Tiny Roeland Park, KS, a suburb about a minute or two inside of Kansas, within the Kansas City metropolitan area, is emerging as one the seats of non-representative government in Northeast Johnson County.
It isn’t that our burgh doesn’t have a financial crisis in our future, but it is how the members of the City Council have chosen to deal with this crisis that is crawling people’s napes. Apparently, the members of the City Council have subscribed to the Rahm Emanuel belief that no crisis should go to waste … in abusing residents and growing government.
Prior to addressing our current crisis, a previous action, under a different mayor and city council, might offer an insight as to what residents of Roeland Park have been dealing with for several years. As you may have noticed, electrical charging stations for hybrid vehicles continue to pop up, especially at libraries and other ‘politically correct’ locations. In a city of less than 2 square miles and less than 7,000 residents, Roeland Park was the first city within the Kansas City metropolitan community to install an electrical charging station for hybrid vehicles at its city hall. This was in spite of the fact that the city did not own a hybrid vehicle then, and still doesn’t! While this has been an enhancement for certain politicians’ resumes, and a feel good action for the Sustainable Development/U. N. Agenda 21 zealots, this reveals how city financial malfeasance can rob residents of their money.
Let’s fast-forward to our current crisis. The Wal-Mart located in Roeland Park is moving to a location less than one mile south of its current location, where a super Wal-Mart will be erected. The challenge for Roeland Park is that this new location is in the neighboring city of Mission. So, the number one source of sales tax revenue for Roeland Park will be lost, along with the residual sales tax revenues from neighboring businesses that benefit from their proximity to Wal-Mart.
Obviously, the City Council and residents of Roeland Park are facing a fiscal crisis that will take time to resolve, even to a less than 100% resolution. There will be pain while working to overcome this loss, but it now appears that this crisis has been delayed due to a delay in the timing of the relocation. That is why the City Council’s proposed 42% increase in the personal property tax, especially as the Obama-led destruction of our economy continues, came as both a shock and an insult to the residents of Roeland Park.
42% increase in the personal property tax levy
As egregious as the proposed 42% increase in the personal property tax levy is, it is how the City Council chose to deal with the residents of the city on this issue that is extremely troubling. The members of the City Council chose to impose the Delphi Technique to distance themselves from dealing responsibly, and directly, with residents, regarding our crisis. A member of the City Council is a member of the Board of Directors for ‘Consensus KC’, a leftist, non-profit organization, and it was ‘invited’ to assist in providing cover for a rogue City Council. They say they are not charging the city for their ‘services’, but, being a leftist organization, I wonder if they are operating with a grant, using taxpayer money against the citizens of Roeland Park?
In an effort to prevent residents from addressing specific issues directly with members of the City Council, Consensus KC has been inserted as a buffer between the City Council and the residents they have sworn an oath to serve. Does anyone in elected government give a rat’s rump about their sworn oath anymore? How is it legal for unelected non-residents to be inserted into the city budget discussions, especially without prior input from city residents?
At two citywide budget meetings, attending residents were separated into small groups, each ‘facilitated’ by a member of the City Council. Residents were provided a list of budget items. From the list, residents were to identify up to three line items they could live without, and up to three line items they can’t live without. We were also asked to consider several sales tax increases, as options to limit the personal property tax increase. The City Council facilitator sought to ‘data mine’ the residents for their thoughts, taking notes of comments made, and seeking ‘consensus’ from the members of the group, without revealing any positions held by members of the City Council. When I asked the facilitator if this list comprised everything within the budget, knowing it didn’t, I was told that there are other items within the budget, but we were only to address what was on the list.
If there are other items within the budget, how can any resident make an informed decision upon what is ‘need’ and a ‘want’ within the city budget, without all line items being available for discussion? I quit being a compliant monkey for the City Council when it was confirmed that we did not have the entire budget available for review.
Within the general revenue budget line items were a couple of line items that should not have been included. One of these items is our community center. It has its own special tax (27C) for operating expenses, so why was it included in the general revenues portion of the overall budget? One of the on-going discussions about the community center for several years has been the patching or replacement of its roof. A bid secured for a roof replacement approximates the overage the city has in its operating reserves, so why are residents being asked to increase our taxes by approximately three (3) mills for a roof replacement that can be funded with existing revenues, and may, or may, not occur, at least within 2014?
We also have a skate park that is funded through a TIF that is included as a $60,000 line item within the general fund. Is this a slush fund for additional spending? Additionally, personnel positions that have already been eliminated have been included within the general revenue budget as line items available for elimination, in an effort to reduce our city’s personal property tax increase. This appears to be akin to District of Corruption financing.
There have been rumors about the budget including $20,000 per city department for magazine subscriptions, travel, etc., and $50,000 to $90,000 for ‘visioning’ for the city. I don’t know if these rumors are true, but, considering the fact that residents have been denied access to sacrosanct line items within the budget, I tend to believe there may be some truth to these rumors. If they are true, residents have a right and a responsibility to demand better from our elected representatives.
The 42% increase is only for the city. Residents are facing known school district, county, and state personal property tax increases, and there may be other increases, of which we are not aware.
Additionally, we have a ‘Sustainability committee’ that needs to be discontinued, or opened to residents who have alternative views to imposing costly programs embedded within U. N. Agenda 21 upon the residents of our city. We are Americans, not ‘UNicans’!
I doubt that our tiny city is the only city dealing with budget shenanigans and the imposition of the Delphi Technique to advance an adversarial agenda. The Delphi Technique, if not exposed and eliminated, is very effective at the city level because neighbors, fellow church parishioners, golfing buddies, parents of children’s friends, etc., are involved. Residents need to become educated about this nefarious technique, and united in not allowing the City Council to run roughshod over those they have sworn an oath to serve. If we can’t trust our local politicians, how can we trust our County, State or Federal politicians?
If you live within the Kansas City metro area, or if you know of anyone who lives within the area, I exhort you to expose ‘Consensus KC’ for the charlatans they truly are. In this case, ‘consensus’ disarms residents, ushering them to financial slaughter. Every dollar stolen by a body of government is a dollar not available for discretionary spending. We have two more City Council meetings before it comes back with a revised proposal for discussion and approval, prior to it being posted by law. This is Kansas, not Chicago, or D. C. Roeland Park residents are hoping for a more responsible and responsive proposal to our budget crisis from our City Council.
