Board hears plan to ask voters to waive Prop C rollback; staff says full waiver would fund teacher raises, cost to homeowner modest

Lee's Summit R‑VII staff told the board they plan to ask voters to waive the state's Prop C annual rollback so the district can use the full voted tax rate; staff estimated the district receives roughly $25 million a year from the state's Prop C distribution and that a full waiver would provide material local revenue for salaries.

"Approximately $25,000,000 each year in recent history, of proxy revenue from the state," Dr. Herzog said, describing how the 1% statewide sales tax enacted in 1982 is collected into a statewide pot and redistributed per pupil. He explained the rollback calculation and that the district currently has a 20¢ partial waiver, which this year produced a required rollback of about 0.1258 after accounting for that waiver.

Taxpayer impact: Herzog showed an illustrative example comparing current levies and a hypothetical full waiver. Using the district's numbers this year, a full Prop C waiver would have shifted the district's levy from 4.7391 to 4.8649 in the illustrative table and would have increased tax on a $100,000 home by about $23.90 annually in the district's example.

Teacher pay and timing: Dr. Carlson said a full waiver could yield roughly $4 million targeted to salary enhancements, which he said would translate to about $1,000 added to the teacher salary base and would move starting teacher pay from $44,180 to about $45,180 in the scenario presented. Staff said most of the additional revenue would arrive between December and February following a successful April election and emphasized a short turnaround if the board needs to approve salary schedules for contract printing by April 15.

Community polling and communications: Katie Bergen presented a September 2024 telephone poll of 400 respondents showing initial, low‑context support at about 49% rising by roughly 10 percentage points after more information; staff said they will use those findings to inform outreach but will not begin a speaker series before formal board approval to place the question on the ballot.

Board concerns and fiscal context: Board members pressed staff on reserve impacts and timing, noting an existing projected revenue shortfall of roughly $2.5 million for the current year. Staff noted that even if revenue increases, the district's reserve percentage could fall because the spending base would increase. They also discussed Title funding losses and potential recoding of programs to cover gaps.

Next steps: Staff confirmed the board previously passed a resolution (last March) to place a Prop C question on the April 2026 ballot; discussion continued about whether and how to run community engagement prior to the election and about timing of Team Lee Summit's recommendations for salary distribution if the waiver passes.