going to show you the working spreadsheet created by Gordon that the committee used to determine what level the tax structure should be set up.  Now this is a bunch of CPA type detail that I would expect very few people to understand.  I just want to illustrate that the committee was using actual historical expense data with expected expenses on an annual basis to 2030.  It is also important to keep in mind the committee and Commission wanted to make sure there were emergency reserves.  As we saw with the federal radio mandate and with the covid shutdowns, it's responsible to plan for unexpected events.  These spreadsheets were set up to do what if situations and there was some robust debate between committee members.  This wasn't a one or two person controlled committee with some dominating egos.  Again, the Commissioners need to be commended for their choices.

Here is the screenshot from the law enforcement side of the analysis.  Under the assumptions from historical expenses and projected revenue and expenses until 2030, if we approve a 1/4 law enforcement sales tax, in 2030, we will have funded a responsible increase in the sheriff and prosecutor's offices to accommodate a decade of population growth and also an operative reserve just over $7M.  I need you to note that this 1/4 cent sales tax will not provide any funding for a new jail.  As you should know, I am very anti-public building because they tend to be over designed, over budget, and a monument to wasted space.  The committee agreed and so did the Commission because the ballot language specifically states that these funds are not to be used for a new jail.

I am very confident that this level of funding will adequately fund our sheriff's office and will not over fund it to allow purchasing of a bunch of equipment or facilities we don't need.  While I think Sheriff Owen is very responsible and makes due with what little he gets budgeted, I don't know who might be there in 2028.

Here is the screenshot for the parks and stormwater analysis.  I understand why the tax was set at 1/2 cent years ago.  It was to build and expand the two community centers.  Community centers are extremely expensive to build, operate, and maintain.  Luckily we have the YMCA as our operator and those two buildings are generating revenue to handle O&M.  We may WANT one but we don't NEED another center or pool therefore we don't need a 1/2 cent sales tax. 

There was a long discussion on setting the new tax level at an amount to just maintain what we have vs setting it at a level to build new things.  Sales tax rates were set at 1/8 and 3/8, 3/16 and 3/16, 3/16 and 5/16, etc and the committee was able to see the impacts at respective levels.

The committee wound up agreeing that some new capital is needed to support a growing county and to take advantage of funding partnerships with cities.  Besides finishing a connected trail system, I fully supported some type of funding to allow for a grant program to provide for playgrounds and swings in all of our cities because there's nothing better to combat video game laziness than playgrounds and swings.  Kids who live in a town like Dearborn should have a place to walk or ride their bike and play together.  There are also some places with storm water problems that need to be addressed.  Under our analsysi a 1/4 cent parks and storm water sales tax is projected to generate enough to fund County parks/storm O&M and allow for a capital program of $24M for new park amenities and $6.25M for storm water improvements.

How that capital program gets spent would be up the Platte County Park Board.  The storm water projects would be chosen by the Commission. 

Now you may be wondering what type of improvements we can get for around that amount?  Well Gordon asked me that question and over a weekend I put together an example plan if I ruled the world.  I would knock out our two biggest storm water problem areas, finish a connected trail system in the southern part of the County where we've started, and set up a grant program.  In 2030, we can renew and keep connecting the County.

Again, this is me acting like king and using my years of professional experience and understanding development and business attraction to maintain and grow the tax base.  The Park Board which is appointed by the Commission would need to do a planning process to determine how to spend it.

I think Gordon wouldn't mind me sharing this story as long I as I tell everyone if I was a small business owner, I would have him on retainer to guide my future business financial decisions.  As we were deliberating, he mentioned that he wasn't exactly excited about growing the parks system and the associated O&M liabilities but after showing the map above and how it connected a lot of things, he mentioned that he saw how people liked our trail system and understood why people didn't mind paying a sales tax for them. 

As I mentioned, the committee was 100% united in a 1/4 and 1/4 cent sales tax breakdown.  None of us took this lightly.  There was a motion to split the tax at a 1/4 the night we first started looking at the spreadsheet but some of us weren't ready to make a decision without talking to some folks and looking at the numbers ourselves.  We ended up coming back a few weeks later and all agreed that 1/4 and 1/4 was the right mathematical decision based on all the information in the projections.

Here is how the questions appear on your ballot. 

