Johnson, Miller & Garrett capture LSR7 school board seats in tight race

Local voters hit the polls Tuesday, choosing three new members of the Lee's Summit R-7 School District Board of Education and approving a tax levy for the district as well as three general obligation bond questions and a recreational marijuana sales tax for the City of Lee's Summit.

At the county level, Jackson County voters also approved a county sales tax on medical marijuana. Voter turnout in Jackson County was just over 14%.

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Jackson County residents voted in favor of a countywide sales tax of three percent on all tangible personal property retail sales of adult use, non-medicinal marijuana sold in Jackson County. The purpose of the tax is to fund community services and veterans support services through a dedicated special revenue fund, and for other purposes authorized for the expenditure of county general revenues. The results were 67.46% in favor and 32.54% against.

Residents of the City of Lee's Summit voted on three general obligation bond questions. The first question was for $74,000,000 for the purpose of acquiring land, constructing and furnishing buildings and facilities, making certain renovations and improvements to existing facilities, and acquiring equipment and network/technology improvements for public safety and emergency preparedness purposes. The results were 71.65% in favor and 28.35% against.

The second question was for $98,000,000 for transportation purposes, including acquiring land and rights of way, and acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, repairing, and improving streets, roads, bridges, and sidewalks throughout the city, as well as acquiring, constructing, renovating, and improving the airport. The results were 73.10% in favor and 26.90% against.

City residents also voted on a $14,000,000 general obligation bond question for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, renovating, improving, and equipping municipal buildings, facilities, and network/technology infrastructure and systems, including renovations and improvements to city hall and maintenance facilities. The results were 65.52% in favor and 334.48% against.

The City of Lee's Summit also voted on a city sales tax of three percent on all retail sales of adult use, non-medical marijuana sold in the city. The results were 73.33% in favor and 26.67% against.

The LSR7 Tax Levy question was also on the ballot, which asked if residents wanted to increase the operating tax levy by $0.20 per $100 of assessed valuation according to the 2023 assessment to increase compensation for employees to attract and retain quality faculty and staff. If the question was approved, the operating tax levy was estimated to be $4.5962 per $100 of assessed valuation. To ensure there was no net increase to the overall tax levy of the district, the intention of the Board of Education was to reduce the debt service tax levy by $0.20. The results were 71.13% in favor and 28.86% against.

Finally, there were three seats available for the LSR7 Board of Education. Kamile Johnson received 15.51% of the vote, Erica Dolores Miller received 15.38%, and Regina Garrett received 15.20%. David Grady missed a seat by 0.17%.