Janet in the News
"I believe the very best campaign I can run should not involve spending less time AT the job in order to KEEP the job. I intend to run for re-election by DOING the job."
As Chair of the National Association of Counties (NACo) Elections Committee, Janet oversaw the election of national officers at their annual meeting in July.
Oct 30, 2024
Columbia Missourian
"The Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank, selected Boone County and seven other U.S. counties for its “Upward Mobility Cohort” in 2021. The counties were to replicate a think tank approach of gathering experts from disparate sectors to research issues and devise solutions — in this case, solutions to poverty and racial inequality.
..."Three years since its selection, the Urban Institute now uses Boone County as an example of a county successfully using data to inform policy decisions on poverty."
Read more in the Columbia Missourian
Oct 16, 2024
CCUA Newsletter
Members of the board and staff of the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, local government officials, and citizens celebrated the agriculture park’s next step in its 10-year development process at the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Community Welcome Center.
Sep 27, 2024
ABC17
Boone County has received more than 7,300 applications for senior property tax relief
The deadline to apply for a property tax exemption is Tuesday, Oct. 1. Applications must be received at the Collector's Office by 5 p.m.
A state law allowing a property tax exemption for seniors went into effect Aug. 28, 2023. The freeze has to be put into effect by county commissioners. Boone County opted to resolve it by letting the voters choose to enact it.
Boone County voters in April approved to “exempt senior citizens from certain increases in the property tax liability due on such senior citizens’ primary residences,” the ballot language stated.
Northern District Commissioner Janet Thompson said the county has seen an increase in applicants recently, averaging around 165 applications per day during the past week.
"There was kind of a surge at the beginning of the program, of the application process, and now there's been a surge these last couple of weeks," Thompson said.
She said this is within the range of what the county expected for applications, which was between 5,000-10,000.
Read the full article here.
Sep 11, 2024
Columbia
Missourian
Continued service defines Commissioner Thompson's reelection bid
Janet Thompson has been a Boone County commissioner for 12 years, but she doesn’t think her work is done. In particular, Thompson hopes to spend the next four years helping people who are incarcerated get access to mental health and substance abuse treatment. She also puts a high priority on expanding the availability of affordable housing in Boone County, increasing access to education and keeping juveniles out of the criminal justice system. Thompson, a Democrat, is running for a fourth four-year term as a commissioner representing District II, which covers the east side of Columbia and roughly the northern half of Boone County. “I think Boone County deserves its elected officials to be people who want to build up rather than to tear down,” Thompson said. She added that elected leaders should be “people who encourage education, who encourage people to develop and to thrive where they are and whoever they are.”
Aug 19, 2024
KOMU-TV
Daniel Boone Regional Library to use federal funding for security project
COLUMBIA Mo. –– Janet Thompson has been a Boone County commissioner for 12 years, but she doesn’t think her work is done.
In particular, Thompson hopes to spend the next four years helping people who are incarcerated get access to mental health and substance abuse treatment. She also puts a high priority on expanding the availability of affordable housing in Boone County, increasing access to education and keeping juveniles out of the criminal justice system.
Thompson, a Democrat, is running for a fourth four-year term as a commissioner representing District II, which covers the east side of Columbia and roughly the northern half of Boone County.
Read the full article here,
Jul 1, 2024
MAC Press Release
MAC President appoints members to steering committees for the 2024-25 term
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The president of the Missouri Association of Counties (MAC) recently appointed members of the association to serve a one-year term on one of MAC’s six Policy Steering Committees.
Pete Frazier, who serves as president of the association and is the auditor for Cape Girardeau County, appointed 63 members of the association to the steering committees. Frazier named the following members as the chairs for the steering committees:
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Leslie Meyer, Audrain County Associate Commissioner, chair of the Agriculture and Environment Committee;
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Krista Bruno, Macon County Treasurer, chair of the Intergovernmental Affairs, Finance, Tax Issues and Pensions Committee;
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Janet Thompson, Boone County Associate Commissioner, chair of the Policing, Justice and Mental Health Committee;
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Jimmy Laughlin, Camden County Auditor, chair of the IT, Telecommunications and Broadband Committee;
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Jim Marcum, Pettis County Associate Commissioner, chair of the Transportation Committee; and
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Susette Taylor, Atchison County Clerk, chair of the Community and Economic Development Committee.
View MAC’s website for the full list of committee appointments.
Committee chairs will coordinate committee meetings, which can occur in person or through a virtual option that can be facilitated by MAC. Each committee will have a member of the MAC Executive Committee serving as a committee liaison and a staff member of MAC will be assigned to a committee to assist in coordinating meetings.
Chairs of each steering committee will serve on the MAC Board of Directors and be part of the Legislative Committee for the term. Committee chairs will be called upon to update the MAC Legislative Committee and the Board of Directors on any progress the committee is making during the active term at regular board meetings and during Legislative Committee meetings or video conference calls.
