Question P: April 2 | City of Raymore, MO

Providing for Public Services: Public Works, Police, Parks & Pavement

April 2, 2024: Use tax fails by 137 votes. Click here for press release.

Voter approval of Question P will allow the City to create additional full time positions in the departments of Public Works, Police and Parks. Voter approval of Question P will also allow the City to dedicate a portion of use tax revenue to major improvements on 58 Highway, ensuring a safe and comfortable drive for the thousands of drivers who use it every day (while continuing to invest more than $2 million/year into our annual street preservation and curb replacement programs to maintain neighborhood streets and thoroughfares).

A use tax is a tax equal to the City sales tax rate (2.5 percent) on the purchase of goods strictly from out-of-state vendors – often online – that currently do not collect City sales tax. Items that are exempt from sales tax remain exempt from use tax and a resident will never pay both a sales tax and a use tax. Purchases cannot fall into the same group and cannot be taxed twice.

Local taxes are vital to the City's ability to operate and provide essential City services such as police and street maintenance.

BY THE NUMBERS:

Raymore's population has increased more than 78 percent, with a current population of more than 24,200 vs. 13,561 in 2004.
The number of parks in our community has doubled, while park acreage has increased from 137 acres to more than 279 acres. Trail miles have increased from 1.35 miles in 2004 to more than 20 miles of trails and walking paths in 2024.
- 2004: The City staffed five Parks Maintenance Workers and one Parks Superintendent.
- 2024: The City staffs five Parks Maintenance Workers and one Parks Superintendent to maintain our parks system. This number falls far below industry standards and staffing levels of cities of comparable sizes and parks systems in the region.
- Voter approval of a local use tax will allow the City to create a minimum of two additional Parks Maintenance Worker positions to care for and maintain our parks, though an independent staffing study released in 2021 recommended the addition of seven additional Parks Maintenance Workers over a 3-year period.
Total calls for police service per year have more than tripled from 8,647 in 2004 to 27,950 in 2023. Annual 911 calls have increased by 27.75 percent, from 7,942 in 2004 to 10,146 in 2023.
- 2004: The Raymore Police Department staffed 24 sworn police officer positions.
- 2024: The Raymore Police Department has 32 sworn police officer positions. This number falls below industry standards and below staffing levels of comparable cities in the region.
- Voter approval of a local use tax will allow the City to create a minimum of four new Police Officer positions to serve our community, though an independent study released in January of 2021 recommended adding 20 new officer positions over a 5-year period. (One additional police officer position has been funded since 2021.)
Raymore Public Works Operations & Maintenance services all public City streets in Raymore, totaling more than 310 lane miles. Street maintenance includes pothole patching, full-depth patches, snow/ice removal operations and curb repair. Raymore Public Works Maintenance Workers also maintain 128 miles of water main, 86 miles of storm sewer lines, 130 miles of sanitary sewer lines and 280 miles of sidewalks and multi-use paths. Raymore maintains substantially more miles of road per maintenance worker than comparable cities and the national average. 13 additional Public Works Maintenance Worker positions would need to be created in order to get our department closer to staffing levels of comparable cities and industry standards.
- 2004: Raymore Public Works budgets for 12 Maintenance Workers.
- 2024: Raymore Public Works budgets for 16 Maintenance Workers.
- Voter approval of a local use tax will allow the City to create a minimum of two new Public Works Maintenance Worker positions, though an independent staffing study released in January of 2021 recommended phasing in 13 additional positions over a 3-year period. (One additional maintenance worker position has been funded since 2021.)
In 2004, the City of Raymore staffed 90 full time employees. In 2024, the City staffs 107 full time employees – a small increase compared to the growth and additional amenities the City is providing.
The staffing study recommended the addition of more than 40 additional full time employees over a 5-year period in the departments of Parks, Public Works and Police. Funding from a local use tax would allow us to slowly begin adding a portion of those positions in order to continue serving our residents with the level of service they expect and deserve.

Click here to view the staffing study.

As traditional sources of revenue to fund City services erode, such as franchise fees for landline and wireless telecom services, the City needs to look to new ways to fund essential City services that directly impact our residents. Approval of Question P will eliminate the disparity in tax rates collected by local and out-of-state sellers by imposing the same rate on all sellers and will provide revenue to the City to fund a minimum of four new Raymore Police Officer positions, a minimum of two new Public Works Maintenance Worker positions and a minimum of two new Parks Maintenance Worker positions.

291 Missouri cities already have a voter-approved use tax in place to fund essential City services such as public safety and street maintenance.

The state of Missouri and Cass County already collect use taxes (4.225 percent and 1.625 percent) on items Raymore residents purchase from certain out-of-state vendors. Because a use tax is not in place, the City of Raymore does not collect a use tax.