For those of you that live in KCMO, you might need some more Platte County deputies on patrol if some of the "abolish prison/police" leftists get their way.  For those of you that live in smaller cities like Lake Waukomis that are relying on the County to provide law enforcement, you need to vote yes because the current funding levels don't provide the level of service you used to get from your own departments. 

Again, these funds are not going to be used for a new jail.  I had joked in the meeting that if ever I was being held hostage, my code phrase would be "I think we should raise taxes and build some new public buildings."  If you ever hear me say that, PLEASE send help.  The committee and Commission agreed with that limitation.

Anyone who might be thinking they can vote yes on one and no on the other, just keep in mind this keeps the funding for he County at the same level.  If one passes and one fails, the County Commission will have to cut services.  We need reasonable funding for our parks and our law enforcement.   We can do that by keeping our sales tax level the same. 

I could go into a bunch of other items and discussion points and you could bring up what ifs or problems with the analysis but I will close with I have not seen another governmental entity pull its executive leadership together with experienced citizen volunteers without any political influence by the governing commission, labor unions, or the building industry to come up with a solution.  It frankly is a text book case of how good government can work and Dagmar Wood, John Elliot, and Ron Schieber need to be commended for realizing the importance of this decision for the future of Platte County.

You also have a question on expanding Medicaid which isn't well thought out and legislating by ballot which is full of unintended consequences.  If you are a no vote on this, make sure you vote no on it and not the County questions.  Also, if you are all hot and bothered by the covid shutdown created cuts to education from the state budget, wait until the state budget has to fit this into an existing strapped budget.

Lastly, this post took 2 hours to put together.  In case you are wondering why I'm not publishing lately, it's because we've been busy enjoying this summer.  If you think my analysis is useful in your decision on how to vote on Tuesday, please feel free to share the post. 

Parkville Doubling Down on the Development Welfare Game?

Today I was just minding my own business driving along the newly widened Route 45 when I spotted where MoDOT decided to protect people in their cars with their seat belts and air bags by installing sharp metal guardrail which would be fine except the guardrail is right next to a multi-purpose trail.  This trail of course will be used by people who don't have safety features and any accident or stumble they have would result in the guardrail disfiguring or fatally impaling them.  This kind of put me in a mood.  Of course it could also be the fact that I was driving on this road on my way back from freezing my rear off at a kid's soccer game.......

I also noticed that this less than a year old guardrail end terminal which I think costs around $3,000 has already been hit.  Maybe the guardrail should have been installed on the backside of the trail away from the edge of the street and where cyclists and pedestrians wouldn't face instant death if they slipped.....

It reminded me of my earlier post and gripe about the professional negligence towards non-motorized users' safety on Route 45.  The misapplication of the AASHTO Roadside Design Guide in urban areas makes urban streets less safe than they can be.  I also took the roundabout at 45 and K at 40mph because those DOT roundabouts are designed to handle the minimal amount of semi-trucks because engineering group-think designs for the worst possible scenario without evaluating probabilities and DOT's and DOT firms are set up to design everything like a freeway first and foremost.

Anyways, as I approached Route 9, I noticed that the hillside on the south side of the highway right after "THE National" had been deforested and remembered that there was a TIF approved years ago and wondered if some taxpayer subsidized development was finally happening.

I did a quick internet search and turns out, it looks like Parkville is in the process/has approved/has tabled a TIF that will divert funding away from the Park Hill School District. I thought maybe it was for the big hillside and that might have made sense but it's for a piece of ground with Route 45 frontage, two existing traffic signals, and is somewhat graded already on the north side of 45 and Melody Lane.  It's the tract shown in red below.  The Price Chopper^TM is to the south of the site.  Graden Elementary is to the right or east.

This site of course is SOOOO blighted and so rough that it looks like this.....

It's bad enough that the Metro North TIF is taking away money from the Platte County School District and the office to hotel redevelopment on Ambassador Drive is going to withhold property taxes from Park Hill but if ever there was a perfect poster child of the abuse of the "blight" definition in the TIF statute, it's this one.  It might be why House Bill 1236 is getting some traction in Jefferson City this year.

I might understand the public benefit if NW Cross Road was being realigned with Bell Road and the traffic signal but looking at the site plan, this looks like more cookie cutter suburban auto oriented retail.  I guess it would be nice to have a McDonald's^TM or Burger King^TM with a play place on that site since there are a lot of kids in the area.  I'm sure a chicken place is due to show up in this part of Platte County and don't forget we could use another pizza place, nail salon, and cell phone store.  We couldn't have more nice things like that without TIF.

