School bonds, levies win big; KC earnings tax triumphs; school board races tight

File photo courtesy the Grandview School District

Voters strongly approved a collection of bond issue and levy elections in the Grandview, Fort Osage and Independence school districts, and also overwhelmingly approved continuing Kansas City’s 1% earnings tax in election results Tuesday night.

The night’s tighter races came with the school board elections, including a vote for newcomers in the Kansas City Public Schools.

Here is how the final, unofficial totals added up:

Grandview

Voters approved both a 60-cent increase to Grandview’s operating levy and a $45 million bond issue that extends its current tax rate without an increase. The levy won with 57% saying yes, and the bond issue got 71% of the vote.

“Celebrate!” Grandview Superintendent Kenny Rodrequez tweeted Tuesday night. “#WeAreGrandview.”

The district sought the levy increase to strengthen its ability to hire and retain quality teachers.

The bond issue will finance several projects, including high school improvements in industrial technology, the football stadium and the cafeteria; renovations across the district in fine arts and athletics areas, plus complete playground improvements; and improvements for Martin City K-8, and windows for Grandview Middle and Meadowmere Elementary. More details are at grandviewc4.net.

In the school board race, incumbent Leonard Greene returns to office and will be joined by Kara Wardlow. They won the two seats up for election over Chuck Cornforth and Andrew Rexroat.

Fort Osage

Voters approved both a $20 million bond issue and the district’s plan to shift 32 cents of its debt service levy to its operating levy — both of which will extend the current tax rate without an increase. The first measure won with 77% voting yes, and the second measure won with 69%.

“Thank you to everyone in the Fort community who took time to vote,” Superintendent Jason Snodgrass said on Twitter Tuesday night. “#Fortproud.”

Passing the bond issue will help Fort Osage complete many of the remaining improvement projects on its master plan, including renovating kitchen facilities, constructing a building for transportation, maintenance and district offices, and various parking lot and driveway improvements.

The shift of funding from the debt service levy will help the district maintain competitive salaries for its staff, support ongoing programming as well as build a new gym and expand and renovate the band room at the high school. More details are at fortosage.net.

In the school board race, incumbent Floyd Hawkins coasted to another term, winning 44% of the vote. Chris Gross won the second seat with 32% of the vote, over Kyle Leeds, at 22%.

Independence

Voters resoundingly approved a $43 million in bond revenue to make safety and security improvements across the district, plus other renovations and improvements. The measure passed with 85% of the voters saying yes.

“It’s time to get started on bond projects!” Superintendent Dale Herl tweeted Tuesday night. “Thank you for supporting the ISD and a special thanks to our Vote YES committee for all of their work.”

The district’s plans include renovations to fine arts facilities and the auditoriums at Truman, Van Horn and William Chrisman high schools, and upgrades of playground facilities at the elementary schools. More details are at isdschools.org.

Kansas City school board

Tanesha Ford defeated incumbent Pattie Mansur in the race for an at-large seat, earning 56% of the vote to Mansur’s 43%. Mansur has been serving as the board president.

In the race for sub-district five, Kandace Buckner won a tight race between two newcomers, edging Bruce Beatty by a margin of 48 votes in the unofficial totals — 50.4% to 49.1%.

In other sub-district races, Rita Cortez and Manny Abarca won unopposed.

Hickman Mills school board

Incumbent Carol Graves returns to office, leading the way with 30% of the vote in a six-candidate race for two seats. Ann Coleman, with 24% of the vote, won the other seat. Ebony Osby, Ron Pearson, Clifford Ragan III and John Carmichael came up short.

North Kansas City school board

The three incumbents won re-election in a six-candidate race for three seats, but not until after night of tight results.

Jan Kauk, 20.7%; Jane Rinehart, 20%; and Paul Harrell, 16.2% outlasted challenges from Jay Wilson, 15.9%; Tina Williams, 15.3% and Andrew Corrao, 12%.

Center school board

In a tight four-way race for two seats, newcomer Bryce Shields led the way with 30.4% of the vote. He is joined by Kathleen Ramel, who won 23.9% of the vote to edge incumbent Rebecca Lahann, 22.9% and Julie Kramschuster, 22.2%.

Kansas City Earnings Tax

For the second time in five years, the election to renew Kansas City’s 1% Earnings Tax was not close. It passed with 77% of the vote. The tax, which was set up as a major revenue source in the 1960s, now generates about $292.2 million, the city estimates. Though the revenue will likely decrease because of the pandemic, as many people lost income and many non-Kansas City residents who had been taxed for working in the city worked from home.