After pushing though a proposal to increase a tax benefiting Kansas City's museums, the city Council today decided to pull the measure that was to be voted on today.
Councilwoman Deb Hermann introduced the referendum Wednesday that would have asked voters to increase the mil levy, from 2 mils to 10 mils to help fund several area museums.
Currently those two mils only benefit the Kansas City Museum. Hermann's plan, which was made public just last week in an interview in The Star, would have used the additional mils to fund other "museum" sites in the metro such as Union Station, Liberty Memorial, the Black Archives, and 18th and Vine museums.
But Hermann caught ire from some Northeast residents and even fellow councilmembers for not including them in the talks that preceded the referendums' introduction on Wednesday.
Hermann said yesterday that the she only caught wind of the proposal two weeks ago and wanted to get things smoothed out before making it public. Part of the rush, also, was for the issue to make it on this August's ballot. In order for that to occur however, the council would have had to approve the measure today.
It does not appear that the resolution will make that deadline.
For more on this, check Wednesday in The Northeast News
Showing posts with label KC Museum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KC Museum. Show all posts
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
KC Museum tax could be siphoned to other museums
From Wednesday's Buzz Column:
As if you weren’t taxed enough.
From the city that taxes you more and delivers you less, City Councilwoman Deb Hermann wants to pile on to the MIL Levy to its full compliment to fund other museums in town.
Let’s just remind our readership that a few on this list are Liberty Memorial and Union Station. You may remember that front-men for each of those entities promised that after the passage of specific support taxes for those causes, no additional tax revenues would be needed to support the facilities because a sacred trust was going to be establish to provide funding in perpetuity — read: forever.
Well “forever” apparently comes sooner here in Kansas City than it does in other parts of the world because now they’re back at the taxpayer’s door begging and whining for more.
Here’s some advice if this hits the ballot this August - fugghettaboutit!
This thing deserves the boot!
As if you weren’t taxed enough.
From the city that taxes you more and delivers you less, City Councilwoman Deb Hermann wants to pile on to the MIL Levy to its full compliment to fund other museums in town.
Let’s just remind our readership that a few on this list are Liberty Memorial and Union Station. You may remember that front-men for each of those entities promised that after the passage of specific support taxes for those causes, no additional tax revenues would be needed to support the facilities because a sacred trust was going to be establish to provide funding in perpetuity — read: forever.
Well “forever” apparently comes sooner here in Kansas City than it does in other parts of the world because now they’re back at the taxpayer’s door begging and whining for more.
Here’s some advice if this hits the ballot this August - fugghettaboutit!
This thing deserves the boot!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
BREAKING NEWS: KC Museum Board seeks answers from CIMO on renovation project
The city's Capital Improvement Management Office already has several enemies in the Police Department for not fully reporting what it charging the boys in blue on several projects.
Now it looks like CIMO has also caught the ire of Kansas City Museum Advisory Board Members for doing the same thing.
On Tuesday Board chairman Gary Marsh tore into CIMO staffers for not offering any explanation on several invoices the city office has submitted to the the Museum Board for renovation work currently being done.
"If I got something like this on my desk in my business, I would mark it up with red ink and tell them they were not getting paid any money," Marsh said.
CIMO had submitted an invoice to the board with vague descriptions and a bill for $160,000. Marsh said that with out any explanation of those costs he, and the rest of the board, could not be expected to simply fork over the money.
Marsh said he tried to get some help from City Manager Wayne Cauthen but instead got a letter that "basically told us to go to hell," Marsh said.
But city sources say some of those mysterious and unnamed charges could be coming from past project that the museum has had completed though the CIMO office.
Last year when the museum had the roof repaired, city officials say that the project ended up costing the city more than they had planned — although they would not say by how much. Officials say CIMO staffer are charging extra items to the current museum project at Corinthian Hall to make up those costs.
Now Marsh and the museum advisory board is looking at options to get some of those descriptions and find out what is being purchased and where the money for the project is going. Marsh said if the city does not comply with the board's requests then they might have to take legal action — something the police board is currently considering as well.
"If the city is not looking this close at their invoices then it is no wonder that we are $48 million in the hole," Marsh said, referring to the city's ongoing struggle to balance its budget, which is due on Thursday.
For more on this, check here and The Northeast News on April 5.
Now it looks like CIMO has also caught the ire of Kansas City Museum Advisory Board Members for doing the same thing.
On Tuesday Board chairman Gary Marsh tore into CIMO staffers for not offering any explanation on several invoices the city office has submitted to the the Museum Board for renovation work currently being done.
"If I got something like this on my desk in my business, I would mark it up with red ink and tell them they were not getting paid any money," Marsh said.
CIMO had submitted an invoice to the board with vague descriptions and a bill for $160,000. Marsh said that with out any explanation of those costs he, and the rest of the board, could not be expected to simply fork over the money.
Marsh said he tried to get some help from City Manager Wayne Cauthen but instead got a letter that "basically told us to go to hell," Marsh said.
But city sources say some of those mysterious and unnamed charges could be coming from past project that the museum has had completed though the CIMO office.
Last year when the museum had the roof repaired, city officials say that the project ended up costing the city more than they had planned — although they would not say by how much. Officials say CIMO staffer are charging extra items to the current museum project at Corinthian Hall to make up those costs.
Now Marsh and the museum advisory board is looking at options to get some of those descriptions and find out what is being purchased and where the money for the project is going. Marsh said if the city does not comply with the board's requests then they might have to take legal action — something the police board is currently considering as well.
"If the city is not looking this close at their invoices then it is no wonder that we are $48 million in the hole," Marsh said, referring to the city's ongoing struggle to balance its budget, which is due on Thursday.
For more on this, check here and The Northeast News on April 5.
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