Miner Board votes to put sales tax on November ballot

MINER, Mo. — In an effort to help with an expected budget shortfall next year and in the future, the Miner Board of Alderman voted to put a half-percent sales tax on the November ballot.

Miner City Clerk Darrin Skinner told the Board that currently the City of Miner is $36,000 over-budget which could have been $213,000 if not for income they received from selling railroad property.

“Our biggest concern now and our biggest hurdle is 2018-2019,” Skinner said. “Again our expenditures are expected to exceed our revenues by over $200,000 to meet our obligations we already have.”

Alderman Bill James said the groundwork for the budget had been laid for the past decade.

“The city has overspent their income for the last 10 years,” James said. “Sometimes it’s $40,000, last year it got up to $151,000 more than they took in. This year it’s projected to be $212,000 over. We had all that money to cover it in the past but we don’t have all that money to cover it in the future.”

Miner mayor Darren Chapman recommended the City attempt to pass a half-percent sales tax. The tax, if passed, would bring in an estimated $250,000 according to Skinner, who said even if the measure passed the City would still be in trouble in the 2018-19 budget year.

“What’s going to happen is, if the tax passes in November the Department of Revenue will then set the date to start collecting it,” Skinner said. “They have to have time to send out letters and change the rate with all the retailers and all of that.”

He added that because of that, the City wouldn’t get a full year of the sales tax on the budget for 2018-19.

Some on the Board questioned why the City had fallen so far behind.

“Our income has stayed the same for the last 10 or 12 years and our spending gradually rose above the line of where our income was,” Skinner said. “I’m not pointing fingers because you do have cost of living (increasing) and inherently it is going to cost more with inflation and everything to run a city.”

James mentioned that one idea that had been suggested was to transfer the dispatching in Miner to Scott County. However, most in attendance, including many on the Board were not in favor of that idea.

Board member Frank Tatum immediately stated he was against that idea while people in attendance brought up several instances where having dispatchers in Miner was beneficial, including how it made Miner residents safer.

Miner resident Kim Campbell, who has two sons on the Miner Fire Department, said that if getting rid of the dispatchers would cost even an extra minute getting calls to the fire department, it could risk lives.

“They are giving their lives as it is for us residents. We don’t need to get rid of our dispatchers. We need our dispatchers to do their job,” Campbell said, which was received by applause.

“That’s why I hope and pray we can get this sales tax passed,” said Chapman. “It’s very critical to have the dispatchers.”

James agreed, saying the Board needed to do whatever it could for it not to effect the dispatchers.

After the Board voted unanimously to put the tax on the November ballot, several in attendance spoke of the importance of passing the tax to the town, including needing all the Board members to be behind it.

“It’s going to take the whole City to support it if it is going to pass,” Chapman said.

While the proposed sales tax would take care of some of the shortfall on next year’s budget if passed, the Board debated options to help with the rest of the shortfall. As part of those efforts, the Board voted to put a brush truck and pump truck used by the fire department up for bid.

The Board then tabled the budget until next month’s meeting in order to try to find more money to cut.

In other action, the Board:

• Approved a measure for dispatchers to log in the time of Miner Police Chief Chris Griggs. The measure brought some discussion between the Board and those in attendance, as to why the logging of time was needed.

Several residents praised Griggs for the job he did while questioning why the Board was “trying to run him off, when he’s the best chief we’ve ever had.”

Tatum spoke up against Griggs, saying “he is a little bit on the lazy side, regardless of what you say.”

Tatum’s comment angered some in attendance who continued to speak up for the police chief but the debate was quickly brought to a conclusion.

• Approved bids of $5,750 and $3,550 for two old police cars.

• Tabled a tall grass ordinance amendment.

• Tabled a stem wall construction requirement.

• Approved AA Water Improvements final payment request of $39,202,69.

• Denied a request for fence requirements for trampolines.

• Tabled renewing the contract with the union because the union representative was unable to be at the meeting.