The Joplin city held a brief, special meeting Monday to pass three tax levies that fund the city and Joplin Public Library. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

The meeting last night took about 17-minutes and didn’t include Mayor Doug Lawson, who was absent.

In April, the council, which added three new members, Josh DeTar, Kate Spencer, and Dr. Mark Farnham has received a lot of criticism recently for their lack of transparency in city finances.

This special meeting comes on the heels of the failure earlier this month of Proposition Public Safety which Joplin residents rejected by just over 1,000 votes. Councilmember Phil Stinnett defended the council’s actions, which were called into question Monday by resident Debroah Fergerson.

“The only reason the taxes are increasing the 11 or 12 cents whatever it is. Is based on increases on the CPI, and an increase on additional property or new construction. I guess if we didn’t pass it, we could just shut the library down.”

The example the city provides is that for every $100,000 of assessed value, the tax will be $79.90, an increase of 11 cents. The city portion of that $79.90 is $33.17, which is unchanged for 2021. You can view the details at the city’s website, JoplinMo.org.