The staff report can be read from the entire 277 page Parkville BOA packet here.  Just look for APEX.

It appears that there was a special BOA meeting on January 24, 2018 just to talk about how much to give away for the development.   Most of these TIF plans and staff reports are a bunch a pencil pusher busy work so I just skip to the tables because that's where the reality is.  You can read the 61 page  packet here and decide on your own. 

Not only will the development site have TIF, it will have a Community Improvement District aka CID (maybe even two) so you can pay an extra one or whatever cent for the privilege of shopping there.  Now let's take a look at the proposed TIF budget shall we.

The TIF subsidy on this run of the mill development is 35% of the project cost.  It also contributes $843,122 towards the purchase of the land.  Since is is a PILOTs (aka property tax) diversion TIF, this impacts the Park Hill School District and these concerns were noted in the November 13, 2017 TIF Commission meeting.

The last news article I could find about this besides perusing all the BOA packets was a January 17 write up by Jeanette Faubion.

While I was doing that, I discovered that Parkville also was considering more handouts but this time using Chapter 100/353 abatement programs to build an office building along Route 9 just south of the west entrance to Park College.

It's a four story office building with tons of parking because cars is what makes Parkville unique.

 

The consultant study lists this little nugget.

Here's the big picture question from the consultant report.  They paint the rosy "but for" analysis that after 15 years, the taxing jurisdictions will be rolling in the dough.

If Parkville does this and I'm reading the report right, this means that over 25 years with all the increased traffic on Route 9, impervious surface, and parking lot maintenance, the City will net $507,000 in today's dollars???  That would be enough to pay for a traffic signal at 6th and Route 9 and its operational cost for 25 years.  Is it really worth it? 

Is this something a city that is already dipping into emergency reserves for prior eco/devo schemes should be doing?

Go ahead and troll all you want like I did because all agendas/packets/video can be found here.

If you are a Park Hill School District parent in Parkville you might want to think about the precedent being set because we are the ones that will pick up the bill with rising enrollment while the developer cashes the checks drives on down the road to the next vacant piece of dirt........

Clip credit to Isuzu Motors Ltd and whoever did their campaign.

Read the Zona Rosa Bonds Yourself but We're Still Screwed

If you didn't see the article from Steve Vockrodt yesterday, here it is. 

The money line in the article? "Zona Rosa's occupancy rate has fallen from 85.9 percent in 2014 to 60 percent in 2017."  This is what happens when we overbuild parking and subsidize parking garages.  Cue the Strongtowns.org plug.

We wind up sinking capital in an asset that provides no direct return on investment.  Not only is Platte County facing a huge budget shortfall for years to come, how will the vacant 40 percent of the shopping center get leased and help pay off Platte County debt when Metro North Crossing is being subsidized to the tune of $71M and will probably steal some tenants?

Anyways, all of the information being reported could easily be found by someone with a computer and some savvy search skills.  I went to the Electronic Municipal Market Access website and did a simple search for "zona rosa" and all of the debt issuances appeared.

From this page, one can click on any of the debt issuance.  I pulled the $19.2M 10/4/2007 issuance.  I think if you click here, you can see it too.  It should pull up a page like this:

From there, one can pull up the original document.  One can also see how and when the bonds have traded. 

What I like about the site, is it also has "continuing disclosures" tab which had annual reports.

I pulled the most recent one.  You can read it here.  It had quite a few nuggets of information.

The report had a schedule of annual debt payments.  Looks like the bond payback increases to a roughly $2.8M annual average in 2022 with a $5M or so balloon payment in 2032?

However, the revenues of the district in 2016 were only $1,792,302.

I went back to the report for the year before and it looks like TDD sales tax revenue was flat from 2014-2016.  I made this spreadsheet to see the annual change.

If the district is only collecting over $1.7M or so but the debt payments continue to grow, Platte County taxpayers are screwed based on these reports.  I encourage you to do your own digging.  Also, parking garages and parking lots are bankrupting us.  Stop and think about the interest and debt we are passing onto our kids for our "free" parking.  Building that massive parking garage at Zona was worth what to us?

Clip credit to Vox.

 

I Owe Dagmar Wood a HUGE Apology

The great thing about it? 

