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On Monday, Sue and I spent time outside the Liberty Community Center, catching up and chatting with familiar faces. The Community Center is a fantastic place, and the Senior Center, located on the north side, is truly outstanding. The Liberty Community Center offers fantastic fitness programs, including water classes, yoga, cardio, Silver Sneakers, Pilates, and more.
It’s no surprise that it’s well loved! However, during our conversations, we discovered something surprising: 2/3 of the people we spoke to were from outside Liberty. They came from places like Jackson County, North Kansas City, Kearney, Platte City, Smithville, Kansas City, and Independence.
These visitors praised the programs, staff, equipment, and facilities, with some even calling Liberty’s the best community center in the Northland.
The Financial Reality for Liberty Taxpayers
When we asked these non-residents if they planned to make any purchases while in Liberty, not one person said yes. NOT ONE!!
While it’s great to be a regional attraction, this raises concerns:
• Liberty taxpayers are funding a facility used primarily by non-residents.
• Liberty’s slogan is “Free to Play,” but it’s not actually free—Liberty taxpayers foot the bill.
• Admission fees are the same for residents and non-residents, meaning Liberty taxpayers subsidize those who don’t contribute to our city’s tax base.
With Liberty already $6 million in the hole, we cannot continue absorbing the financial burden of serving the entire region.
I believe, It’s time to reevaluate non-resident fees and membership costs to ensure fairness for LIBERTY taxpayers.
A Proposed Solution
1. Increase Non-Resident Fees – Adjust membership rates to reflect the true cost of maintaining the facility. Other cities do this, and so should we.
2. Introduce a Resident Appreciation Program – Similar to how the Kansas City Zoo offers free admission days for taxpayers, Liberty could provide a complimentary admission coupon for residents as a token of appreciation for their support.
This could also help boost memberships and engagement.
Your Thoughts?
• Should there be different pricing for residents vs. non-residents?
• Would you support a coupon program to thank Liberty taxpayers?
• Any other ideas on how we can make this financially sustainable?
When we were members of Gladstone community center because we had a friend that was an instructor there we had to pay a non resident fee to use the facility. Should only be fair that Liberty does the same thing.
ReplyDeleteThey do charge more for people who do not live in Liberty.
DeleteNo they don't. Show me literally anywhere that reflects a higher cost for non-residents. They DO NOT charge more.
DeleteGieselle supposedly stood outside of the community center for an hour, if that, and is making conclusions as if her data is accurate and she’s not ANTI-progressive in Liberty.
ReplyDeleteHere’s the truth: FAR more Liberty residents than out-of-towners use the community center. + Liberty profits more on those out-of-towners because they pay higher fees to use the facility and enroll in classes/sports programs.
Stop saying non-residents pay more. NO THEY DO NOT. Non-MEMBERS pay more. That is not the same thing.
DeleteGieselle needs a hobby. She’s a MAGA racist, KKK supporter who could care less about Liberty and its future. Gieselle has ZERO experience and ZERO education.
ReplyDeleteWe have moved past the time when you can just shout racist and a bunch of nonsense instead of addressing real concerns of citizens. Gieselle has voters because Greg IGNORES real problems, and ignores constituents.
DeleteIt’s ridiculous My Northland KC would even entertaining such unqualified and biased claims. Here’s the truth about Gieselle Fest.
ReplyDelete- Gieselle Fest supports the Ku Klux Klan. She has said in City Council Meetings that the First Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan wasn’t “a bad guy” and that Liberty “only had three lynchings” that she justified!
- In the last four years, Gieselle Fest has cost the taxpayers more than $100,000 in lawsuits.
- Giselle Fest has made frivolous claims that have been rejected by the Courts and yet she continues to harass the city and voters with her personal agenda.
- Gieselle has pledged to defund Liberty’s firefighters & police officers and rip $6 Million out of the public safety budget.
If it were up to Gieselle, Liberty wouldn’t have emergency services, parks/trails, festivals, historic square, community center, art, trees, sidewalks, etc. Gieselle’s backwards, archaic mentality is all about ME, not WE. And WE is what makes Liberty the amazing and desirable town that it is.
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You're a liar. The only people who cost the taxpayers money are the mayor and councilmembers who enabled him. People in Liberty don't care about the "confederate monument" which is actually a grave marker dedicated to dead people buried right next to it. They are daughters, wives, mothers of men who died in the civil war. It is also on private land. The city has no legal basis to tear it down. It is the city (mayor Greg) who keeps dragging out lawsuits and trying to tear down a privately owned grave marker, which is illegal. He could accept the law as it is, anytime he wants to. Instead, he keeps filing lawsuits. Liberty voters and any person whose opinion should be taken seriously at all about local politics, do not care about this thing that most people didn't even know existed until Greg decided it was his job to be an SJW instead of a mayor. It is a complete LIE that Gieselle pledged to defund anything. In fact they can't be "defunded" because they have a contract. Gieselle wants to fund them FIRST (which should've been done in the first place), and then go through the whole budget line by line from zero (which also shouldn't been done). Greg mismanaged money, put police funding LAST, and that is why he is in the hole $6 million. Liberty can pay its public safety people. We just might not be able to keep funding a bunch of stupid money wasting pet projects that no one actually cares about. OH WELL.
DeleteMethinks Mayor Greg is lurking in these comments
Delete