Have you ever looked at your tax bill and wondered where the funds go and who controls them? I have some answers for you. Each entity that receives part of the property tax has an elected board that oversees those funds. Below is information on the entities that receive the most significant amounts of your property tax. You can find out where your tax dollars are going by going to https://ascendweb.jacksongov.org/default.aspx
The most significant amount of money goes to Raytown C-2 School District. Their website https://www.raytownschools.org/ has information on their meetings. The district includes areas outside of Raytown, and anyone living in the district pays property tax for the school district. The City of Raytown has no control over the funds or what the school district does with those funds, including school bus routes.
Next up, we have the Raytown Fire Protection District. http://www.raytownfire.com/ This is a separate entity from the city. They provide us with many services, including ambulances, EMTs, Fire Suppression, and several other services. Also, if you’re a Raytown resident and need an ambulance, you aren’t billed for what your insurance doesn’t cover. Fun fact- insurance rates are sometimes based on the fire department’s rating. If a fire department has slow response times and a low rating, insurance rates could be higher than Raytown, where the fire department has a great rating. Again the City of Raytown has no control over these funds or their use.
The third entity is Jackson County. https://www.jacksongov.org/Government/County-Legislature The Jackson county legislature oversees these funds. The City of Raytown has no control over these funds or their use.
Now that 87% of the property tax has been accounted for, we get to the City of Raytown. https://www.raytown.mo.us/ Raytown is a 4th class city. Being a fourth-class city puts some limits on what the city can do. Many other cities in Missouri that are a similar size have charters and a bit more control over what they’re allowed to do. Raytown only received 5.05% of my property taxes in 2021. The house with a market value of 77,000 dollars was 69.7120 dollars. Yes, these funds the Board of Aldermen controls, and budgets from prior years can be found here. 2022-23 was just approved and is expected to be available soon. https://www.raytown.mo.us/index.asp?SEC=A5E20A95-8C34-4FB7-9593-E5D17C0F5995
For perspective, let’s look at the 5th entity, the Mid Continent Library, which received 50.7369 dollars. Yes, the City of Raytown received about 19 dollars more of my tax dollars than the library. The Mid Continent Library is run by a board of elected officials also. https://www.mymcpl.org/ No, the City of Raytown doesn’t have any control over the Library budget, yet per household, the library gets only about 1.5% less property tax dollars than the city.
Metropolitan Community College – Is governed by the elected board of trustees. https://mcckc.edu/leadership/board.aspx
Mental Health- Jackson County has a Community Mental Health Levy, which a Board of Trustees oversees. The Levy generates about $11 million annually for indigent mental healthcare. The Board of Trustees has high standards for accountability. Funding is competitive and performance-based. https://www.jacksoncountycares.org/
Handicapped Workshop – The Elected County Executive appoints these positions. https://www.jacksongov.org/Government/Boards-Commissions/Developmental-Disability- Services-EITAS
State of Missouri Blind Pension Fund – The money from this is sent to the State and is administered by the Missouri Department of Social Services and controlled by the Director of the Department of Social Services. The elected Governor of Missouri appoints them. Information on this can be found here https://dss.mo.gov/fsd/blind-pension.htm
Moral of this blog-
• Voters control who they put in control of their tax money.
• The City of Raytown doesn’t get much of what you pay in property taxes.