I got to tell her that in person about a month ago because our sons are now playing on the same soccer team.  She has stepped right into the job and gotten engaged in the regional planning organization and asking good questions.  She's done this all without giving me a well deserved scornful stare.

I really wish I hadn't screwed up but I did.  Someone pointed me to the wrong person when I asked who she was.  I found out when I got this wonderful and pleasant message a while ago. 

I went back and struck through the original post because I was wrong and need to own up to it.  It will be reminder to not do it again.

What's funny about this message?  I may work in government but I loathe it.  Also it's not because I can't get a job on the private side. I spent six years working in consulting where I learned how to design and put a set of construction plans together. 

Thirteen years ago when I entered government (aka the blob) it was because I thought the only way to make government more efficient was to step up and do it.  It took me a while to figure out the workings but once I did, I started working with politicians and others to put deals together with other public and private money to build out infrastructure all around you like Barry Road east of I-29, the US 169 interchanges, Line Creek/Shoal Creek/152/Little Blue Trails, Shoal Creek Parkway, 108th Street, other big and small jobs, and lastly my favorite one--72nd Street and Waukomis.  There is so much satisfaction in accomplishing something when everyone thinks it will never be done.  

I've done joint projects with Platte and Jackson Counties, Riverside, Gladstone, Liberty, and I'm hoping to do some joint projects with North KC and Kansas City Kansas soon.  I don't say that to boast.  It's just that I happen to be able to work with a team, figure out how to get something started, and get it finished all with a positive attitude, a healthy heap of sarcasm, and a complete cynicism of government.

I can say with pride that I've accomplished that without my pants ever catching on fire!!!  Call me a government goon and I won't care.  I'll probably agree with you and share a couple of recent stories about the blob in action.  I have to.  It's better to laugh at the stupidity of the blob than cry about it.

Anyways, I am sorry to Dagmar Wood and want you all to know that I made a huge mistake.  I won't do it again.  I just hope that I can earn her respect.

What Do Beverlee Roper and Costco™ Opening a Northland Store Have In Common?

Check the disclaimer before you read this post.  As I approach the four year anniversary of this blog's launch tomorrow, I've made every effort to be transparent and so I have a confession to make.

I............was.......<breathe....breathe>..........wrong about Beverlee Roper and Costco^TM opening up a store north of the river.

I noted yesterday about all the federal funds coming into Platte County projects in the next couple of years and how I was thankful for both Platte County Commissioners Beverlee Roper and Duane Soper.  I thought Commissioner Roper was going to be this "anti-everything urban" politician who would collect a paycheck, attend the minimum county commission meetings, spout intellectually lazy talking points, and do nothing but complain about everything related to KCMO. 

Instead I have found her to be engaged and a big supporter for anything that benefits Platte County both rural and urban areas.  She also has an amazing understanding of law enforcement issues and things that need to happen to make the court process better (and reduce the need to blow a bunch of money on a new jail).  She's also very open and approachable about any issues that may be coming up.  When it comes to figuring out ways to fund street improvements and trail projects, she's part of the team working to make sure we keep our tax dollars local and leverage our taxes.  I owe her a big apology for prejudicing her and owe her a big thank you for being willing to work for all the local municipalities to better Platte County.

The other thing that I need to man up and admit I was wrong about was that Costco^TM was never coming up north.  Well it turns out they are.

They have the southeast corner of Route 152 and Platte Purchase under contract and need to go through due diligence and zoning approvals to build a store here.  Details will be coming out shortly but this is a secret I've had to keep for over six months.  There will also be some news about a great deal for Platte County R-3 taxpayers and future second high school site nearby. 

 

All of the talk about this warehouse club going to the mall formerly known as Metro North or to the Menard's site at Green Hills was nothing but speculation.  What have I learned over four years of being an unpaid blogger?  Question everything, doubt most of it, disregard envious haters, and don't jump to conclusions.  There is even a song about it.

 

Song credit to the Timex Social Club.

 

 

 

Another Federal Grant Opportunity Coming Up

I don't know if I ever found the time to ever thank all of you that submitted support letters and made emails the last time the KC region had a federal funding grant competition through the Mid-America Regional Council.  Because of some key items:

Platte County's 3/8th cent road and bridge sales tax

Platte County's 1/2 cent parks and stormwater tax

Riverside and KCMO's public improvements sales tax

Contributions from the Kinsley Developer along Englewood and the KCI Corridor TIF

By bundling a lot of these funds and forming partnerships between governmental agencies, in 2014, roughly $16M of an available $55M of federal surface transportation funds and roughly $3M of an available $8M of federal transportation alternative funds are going to projects in Platte County.  All the different governments in the metro area submitted grant applications totaling over $250M so walking out with a third of the money was amazing.

