Board hears finance update as Clay County weighs expanding senior tax credit to include debt service

At the board meeting, Cindy Sullivan (business services) told trustees that operating fund balances were lower than the prior year owing in part to late county tax bills, and that district staff are monitoring collection timing and county action.

Sullivan described ongoing Clay County deliberations about the senior tax credit and said county commissioners are considering an amendment to include debt-service levies in the credit. "At the current, cost of the assessed value involved in that, that would be about 305,000 additional dollars that would be a credit against us," she said. Sullivan said the Northland districts worked jointly to draft a letter for the county commissioners to describe impacts, relying on preliminary projections prepared with the county auditor’s numbers.

Sullivan also referenced variability in how Senate Bill 190 has been implemented across counties and said the district is watching neighboring Platte County, which took a different approach on timing and retroactive application. She told the board the district has reserve flexibility in debt-service funds but that ongoing rollbacks of debt-service levies could reduce reserves over time and may require future changes to levy-setting.

On operating cash flow, Sullivan noted the transcript of her remarks included an unclear numeric phrase — she said collections were behind last year and referenced figures in the meeting that were not fully clarified; the district will provide definitive numbers once county tax collections are reconciled.

Board members discussed the potential political impact on bond referenda if seniors are excluded from tax obligations and confirmed the district's intent to stay engaged with county officials and other local districts as the issue evolves.