By Tony Madden
Jackson County Executive-elect Stacy Lake was given a blunt question at the South Kansas City Alliance meeting on Monday evening.
“Are you going to clean house?” asked one attendee.
“Yes,” Lake told attendees. “I will do my best to clean house and root out the corruption.”
Lake joined five newly elected county legislators who attended the meeting to state their plans for their upcoming terms. Those included Carla Fields, Susan Wilson, Kelly Thompson, and Byron Townsend.
Also in attendance was Legislative Chair Donna Peyton, former Missouri State Rep. Mark Sharp, State Rep. Emily Weber and Cornerstones of Care CEO Merideth Rose.
Lake said she ran to turn Jackson County government into one of the best county governments nationwide. As a result, the following year may be one of Jackson County’s hardest as it navigates assessment corrections and a county-wide audit.
One of Lake’s challenges will be county vacancies. Lake said she is going into the Executive’s office without directors of finance, assessment, human resources, collections, or a recorder of deeds. Upon taking the oath, she’ll start the process to fill those roles and conduct an audit that reaches all departments.
The audit process would begin with a request-for-proposals (RFP) from different auditing firms and then a vote from the legislature on the winning contractor. Lake estimates the audit will take 1-2 years.
Townsend, who will represent the 4th District (which includes most of south KC), addressed issues about his role as a Hickman Mills School Board member. Under the county charter, he must give up his role as a school board member before he can be sworn in as a county legislator. He emphasized the importance of being available to his south Kansas City and Grandview constituents and will schedule public meetings appearances.
Townsend said he’d work in the Legislature to refund those who overpaid on their tax bills instead of providing tax credits. He said the tax credits harm the taxing jurisdictions, such as school districts and libraries, because their funding is based on property tax payments. A 30% credit in property taxes means 30% less to fund public schools.
“I know how much public education is under attack right now, and there’s no way that the schools can survive attacks from every level of government,” Townsend said.
Fields, who has served as the General Counsel for the Hickman Mills School District since 2017, will represent the county’s 3rd District At Large. She emphasized the importance of rebuilding Jackson County’s ‘in-house assessment capacity.” She said qualified staff should be able to explain property assessment increases, and they should be able to defend those decisions.
She also said citizens should be clear about what is necessary to challenge the county in an appeal. Fields, who has practiced law for 30 years, said even she became frustrated by arriving at the county’s downtown Kansas City offices and “gotten nowhere” because she didn’t have all the information she needed.
Thompson ran unopposed for the 1st District At-Large seat, and received very little coverage as a result. She was able to tell her story at the meeting. Following a D.C. career in the Congressional Press Corps, Thompson returned to Kansas City to start a family and earn a master’s degree. Now, she leads tech and innovation teams on “human-centered design,” an approach she will bring to the county office.
“The focus of my career has really been about looking at the people who use services, products, and….. asking the question: Is it working for them?” Thompson said.
Peyton, the Chair of the Legislature who was reelected to represent the 2nd District At-Large, reminded attendees that 2023-2024 taxpayers who have moved could still be eligible for tax credits on the previous property. However, Peyton said the deadline to notify the county of such assessments is quickly approaching: Thursday, Dec. 3.
Peyton also answered questions about the Jackson County Board of Equalization, which handles property tax appeals. She reminded them the Board is an independent body.
