Stay Informed!

Fire Chief Steven Shaumeyer Assessment Report of the Western Cass Fire Protection District. Steven Shaumeyer is one of the top three Fire and EMS experts in the Kansas City metro area and well respected for his dedication to serving the community. His report does not point fingers or place blame, but rather focuses on facts on the current state of the Western Cass Fire Protection District. At the bottom of his report, he reviewed TWO YEARS of call data and reviewed the Fire Service Agreement that Belton had approved in February 2022. The agreement did not require Belton or the surrounding fire districts to use them, but simply meant it would have provided GUARANTEED coverage for everyone in our fire district. At worse, this would have ONLY cost our district $40K PER YEAR!

In 2014, the voters approved a bond for $850,000 to buy a Pumper Truck and related equipment. The bond was paid off in Jan 2022 when it was discovered by the Treasurer Kerri VanMeveren and board member that the previous Treasurer and board member, Ed Summer had been overtaxing the citizens.. The citizens were overtaxed by more than $140K!!! The Board of Directors passed a resolution on July 20, 2022 to give the money back to the taxpayers but never honored that promise!

Listen to Julie's deposition and review her report after reviewing bank statements and financial reports from the Western Cass Fire Protection District. She testifies under oath about many concerns she has about the District's financials and the need for a forensic audit! Download Julie's complete report below.

Western Cass Fire used to have a contract with a CPA that did all of the recording of the financials, generated payments for the District and ran monthly reports. This cost the District $540/PER month. Then in January 2022, a paid 1099 Contractor took over the books and things spiraled out of control from there. Late payments, inaccurate financial reports, not recording accurate expenses and more. Click below to read more and see for yourself.

Did you know that currently the Western Cass Fire Protection District has TWO tax levies? Yes! A levy for Dispatching expenses and a separate levy for General Revenue. Click on the Read More link below to learn more about how Western Cass is mismanaging the money WE the tax payers are funding! Western Cass FPD knowingly and purposefully collects 93% more funds from taxpayers than is actually needed.

The Board of Directors are responsible for managing the taxpayer funds received to run the Fire District. This carries great responsibilities that the money is spent and managed responsibly. This means expenses should clearly show what is being paid, not hidden in credit card statements, using Paypal accounts or hiding payments using other individuals to reimburse for the people actually doing the work. It also means