City of Cherokee Village moves forward with tax discussions

By Taylor Mayde 

The Cherokee Village City Council met Mar. 17 for their regular council meeting.  Councilman Chuck Kristopeit and Councilman Carr Hill were absent with all others present. 

Mayor Russell Stokes presented the 2021 state of the city. 

“2021 was a rather frustrating year in a way. We were faced with litigation which was resolved with a settlement.  As a result of that, we had several personnel changes,  reduction in staff either by retirement or having to resign. Budget cuts that will be reflected as we move into 2022. Some positive things we can look forward to in terms of improvements, last year we talked about adding a playground at the Tohi Trail. We finally got the equipment in and that project should be getting off the ground in the near future.  We were able to purchase two vehicles for the police department. ” said Mayor Stokes. 

The state of the city presentation can be viewed in its entirety on the city website.  

During the Advertising and Promotion report Councilman Robert Smith gave an update about upcoming events.  

“The A&P has been working diligently to get the Pie Fest up and running. It’s going to be an exciting year this year. We are expecting a much larger attendance than we have had in the past. We are adding a 5k race to that and we are hoping that’s going to draw a lot more attention as time goes on. We are still working on the solar eclipse for 2024. That’s going to be ongoing cooperation with all four cities in the area to see if we can possibly house the numbers that will be coming in during that period.” Said Councilman Smith. 

Under old business, Mayor Stokes updated the council on a previous request made by Councilman Peter Martin, for the Planning and Zoning Committee to hold their hearings in the evenings so that more citizens can have an opportunity to attend. 

” I’ve sent an email to the chairmen of P&Z and instructed him that hearings from now on should be conducted in the evening. I’ve strongly suggested that the commission should discuss the possibility of moving their regular meetings to the evening.” said Mayor Stokes. 

After much discussion,  the city council unanimously decided to host three public meetings pertaining to the possible sales tax increase. The first meeting will be held on Apr. 5 at 6 p.m. at the Omaha Center. The second meeting will be on Apr. 26 at 6p.m. at Cherokee Village City Hall. Any overflow of participants will be seated in the Senior Center nextdoor where citizens can view the meeting via monitors. The third meeting will be May 3

at 6p.m. at the Omaha Center.  The second and third meeting dates are tentative at this time and any changes will be announced. 

Councilwoman Pamela Rowland made a couple of suggestions pertaining to the meetings.  

“Can I make a suggestion to live stream the meetings for the citizens who cannot attend?” Rowland asked.

“Another suggestion I would like to make, is there a way we can utilize our Facebook and allow citizens to drop off questions to city hall? Maybe do a dropbox or even connect it to our website so that before these meetings people can submit their questions. That way we have those ahead of time and can have the information for them on hand. “

Under new business, the city council voted unanimously to approve an ammendment to an ordinance pertaining to the zoning regulations for certain property within the city. The amendment was brought to the council as a result of the Mar. 7 public Planning and Zoning hearing. The ammendment is to add agriculture with restrictions to exclude pigs, chickens, sheep and goats and/or their dwelling to the already zoned light industrial. The exact location of the land can be found on page 47 and 48 of the Mar. agenda packet. 

Mr. Daryl Lamb of Cherokee Village approached council concerning a denial of a fence variance.  During the discussion,  it was discovered that Mr. Lamb did not need a variance since he was in compliance with the ordinance pertaining to fencing. Mr. Lamb was instructed by council to go back to Planning and Zoning to allow them to correct the oversight. 

During public comments,  Dr. George Jackson spoke in opposition to the sales tax issue.  

“I rise in opposition to the 1 percent sales tax that has been inacted here and I would like to express why. At the previous meeting,  Mr. Martin had spoken about people on fixed incomes and I will just explain it to you in my understanding.  If an individual has one hundred dollars to spend and their sales tax is at the rate of eight and a half or nine percent,  that means that they have at the end of that one hundred  dollars,  they have ninety one to ninety one and a half dollars to spend. So, they go into the store, let’s say Dollar General,  and they have ten items they want to buy. Those items all approximately cost nine to ten dollars.  At some point on a significant level, that individual is going to have to put one item back. That one item they put back could result in a as much as five to ten percent reduction in total sales.  I think it’s important that we realize that businesses have to be cherished. What we are going to be doing by increasing sales tax is we are going to be punishing those retail establishments.  Whenever we as a governing body inact laws that increase taxes, we are infringing on another person’s rights. ” said Dr. Jackson. 

Mr. Jerry Smith of Cherokee Village approached the council with a suggestion to increase the allowed garage size to 1200 square feet on property that allows such size. 

“My name is Jerry Smith and I moved up here to Cherokee Village.  I did have a variance narrowly get passed at the last meeting. I think everybody here in Cherokee Village who have boats and trailers and trucks that are bigger, I think that it’s a win win situation.  People can put all of their boats and equipment up.

My proposal is that I think maybe garages should be bumped up to 1200 square feet.  I think it would accommodate more people to get their trailers and whatever they have, their toys, and secure them and keep them out of the weather.” Said Mr. Smith. 

The Cherokee Village City Council meets on the third Thursday of each month at city hall.