The Platte County R-3 School district has begun its effort to educate voters on the no-tax-increase Proposition C waiver to restructure its tax rate on the April 2 ballot.
The Board of Education voted in December 2023 to place a proposal on the April 2024 ballot to address the priority of attracting and retaining high quality staff. This has been an identified priority of the district’s stakeholders in the Stakeholder Requirements Survey, which is conducted every five years.
This question, if passed, would authorize the district to increase the operating tax levy by a total of $0.35. The district would concurrently reduce the debt service levy by $0.35, resulting in no tax increase.
This zero-tax-levy-increase Proposition C waiver and levy transfer would result in an increase in annual operating funds and could grow based on growth in the district’s assessed valuation. This proposition will appear on the April ballot and will require a simple majority to pass.
If passed, this proposal will allow the district to allocate resources to better attract and retain quality staff, and enhance safety and security. The funds from the Prop C waiver and levy transfer will be used to enhance salaries and benefits as well as to enhance safety and security measures throughout the district as identified in the district safety and security plan, including increasing school resource officers. The district is completing a compensation and job classification study and will be using the study data to make adjustments to areas where R-3 is below the market area “median.” Additional funds will be used to add overall compensation/benefit increases for all staff.
According to research done by district staff, Platte County comes in below most other comparable Northland districts in average teacher salary, with Park Hill, North Kansas City, Liberty and Kearney beating R-3 in teacher pay.
The Missouri School and Highway Tax Proposition, also known as Proposition C, was on the November 1982 ballot in Missouri as an initiated state statute, where it was approved. The measure supplemented school and highway funds by an additional one cent on dollar sales and use taxes. The measure also reduced property taxes for schools by one half of the additional sales tax revenue received by schools unless local residents voted to waive the required rollback.
A Proposition C waiver is an approval by local voters to waive the rollback applied to their operating tax levy. Of the 518 school districts in Missouri, 468 (91%) have fully waived and 24 have partially waived their Proposition C rollback. Platte County School District is one of 26 districts with no waiver.
Two community forums have been scheduled to educate voters on this waiver and a FAQ page has been established on the district website at plattecountyschooldistrict.com. Forums are scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27 at Platte Purchase Middle School’s flex performance space; and at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 13 at Platte County High School’s cafeteria.
Three candidates have officially filed for two positions on the Platte County R-3 School District’s Board of Education. Filing closed for candidates on December 26, 2023. Candidates (listed in ballot order) are as follows, incumbent Karen Bryant, Kathy Schlimm and Matt Craine
The seats up for election are currently held by Doug Doll and Bryant. The annual municipal election will be held on April 2.