Here are some maps of all the successful projects from 2014.  The cool thing about these projects is that none of them are unnecessary four lane widening of streets but rather rebuilding the streets to add curbs, sidewalks, street lights, etc rather than spending a ton of money on asphalt and tearing up folks front or back yards. 

I did post something about the trail projects in more detail here.

Projects like replacing and realigning the Old Tiffany Springs Road bridge over I-29 (the Chuck E Cheese^TM bridge).

The I-29 and 64th Street interchange.

NW 72nd Street from I-29 east over to Overland Drive.

Englewood Road west of US 169.

Lastly, I don't have a picture for it because the project footprint is still being decided, but improvements to Waukomis Drive from Englewood north to the culvert at the north end of Frank Vaydik (Line Creek) Park.  What is cool about this project is it's a free one.  How is it a free one?  All of these federal projects require a local investment or match.  The federal highway bill doesn't give out 100% funding.  It requires local governments to have some skin in the game.

Platte County planned on funding the improvements to NW 72nd Street out of the 3/8th cent county road tax but decided to partner with KCMO, Platte Woods, and Lake Waukomis to apply for federal funds for that project.  They were successful and received a $2.5M federal grant which freed up $2.5M of county tax which could be used for something else.  Anticipating that, Platte County also applied for and received a $5M federal grant for the Waukomis improvements.  They plan on using the $2.5M freed up from NW 72nd Street to match that $5M.  It's like buying one road and getting one free.  Roughly $3.5M of County 3/8th cent sales tax has brought in $7.5M of federal funds that could have gone somewhere else.  I'd call that a pretty efficient use of County tax dollars.

The last grant round was incredibly cutthroat and political.  I can't say enough thanks to Greg Sager who's the Platte County Public Works Director and both Commissioners Beverlee Roper and Duane Soper were heavily involved during multiple meetings and working with KCMO to secure funds for these improvements along with Mayor John Smedley of Platte Woods.  Without these folks exhibiting leadership at the County level, I don't know if all of this would be happening.  It pays to have people in elected positions who understand how the game is played to make sure tax dollars stay local.

It's been two years already and another grant round is upon us.  If any of you readers would like to send a letter of support in for improving Green Hills Road south of Barry or improving North Woodland from 96th to Shoal Creek Parkway, send me an email and I will get you the details.

 

Quenton Lucas, 3rd District At-Large Wins Platte/Clay Counties, Stephan Gordon 2nd

KCMO 3rd District Council race in Platte County.  Top 2 advance to June election.  All other KCMO and other races can be looked at Platte County Board of Elections here.

Kansas City 3rd Dist at Large
		Total
Number of Precincts		13
Precincts Reporting		13	100.0 %
Times Counted		3243/27386	11.8 %
Total Votes		2493
Quinton D. Lucas		785	31.49%
Virginia Dee Evans		435	17.45%
Karmello Coleman		167	6.70%
Forestine Beasley		123	4.93%
Carol "CJ" Gatlin		382	15.32%
Stephan Gordon		587	23.55%
Write-in Votes		14	0.56%

 Same duo also win Clay County.  Clay County results here.

KC 3RD DIST AT LARGE
		Total
Number of Precincts		35
Precincts Reporting		35	100.0 %
Total Votes		5179
QUINTON D. LUCAS		2019	38.98%
VIRGINIA DEE EVANS		865	16.70%
KARMELLO COLEMAN		330	6.37%
FORESTINE BEASLEY		255	4.92%
CAROL GATLIN		685	13.23%
STEPHAN GORDON		1005	19.41%
Write-in Votes		20	0.39%

 

 

If He's Running, Norm Beeman for Parkville Special Road District

Being lazy.  I just copied last year's endorsement.  I don't know if he's running or not so:

It's way down on the ballot for some of you, but if you live in the Parkville Special Road District, please vote for Norm Beeman.  Norm is a retired MoDOT employee who has nothing to prove or gain as a commissioner and will spend your money wisely and efficiently.  If you live in the olive green area, you live in the district.  Anyone generally south of 76th and west of Northwood/Green Hills and east of Northwood/Green Hills and south of 64th is in the district.  Large size County map here.