Please read through the Use Tax Frequently Asked Questions below to learn why the City of Raymore is asking residents to consider a local use tax and how a use tax works.

Click here to download our Use Tax Fact Sheet.

What is a use tax?

What is the exact ballot language?

Shall the City of Raymore, Missouri impose a local use tax at the same rate as the total local sales tax rate, provided that, if the local sales tax rate is reduced or raised by voter approval, the local use tax rate shall also be reduced or raised by the same action?

⃞ YES ⃞ NO

If you are in favor of the question, darken the oval opposite “YES”. If you are opposed to the question, darken the oval opposite “NO”.

What is the rate of the local use tax?

When does a local use tax ordinance take effect?

How is a local use tax collected?

What does the state charge for the collection of a local use tax and how is the use tax accounted for?

How much will my city receive from a local use tax & how will it be used?

Using estimated 2023 numbers of recurring revenue from the Missouri Department of Revenue (as of Feb. 29, 2024, numbers from the final quarter of 2023 have not yet been reported), the City of Raymore Finance Department estimates collecting approximately $1.876 million per year in use tax revenue.

State statute requires the funds go into the City's General Fund, the city's primary operating fund. However, the City will dedicate use tax revenues to funding additional personnel in the areas of Police, Public Works Maintenance Workers and Parks Maintenance Workers and 58 Highway maintenance. The City will provide Use Tax Quarterly Reports showing the use tax revenue and the expenditures – personnel salary and benefit costs by department and capital improvement for 58 Highway Maintenance.

With voter approval, out-of-state sellers will begin collecting use tax on applicable sales in October 2024 and the Department of Revenue will begin disbursing funds quarterly in January 2025.

USE TAX REVENUE

	TOTALS	General Fund	Enterprise Fund	Park Fund	Transportation Fund
Use Tax Revenue	$1,876,771
Distribution
4 Police Personnel	$381,020	$381,020
2 Parks Personnel	$160,254			$160,254
2 Public Works Personnel	$159,568	$79,784	$79,784
2025- 58 Highway Maintenance	$769,877				$769,877
	$406,052*
Totals		$460,804	$79,784	$160,254	$769,877

*The $406,052 may be used for additional personnel in Police, Public Works or Parks if the revenue continues to be steady (the independent staffing study recommended the addition of 20 new Police Officers over a 5-year period, 13 new Public Works Maintenance Workers over a 3-year period and 8 additional Parks Maintenance workers over a 3-year period), may be used for additional 58 Highway maintenance work or may be dedicated to the next fiscal year's 58 Highway maintenance work.

How can a local use tax benefit my community?

If I make a purchase that has a sales tax, will a local use tax be added on to that purchase?

What changes did the legislature make in the 2021 "Wayfair" legislation (SB 153)?

The major modifications the legislation made to Missouri’s use tax law was to require all online and catalog vendors to collect and remit the local and state use tax, including those vendors that do not have a physical presence in the state. Also, online vendors who facilitate transaction for a third-party vendor must collect and remit local and state use taxes on those facilitated transactions. Essentially, the new law makes the collection and remittance of the use tax similar to the way the sales tax is collected and remitted to the Missouri Department of Revenue.

What percent of the sales tax and property taxes I already pay go to the City of Raymore?

Sales tax in Raymore:

City - 2.500%

State- 4.225%

County - 1.6252%

Fire District - .500

Total Sales Tax: 8.85%

*There are three Transportation Development Districts and five Community Improvements Districts authorized by the Cass County Circuit Court within a portion of the City of Raymore. These districts have levied an additional sales tax to pay for road infrastructure and community improvement costs. Learn more here.

Property Tax:

The City of Raymore receives 14.99 cents out of every dollar in property taxes paid by a Raymore resident. Property tax received by the City is divided into three different budgets: the General Fund, Parks & Recreation and the Debt Service Fund.

The General Fund is the primary operating fund for the City. It is used to record all inflows and outflows that are not associated with special purpose funds (such as Parks, Transportation, Stormwater and Capital Improvement funds).

The General Fund pays for the core administrative and operational expenses of the City, such as personnel, all Police Department expenses, pothole patching, street lights, natural gas for City facilities, electricity for City facilities, streetlights and lift stations, snow removal, salt and brine, household hazardous waste collection events, community shredding events and more.

The Park Fund is used for Parks & Recreation administration, maintenance of parkland and facilities, natural resource management, recreation programs and special events.

The Debt Service Fund accounts for debt service on all general obligation deb issuances the City has made for capital improvements that are still outstanding, such as the no tax increase general obligation bond street and park improvement projects.

We want to make sure you have all the facts about local use tax! If you have any questions, contact Communications Manager Melissa Harmer at m harmer@raymore.com or 816-892-3002.