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For the first time in Independence’s 198-year history, the city has a series of general-obligation bonds on the April 8 ballot.
Voters will decide Tuesday whether to authorize a property-tax increase to pay for a range of municipal priorities — including a new police headquarters, infrastructure needs and historic building maintenance.
The Independence City Council voted in December to place three bond questions, which total $197 million during the next 20 years, on the April ballot.
Property taxes aren’t a popular topic in Jackson County, but many early voters Thursday at the election board in Independence saw value in the city’s proposals, which are centered on public safety, infrastructure and other maintenance needs.
“The things that need to be done — the infrastructure improvements and things like that — none of that’s free,” longtime Independence resident John Eppert said. “It has to be paid for, and these bonds are the best way to do it.”
John and his wife, Nancy Eppert, said they voted yes on all three bond questions.
Fellow longtime Independence resident Rick Herrera said he also voted yes across the board.
“Law enforcement definitely needs the help around here, and Independence has gotten better,” he said. “I lived out here around the ’90s and it was horrible. Over the last 10 to 15 years, to me, it’s gotten a lot better.”
Herrera, a former emergency responder, said the Independence Police Department headquarters — which accounts for $127 million, or nearly 65%, of the overall bond — is overdue for improvements.
“The police station was opened up the same time Kauffman Stadium was opened up,” he said. “They’ve been there a long time. I was an EMT/paramedic in the Independence/Blue Springs area, and I remember this station in the ’90s when I was doing that, so it needs an update.”
Additional neglected infrastructure was another key issue.
“You can’t have bridges that people can’t drive over; you can’t have buildings that leak, particularly municipal buildings that people have got to use,” John Eppert said. “You can’t have places that are inadequate for the programs that they’re designed for — and all this is necessary. It really is.”
Not everyone agrees, of course — one prospective voter, who declined to go on camera, said he was opposed to higher property taxes and another, who also declined to go on camera, said she felt the city ignored seniors until they wanted their help with an election. She planned to vote for some, but not all, of the bond questions.
But other voters talked about seeing a bright future for Independence.
“It’s about time we stepped up and paid for the city that we’ve always wanted,” Nancy Eppert said. “This city of Independence is a legacy city, and it’s a history city, and we need to take care of it. ... If you’re engaged in it and you understand it and you want this in the future, you plan for i,t and then you have to pay for it. Then, you get excited.”
Herrera agreed: “Independence is up-and-coming, and I’m proud of this city, what it’s become and where it’s going.”
Seniors who have enrolled in the Senior Property Tax Credit, which freezes property taxes at the amount from the year of application, would receive a credit on the next year’s property taxes for any increases, including those if any of the bond questions pass on April 8. At least 57% of voters must approve a bond question for it to take effect.
Here’s a rundown of what’s included in the three bond questions:
QUESTION 1: PUBLIC SAFETY
Question 1 is centered on public safety and would cost $130 million, with $4 million earmarked to demolish the existing Independence Police Department headquarters, which is located on the southwest corner of East Truman and North Noland roads.
Police personnel and operations would be consolidated at a new criminal justice center on the expanded and renovated grounds of the current Independence Power & Light building at East 23rd Street and South RD Mize Road.
The new justice center — which would include a new jail and municipal courthouse, training facilities and police administrative buildings — would cost $123 million.
IPL is moving its operations to the former GEHA building near Little Blue Parkway and Interstate 70 later this year.
The remaining $3 million would purchase the Jackson County Regional Animal Shelter, which the city operates but does not own.
QUESTION 2: INFRASTRUCTURE
Question 2, a $55-million bond, would provide $30 million for Independence’s street-resurfacing program, $15 million to repair or replace more than a dozen bridges, and $10 million for building or fixing sidewalks around seven elementary schools across the city.
City leaders said the cost for maintaining roads and bridges has outpaced the existing revenue streams to pay for such projects.
Currently, there are 5 1/2 city-owned bridges that are closed and awaiting repairs.
If passed, the money from Question 2 also would fund repairs to 8 1/2 bridges and 97 culverts.
The remaining money would be used to make improvements or add sidewalks at five Independence School District elementary schools — Blackburn, Cassell Park, Fairmount, Ott, and Mill Creek — and two Fort Osage School District elementary schools, Cler-Mont and Elm Grove.
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QUESTION 3: ATHLETIC COMPLEX/HISTORIC BUILDINGS
Finally, the least expensive of the three bond questions would include $12 million for the Independence Athletic Complex and historic buildings.
The favored plan at the Independence Athletic Complex, 17800 E. Salisbury Road, would transform it into a regional draw for youth soccer tournaments with room for 18 synthetic-turf fields, allowing the complex to attract sports tourism.
Question 3 earmarks $5 million for the athletic complex, while the remaining $7 million would go toward deferred maintenance and other needs at various city-owned historic sites.
Vaile Mansion needs substantial work on the exterior, but the Bingham Waggoner Estate, the Truman Memorial Building and other smaller sites also would receive funding for needed improvements if voters sign off next Tuesday.
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