  

Clip credit NBC from the Cheers show.

I Have No Opinion On Chapel Ridge (Really)

Really, I don't.  My attention span really stops at the city limits which gets convoluted once you get past Klamm Drive and closer to Route 9.  However, I noticed that there are a lot of people seriously torqued off about the deal so I thought I'd do a little research.

It takes a lot of anger to spend some dough to create signs and hire an attorney (even though he's a D in a heavily R county) but that is what has happened.  As always since there's no rhyme or reason going on at 17th and Grand and all they do lately is drivel on the editorial page (hint, don't make half your potential subscriber base hate you), you need to check out the Platte County Landmark for local reporting.

The project is located in the general area Northwest of Union Chapel/Route K and Tom Watson Parkway/Route 45.  The site is generally located within the orange lines.

I got this site plan from Platte County on September 12.  You can download it below.  I can see why people are hot given the layout and lot lines.

Download 4A_Chapel_Ridge_PP_REVISED_08_30_13

I skimmed through some of the arguments for/against.  When I saw where there were some comments that Union Chapel could be improved, I thought to myself that sounds promising.  That's an unimproved MoDOT route that will never get any attention from any public body out there. 

When I looked at the plan, the "improvements" were just widening for turn lanes and to provide the proper sight distance.  There were no curbs or sidewalks shown on the plan.  The developer did show a curb along 76th Street which would improve that street at the north end of the project.  The improvements to Union Chapel are shown below.

Again, I don't really care about this too much.  What I do care about is that it has all of a sudden become a wedge issue in the 2014 Republican primary for Presiding Commissioner which I wrote about last week. 

Looks what's popped up.

So I will sit back here in Miltonwood and watch with amusement while all of this gets sorted out.  One thing we know for certain, this will get legal and the only ones that will really win will be the attorneys collecting fees.

Norm Beeman For Parkville Special Road District

It's way down on the ballot for some of you, but if you live in the Parkville Special Road District, please vote for Norm Beeman.  Norm is a retired MoDOT employee who has nothing to prove or gain as a commissioner and will spend your money wisely and efficiently.  If you live in the olive green area, you live in the district.  Anyone generally south of 76th and west of Northwood/Green Hills and east of Northwood/Green Hills and south of 64th is in the district.  Large size County map here.

  

Clip credit NBC from the Cheers show.

Vote Yes on Platte County Questions 1 and 2- County 3/8th Cent Road Tax

Ladies and gentlemen, again here is a case where we can control our own destiny.  I always am stating that the southern portion of Platte County is getting older and we are competing with Prairie Village and Johnson County for attracting young people.  I lived this scenario in 1998.

Imagine that you are just out of college and get a job (we are imagining remember, the "hope and change economy" is gone and people can get jobs).  You are moving to Kansas City and don't know anything about the area.  You pull up some houses or apartments.  You get in the car to drive around and check them out.  You head up I-29 and get off the highway and travel down some narrow 2 lane road with post-WWII housing stock-see NW 72nd Street or Green Hills.  You look around and think this area is hillbilly central.  You head down I-35 and exit onto a nice improved street with curbs, sidewalks, and street trees in Prairie Village or south Johnson County.  You decide that Kansas is a better place to live based upon first impressions.  I of course chose Platte County because this area is the best value for a class A school district and access to employment.

That being said, Platte County has made a ton of progress since 2002.  Both the County and KCMO have invested in street improvements that have attracted businesses and new residents.  For years Platte County was a donor county as shoppers went to Clay or other counties.  Now the County  attracts outside non-residents who shop here.

If the County had not approved that road tax in 2003, Barry Road and I-29 would be a disaster like 152 and I-35.  Congress in front of Park Hill High School would still be asphalt slabs without and sidewalks or bike facilities and kids would be walking in the streets.

Numerous gravel roads in the County would be gravel and some bridges would have been closed rather than replaced.  The southern portion of the county would be struggling to maintain home values.  Folks north of 152 may think this won't impact them, but if the southern portion of the county doesn't remain strong, eventually it will become an anchor dragging all of us down.

Without renewing this tax, Northwood Road in front of Southeast Elementary will probably never be improved.  NW 72nd Street from I-29 over to Chinn Elementary and Martin Luther Academy will continue to have people walking in the street and unsafe intersections.  Green Hills south of Barry Road will continue to suck.  Route 45 out to I-435 won't be widened and federal and state dollars will go elsewhere.

