Residents fire off questions at city officials on tax proposal

Jul. 28—Residents peppered Joplin's city manager Wednesday night with questions about city accountability and transparency and the lack of an alternate plan to increase police and fire wages during a public meeting about Proposition Public Safety.

A full audience in the former Silver Creek City Hall building waved off an explanation by City Manager Nick Edwards of the "SAFER" acronym being used to explain the components of a Aug. 2 ballot proposal to hear from police and fire officials.

The ballot measure would increase property and personal property taxes to help pay for public safety operations. If approved, revenue from what would be the first major property tax increase in decades would be used to fund higher pay scales for police and fire, a change that would allow police and fire employees to keep working after they are eligible for retirement, and build an eighth fire station.

The residents listened to police Chief Sloan Rowland and Assistant Fire Chief Andy Nimmo describe the measures they have taken to continue to provide services because of the loss of experienced workers who move to other jobs for higher pay.

Rowland said the department has 110 authorized positions but is currently down by 19 officers who have left jobs there. When added to those who are off work to serve military duty, medical leave and other reasons, the ranks are short 32, he said. He said it is typical to be short a third to a quarter of the police force for those reasons.

Recently, two officers left for jobs that paid more, he said. Being short staffed forced the chief to require 20 hours a week of overtime work from the officers, and he reduced the ranks of detectives and other departments to keep as many officers on patrol duty as possible, he said.

"It's to the point we're working our people to the point they're breaking," he said.

A resident asked how many officers the department has now available for work. The chief said 78. He was asked how much officers are being paid. He said $18.16 per hour at one year on the job or about $38,000. Asked how much they need to be paid to compete and how the proposed new pay scale would compare, the chief said a lot of area departments have gone to $20 per hour and the new pay scale "would give us a jump up on that."

Another resident asked why the city can't pay those wages with its existing revenue. Edwards pointed to a chart of existing sales tax revenues and expenditures, and said the revenue is virtually flat. He said that the communities that some want Joplin to be like have property taxes to retain their public safety workers or provide for other services.

Residents questioned how they can be assured money from the new taxes would all go to the police and fire services.

The city manager said the ballot language specifies it will go to public safety. A council ordinance and binding agreements with the police and fire unions also commit the funds to them. Those agreements will not go into effect unless voters approve the Aug. 2 proposal, called Proposition Public Safety, he said.

Another resident, Rita Ball, said she is 69 but cannot afford to retire because it would cut her income in half if she only had to live on Social Security benefits.

"It really infuriates me that you have the gall to ask us to pay this; I don't think it's fair it only comes from people who own property," she said.

The city manager said that was a legitimate concern.

She replied that the city spends a lot money unnecessarily, in her opinion, especially on consultants. "Aren't any of you guys smart enough to do that?" she asked about the work done by consultants.

Mike Seibert, co-chairman of a residents committee advocating for the proposal, showed residents a tax form that he said allows people over age 65 and others to obtain a tax credit of up to $1,100 from the state of Missouri to pay toward their tax bills. Another resident said his mother applied for that tax credit and that it provided only a little more than $200 toward the taxes.

Other residents cited a lack of trust that the city will spend the money as city officials say they will. The city manager again told the crowd that council approved ordinances in May that would go into effect with the city's new budget year Nov. 1 instituting the new public safety wage scales if the proposition is approved.

Another woman questioned how residents could trust the city, saying "mismanagement of money is a problem of poor decisions."

Residents questioned why the city did not disclose more details about the tax base, such as the specific numbers and types of properties, such as residential and commercial, that would be subject to the tax. The city manager said he did not know the number of properties but that they would involve both commercial and residential.

"I don't think it's right that the local homeowners have to fund this tax," another resident said. "You should be looking at a sales tax" that would be paid by more people than property owners and residents.

The city manager said that the lack of a property tax has caused financial hardship because sales taxes are not growing enough to keep up with expenses. A property tax is needed as a more sustainable way to increase city revenue, he said.

Additionally, residents questioned why the city does not have an alternative plan for police and fire wages if the tax question fails at the polls.