By Max Goodwin
When Jackson County voters chose to recall Frank White as the county executive, the decision of who would fill the position until 2027 was put in the hands of the county legislature.
The Jackson County Legislature voted 5-4 for Phil Levota on the first round of voting.
Donna Peyton, the legislative vice chairman, spoke about the process at a meeting of the South Kansas City Alliance on October 13th just hours after voting for the new county executive. Peyton was one of the five members of the county legislature who voted for Levota’s approval.
Former Mayor Kay Barnes took over as county executive October 9th and was replaced by Levota a week later. There were a total of 12 candidates in an open process. The two other finalists, along with Levota, were Dan Tarwater and Christine Taylor-Butler. Levota has stated that he will not run for county executive in the upcoming election. Peyton said that was an important point for people who have attended county listening sessions.
“Loud and clear, we heard that the public did not want the interim to run for the office,” Peyton said. “There is so much business that needs to be attended to as soon as possible, in regards to getting a budget, solidifying our partnership with FIFA 2026, working with the assessments, and trying to fix that debacle, and working to make sure we have a smooth transition in the opening of our detention center and the ARPA funding.”
It’s a long list of issues immediately confronting Levota in the new position. The first most urgent issue is property tax assessments, which will be mailed to residents at the start of November. The other issue ahead is the budget, which the county executive will submit to the legislature by November 15. Peyton said she thinks those are the two most pressing issues.
Peyton said she hopes Levota will be in favor of setting a cap of 15 percent on property tax rate increases for each year. This had been a point of contention that Frank White agreed to earlier this year after previously being against the cap.
The county still has federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act that haven’t been used. Peyton said the legislature will have to work out a process with the new executive to determine how to spend the ARPA funds. The legislature agreed on an allocation deal for the $70 million in federal funds last December to avoid having to return the money; however, the exact use of the funds has still not been agreed upon.
Maj. Kari Thompson
Major Kari Thompson of the Kansas City Police Department reported positive results from a crime prevention program focused on a section of the Ruskin Heights Neighborhood. City Councilmembers canvassed the neighborhood, and the Kansas City Fire Department donated Ring Doorbells to houses on several blocks. The program is based on an approach from Chicago to provide neighborhoods with the resources to prevent crime.
“You know what to do in your neighborhoods,” Thompson said. “We’re going to give you the support to do it.”
Hickman Mills School District
The State Auditor is in the process of a full audit of the Hickman Mills School District that began in August after an initial investigation of a whistleblower complaint. Hickman Mills Superintendent Dennis Carpenter described where the district is at in the audit process.
“They’re telling us that this is going to be a year-long process,” Carpenter said. “The state auditor has stated that he wants to look at our district for a period of five years.”
Carpenter said that Hickman Mills will operate with a $14 million deficit according to the projected budget for this school year. He said the school district will expend $104 million this year and take in $90 million. That would leave nearly $12 million in the district’s reserve fund.
He said the school board will be presented with all of the options for potential cuts from the budget, including cuts to salaries, and the board will have to make some difficult decisions.
[Hickman Mills increased their levy in September from 5.9254% to 6.1517% to offset a 14% reduction in property tax revenue from the county.]
Center School District
Troy Hogg, Interim Superintendent of the Center School District, said that Center is also operating in deficit spending, though not as dire as Hickman Mills. Center will have a deficit of $3 million for this year, according to Hogg.
Center is seeking to have two ballot measure questions in the April 2026 election: a general obligation bond and a tax levy transfer. The tax levy transfer would allow Center to transfer money from the tax rate to pay for general operations budget and address the spending deficit. [Center is experiencing a 1.93% reduction in property tax revenue by the county.]
Center is also writing a new school district strategic plan for the years 2026 to 2030 right now, Hogg said.
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