Numerous county roads that were paved with asphalt 10 years ago will revert back to gravel roads since asphalt only lasts about 10 years before it needs to be resurfaced.  Jones-Meyer Road will stop being a direct connection to Leavenworth County attracting Kansas dollars to shop at Zona Rosa.

Am I being a hypocrite given my other tax rants?  Maybe, but government spending on roads, safety, and defense is really why government should exist.  The County Public Works Department is a rag tag outfit and is extremely efficient at squeezing value out of every dollar they get.  They still operate out of a metal farm building and chain link fenced yard north of the fairgrounds.

We can improve Platte County and keep tax dollars within the county and finish building out the arterial network in southern Platte County.  This map shows the progress made since 2000 and what still needs to be done.  Roads in red need vertical improvements, sidewalks, curbs, and street lights.  Renewing the tax will move us a great deal forward in improving our street network to keep Platte County strong.

Here is the flyer from supporters of the renewal.

Barry Road and I-29 Circa 2002 Vs Today

It was just over 10 years ago that the Barry Road and I-29 interchange area had nearly nothing around it. 

The Barry Road and I-29 interchange was only two lanes each way with a single left turn lane.  People exiting I-29 from the north had to sit through multiple red light cycles to get onto Barry.  MoDOT could care less about doing anything to fix the interchange since it didn't back up traffic on the highway (that policy still exists 10+ years later by the way-see I-29/64th Street).

It made me wonder what life was like for Platte County finances at the time in 2002/2003 since the main gateway for the county was choked by congestion.

I did some internet searching on historical county taxable sales and got nothing from the state of Missouri (thanks department of revenue) so I pulled up the 2004 County budget on page 98 where it listed the universally loved and adored Parks Sales Tax as having collected $5,101,316.  I divided that number by 0.5% since that is the sales tax rate for that tax and it turns out that 2003 taxable sales in Platte County were just over $1B at $1,020,263,200. 

I did the same thing with the neatly formatted with colored graphs 2013 County budget and looked at page 3 which showed Parks sales tax revenue at $7,626,237.  That would mean that taxable sales in Platte County for 2012 were $1,525,247,400.  In 10 years, the County taxable sales have grown over 50%.  That is some pretty substantial economic growth in the past 10 years.

Now after 10 years, here is what Barry Road and I-29 area looks like.

The interchange and Barry Road look even better in general.  Something to keep in mind the next time you only have to wait through one red traffic light cycle versus the 2 or 3 it used to take before the Barry Road and I-29 interchange was fixed.

 

Missouri Races Still Not Over?

Guess people are still voting.  The Missouri statewide races are going to swing (soon)?  As of 10:52 from the Secretary of State's website, none of the 202 precincts in the Jackson County part of Kansas City, Jackson County, St. Louis City, and St. Louis County have reported.

UPDATE-I didn't see the tabs by county.  Jackson is 0 of 202, KCEB is 107 of 156, St. Louis City is 0 of 222, and St. Louis County is 511 of 658.

David Cox Beats David Christian

Almost 40% of the Platte County vote is in and it looks like David Cox is going to have a good night as he has a lead that will hold up the rest of the night.

Beverlee Roper Is Commissioner Elect

Based upon exit polling from Wexford Place, the Line Creek Loudmouth projects Beverlee Roper as the new Platte County Commissioner for District 1.  Also, Mark Owen will remain the County Sheriff.

Rob Willard is Your New Platte County Treasurer

Based upon exit polling conducted in the Coves precinct, I have called the Platte County Treasurer's race for Rob Willard.  Rob was very thankful to his gracious wife Jeri for supporting him during the campaign and taking care of their two adorable little children.  He also wanted to reiterate how much he appreciated all of the help that Katherine Thompson, Devon Whitton, and Sam Gaither and countless others provided during the campaign. 

Congratulations to Rob and good luck over the next 4 years.

Riss Lake Garage Sale This Weekend

The Riss Lake garage sale is this weekend. I caught State Representative Ryan Silvey (or his girlfriend) looking for some fine secondhand Platte County items. Lots of girl garage sales which doesn't help the Loudmouth family.

