SKCA meeting features Seniors levy update and Hickman Mills accreditation frustration

By Jill Draper

Nonprofit providers of free meals, transportation and other services for Jackson County seniors expect to see a boost of $7-8 million per year beginning in early 2026 after voters approved a new property tax to help those 60 and older.

Two leaders on the issue, Jackson County Legislator Donna Peyton and Shepherd’s Center Executive Director Janet Baker, spoke about how the funds will be rolled out at a recent meeting of the South Kansas City Alliance on November 11. They said the money is sorely needed because seniors are the fastest growing population in the county.

According to Peyton and Baker, any county resident can apply for a position on the seven-member board that will make decisions about how to distribute the money. The application process will be posted on the county’s website at jacksongov.org, probably early in 2025.

After names are submitted, an advisory committee will screen applicants and forward them to County Executive Frank White Jr., who will choose one from each of the six legislative districts, plus an additional name. County legislators have 15 days to reject names and request additional choices. White’s office said no timetable or other information has been decided at this time.

Baker noted that a coalition of 50 nonprofit organizations called Seniors Count worked for two years to get the tax on the November 5 ballot. “This is not an overnight fix. It’s going to be a long-term process before money gets to places,” she said, adding the coalition next will work on a community needs assessment. “My hope is the coalition continues, and we will compete together for larger funds at the federal level.”

The Jackson County board appointed by White will operate independently, setting funding criteria and sending out RFPs to programs such as Meals on Wheels, PACE KC, Shepherd’s Center, Jewish Family Services, Mattie Rhodes and other established services.

“There are 55 best practice models available,” Baker observed, referring to the 55 counties in Missouri, including neighboring Clay and Platte counties, that previously approved a similar tax for senior services.

American Rescue Plan

In other financial matters, Peyton said Jackson County officials are still waiting to hear about their legal challenge to reject an order by the Missouri State Tax Commission to roll back many of the 2023 property tax assessments to a 15 percent increase. She also mentioned the county’s $70 million in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds, which must be designated before the end of December. A proposal has been sent by legislators to the county executive, she said, and they are waiting to see if he vetoes it.

Ambulance Service

Another speaker at the SKCA meeting was Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Chief Laura Ragusa of the KCMO Fire Department. She talked about the department’s ambulance service membership program which covers all out-of-pocket costs for medically necessary ambulance services, including car accidents. For households with insurance, membership costs $59 per year; for households without insurance, the cost is $99. By comparison, she said the base cost charged by the Fire Department for a typical ambulance trip is $1,200. More information is at kcfdmembership.org or call 816-924-1700.

School Accreditation

The meeting concluded with a statement by Casey Klapmeyer, deputy superintendent of Hickman Mills C-1 School District. He touted three main achievements by the district: increasing teacher salaries from low to high, opening a second middle school to reduce classroom sizes, and documenting three years of steady improvement in academic achievement.

“We should be fully accredited now by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education,” he told the audience, but said that unexpected changes in the scoring system last spring and a recent state-level decision to delay an annual performance report might postpone the process until 2026. District officials will try to meet with Karla Eslinger, Missouri Commissioner of Education, to see if the accreditation can be finalized earlier.