This week, Platte County, Mo., Commissioners refused to enact a quarter-cent sales tax meant to address youth mental health.
Nevermind that 56% of voters there approved establishing the Children’s Service Fund of Platte County to expand mental health services for young people up to 19 years old.
On Monday, the commission unanimously approved an order rejecting the tax.
To this three-member, all-Republican legislative body, it seems democracy no longer matters. But it does.
By willfully ignoring the needs of their constituents, Commissioners Scott Fricker, Joe Vanover and Dagmar Wood put their own self-interest — dare we say ideology? — ahead of what’s best for teens and young children in Platte County.
“We need lower taxes and more freedom, not higher taxes and more government interference,” Vanover said.
In this case, Vanover and his colleagues are flat-out wrong.
In November, voters spoke loud and clear about helping young people address mental health challenges. Yet, somehow these three commissioners believe they have the option to override the will of voters.
Platte County’s legal counsel explained the commission has the authority to reject the tax, calling it “discretionary.”
Other legal experts disagreed.
Also of note: This same commission fought against this sales tax every step of the way but failed miserably.
We make this summation based on the outcome of a successful initiative petition and subsequent court ruling that ordered the Platte County Board of Elections to place the sales tax question that voters approved on the November ballot.
State Rep. Ashley Aune, a Democrat from the Northland, is the incoming minority leader in the Missouri House of Representatives.
She was one of several people who spoke during the public comment period of Monday’s meeting. Aune challenged the commissioners to do what is right for children, but they obviously refused to listen.
It is the view of the Editorial Board that Aune and others from the mental and behavioral health sector echoed how many Platte Countians should feel.