New State House Districts

You know things are a little screwed up when even the Secretary of State's website doesn't have the latest and greatest state house district maps.  I guess since she's not running again and still smarting from her 2010 smackdown her office has other things to do.  I finally found the new house districts at the Missouri Office of Administration website.  Sample ballots of who and what you are voting for can be found for Platte County here and Clay County here.

The old District 32 which I live in and is currently represented by Representative Ron Schieber is now District 14.  Those of you voting in the Republican primary in District 16 get to chose between Noel Shull and Vic Hulbert.  Hulbert of course being the former Clay County auditor who resigned from office and also supposedly had an affair with another office holder.

 The folks in the triangle bounded by NW 73rd Street, Route 9, and Mace Road are also in the 14.

 The Claycomo/Maple Park area also has a very interesting dividing line for Districts 16/17/18.

 Districts 12 and 16 split the Fox Hill and Staley area and the homes in near Benson Place.

Looks like the map drawers decided to keep the south panhandle of Gladstone in Distict 15.

 

Platte County Government 102

In Platte County Government 101 (link fixed-thanks Andrew Freese),  we learned how Platte County is legally chartered by the state of Missouri.  In this installment, we will learn a little bit more about the County Commission.  In 12 days, some of those of you voting in the Republican primary who live in part of the County will have two choices.  The other half won't.  What part of the county will have 2 choices? 

Those of you in Commission District 1, aka the "South" district will be choosing between Commissioner Kathy Dusenberry and Weatherby Lake resident Beverlee Roper.  Duane Soper is unopposed in Commission District 2, aka the "North" district.

Where are the dividing lines?  The images below show the boundary lines.  The 1st District is in the blue and the 2nd District is in the olive.  In general, everything south of Barry Road and slightly west of Mace Road is in the 1st District.  Everything south of 73rd and 72nd Street except for Platte Woods is in the 1st also.

Entire County PDF is on the Platte County Planning and Zoning Department website.

Sales Taxes In Platte County

I like to learn something everyday.  Last week at the KCI Corridor TIF Advisory Committee meeting, someone handed out the projected sales taxes that would be generated by the potential Menard's that could happen on the northeast corner of Route 152 and Green Hills Road.

From that meeting, I learned or was reminded that Platte County assesses a 0.5% (half cent) sales tax for the County's general fund, a 0.5% tax for parks and stormwater improvements, and a 0.375% (3/8ths cent) sales tax for roadway improvements.  I never realized there was a half cent sales tax for general fund purposes and didn't know what it's supposed to be used for until someone at the county pointed out that it funds the support departments and helps keep property taxes in the County reasonable.

The parks and stormwater tax was approved in 2000 and paid for some big ticket items which included the YMCA centers in Parkville and Platte City and the Riverside Missouri Riverfront Trail and some trails in Weston and south of Platte City, and parts of the Springs Aquatic Center.  It was renewed in 2009 without a specific list of projects to be done over the next 10 years.

The 3/8th cent road tax provided funds for the first phase of improvements to Barry Road under I-29 which was done in 2004, Congress south of Barry Road in front of Park Hill HS, Congress between 152 and Tiffany Springs Parkway, Green Hills between Barry and Route 152, and Barry Road from Weatherby Lake to Hawthorn Elementary.  Total County assessment is 1.375%.

KCMO assesses a 1% (full cent) sales tax for capital improvements, a 0.8375% (27/32nds???) sales tax to fund mass transit, a 0.25% (quarter cent) sales tax for firefighters and fire stations, and a 0.25% sales tax for police and police stations. Total KCMO assessment is 2.3375%.

If you want to read a decent editorial on spending 1% on fixing streets, repairing bridges, building flood control, repairing sidewalks, and improving parks in a 317 square mile city while spending 0.8375% on mass transit, James Thomas, who writes for the Platte County Landmark, opined on 2/24/12 and 2/17/12 about the rates of taxation and where the money is spent.  Just scroll down a few pages past the national issue posts to find the columns on priorities.  Remember that this is a local blog and I don't comment on national issues and refer you to the disclaimer at the top of the page.

I pulled up the state's sales tax rates which show the different rates by counties and cities.  I would like to find out what exactly the state assesses since it appears that Jefferson City gets around a total of 4.2% sales tax for specific purposes.  I wish Lake Waukomis had a Wal-Mart or Costco.  It'd save me $5 every time I made a diaper, waffle, and frozen food run for the family which unfortunately is occurring way too much.  I'd also save on gas from having to drive around the Green Hills Road closure!