EXCELSIOR SPRINGS – Clay County will continue to collect property taxes for Excelsior Springs. Earlier this month, the City Council approved an ordinance to give Mayor Sharon Powell the go-ahead to implement a new county-city tax collection agreement. The county has handled Excelsior Springs’ property tax collection for the past eight years, City Manager Molly McGovern stated in a June 2 memo to city leaders. McGovern mentioned in the memo, and later during the council meeting, that an agreement giving the county that authority had “recently expired.” In a May 6 letter to city officials, county Collector Lydia McEvoy stated a new agreement was necessary because an audit of the Clay County Collector’s Office conducted by the state “indicated a need to update” the county’s agreements with Excelsior Springs and other communities. McGovern stated the new agreement is “perpetual,” with an option to end it “with noti...