KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Residents in the Park Hill School District will be voting on two measures this spring that could raise their tax rate in order to boost teacher pay and improve facilities and buildings in the district.

“For the past 23 years, we have been passing no tax increase bonds to pay for all of the newest facilities that we have,” said Kelly Wachel, Park Hill’s chief of communications officer. “At this point to do our new projects in our next 10-year long range plan, we’ve reached that debt ceiling.”

Proposition G asks for approval of a 10-cent increase in the operating tax rate to support teacher and staff salary increases and other operational costs.

Right now the district sits around the middle to lower half of teacher salaries in the region, said Wachel. The last time the district raised its tax levies in 2002, it was to raise teacher salaries to the top in the region.

The starting teacher salary for this school year in Park Hill is $43,210. Lee’s Summit’s starting pay is $43,620 and North Kansas City’s is $45,500.

New teachers in Shawnee Mission start at $50,048.

With the proposal of a 10-cent tax increase, Park Hill is hoping to be in the top 5 for beginning teacher salaries among 17 Kansas City metro school districts in both Kansas and Missouri.

Increased salaries would improve teacher retention rates, which dropped slightly after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Wachel. Teacher retention rates are finally going back to normal, but the district wants to improve those rates.

The second measure – Proposition O – asks for approval to increase the debt service levy by 30 cents to issue general obligation bonds for $128 million. These funds would support the Phase 1 replacement of Park Hill High School, stadium and field improvements at Park Hill South High School, additions to three of the oldest elementary schools in the district as well as safety upgrades and the purchase of land.

“This is really a continuation of all of our renovations and additions to our aging facilities,” said Wachel. “It’s just that next part of our 10-year long range plan.”

The district has discussed the possibility of tax increases for the past several months.

Before voting to propose tax increases, the district conducted polling to gather more data about what residents thought about teacher salaries and building conditions in the area.

Over 70% had support for teacher salary increases, and about 63 to 65% of people polled supported school improvements.

Election Day is Tuesday, April 8 and the last day to register to vote is Wednesday, March 12.

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