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Founded in 1972, MAC is a non-profit lobbying alliance of more than 1,450 county administrative and elected officials, working to improve local services for Missouri’s taxpayers. Headquartered in Jefferson City and governed by a board of directors, MAC promotes passage of priority bills and monitors other legislation at the state and federal level to assess any effects on the state’s 114 counties. The association also provides training resources during spring and fall annual meetings and operates a self-insured workers’ compensation insurance program for county officials and their employees.
Jun 5, 2024
Columbia Tribune
Columbia ceremony to commemorate 80th anniversary of D-Day landings
Speakers Thursday also include Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, Boone County commissioners Kip Kendrick, Janet Thompson and Justin Aldred, Missouri House Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, USTF National Executive Director Susan Haines and a statement from Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe.
Jun 4, 2024
Columbia Tribune
Boone County Commissioner seniors can apply for real estate property tax relief soon. What to know
"Boone County becomes the first county in Missouri to adopt the senior property tax freeze following the passage of SB 756," the commission noted.
In the year a person becomes eligible, their real estate property tax bill will freeze at that amount, explained Northern District Commissioner Janet Thompson in a call with the Tribune on Monday. If a person first becomes eligible and their home has an assessed value of $100,000, as an example, that means their property tax bill just for the county is $282, based on the current property tax rate. This doesn't factor other taxing entities.
"The 'credit' is calculated between that and any subsequent increases," she said. "... Your tax liability is frozen at X point. ... When people hear 'tax credit,' they think they are going to get a check back. They are not."
So, that $282 charge remains the same, even if there is a future tax rate increase.
Jun 1, 2024
Columbia Tribune
Job Point celebrates job training program graduates at Columbia College ceremony
Roughly 40 Columbia area residents came together in celebration Thursday as they obtained the necessary skills to gain careers in medical, construction or even professional offices.
These were the students who completed job training programs via Job Point and marked the achievement with a graduation ceremony held on the Columbia College campus. Growth was a major theme of day, including in the message Janet Thompson, Boone County northern district commissioner, had for the students in her keynote. Graduates also received a packet of seeds as they walked into Bixby Hall at Brouder Science Center.
Thompson shared how special it was to speak at the Job Point graduation. As a youngster she and her brother planted many black walnut trees on farmland. Years later after her mom had taken a master gardener course and subsequently planted black walnut trees at Thompson's home near her garden of tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, green beans, okra, raspberries, sweet potatoes and more. The trees adversely impacted the garden.
"I didn't blame my mom. ... The point is black walnuts are toxic to a lot of plants. That really is the point of these stories. When you got those packet of seeds, you probably though, 'Really?'" Thompson said, asking graduates to read the back of the seed packets for the growth instructions. "That is the same kind of thing that a graduation means. A process of planting seeds.
"... As you continue along your path, if there is a weed around you, don't hang out with the weed. The weed can inhibit your growth. Look for what will nourish your growth."
May 5, 2024
The Eagle 93.9
Boone County Commissioner requests your patience during massive I-70 construction project
"...this isn’t going to be really easy. You know it’s going to take some time and each time a little change is made, we should just exhale and say keep your eye on the prize. It’s going to be wonderful when it’s done,” Thompson says.
Commissioner Thompson describes I-70 in the Columbia area as the heartbeat of economic development throughout the nation.
May 5, 2024
The Eagle 93.9
Boone County Commissioner requests your patience during massive I-70 construction project
"...this isn’t going to be really easy. You know it’s going to take some time and each time a little change is made, we should just exhale and say keep your eye on the prize. It’s going to be wonderful when it’s done,” Thompson says.
Commissioner Thompson describes I-70 in the Columbia area as the heartbeat of economic development throughout the nation.
Apr 30, 2024
ABC News 17
Boone County Commissioners prioritize housing projects in final round of ARPA funding
Boone County Commissioner Janet Thompson said funding housing projects has been intentional in both rounds of ARPA funding to try to figure out how to get people into both affordable and long-term housing.
"The stress that's involved with somebody who is unsheltered or is housing insecure creates a ripple effect throughout our community," Thompson said. "So, we really have to find housing along the whole spectrum of housing for folks so that they can move up and gain that security and then thrive."
Feb 7, 2024
KBIA
New Boone County council to address mental health in prison system
“We can’t say just because you have a mental health issue or substance issue it’s a free right, its not,” Thompson said. “If you’re creating an issue of public safety, then there’s going to be times and places where people end up in our jail.”
On a state scale, the Missouri Association of Counties created a steering committee for policing, justice and mental health, which Thompson is also a part of.
The association is currently working on instituting reentry navigators. Thompson describes the reentry navigators as people, most likely peers, connecting recently released inmates with resources aimed at preventing recidivism.
“That’s something that we need to have on the local level as well, to have a plan for reentry,” Thompson said. “So that we’re not just creating and supporting a revolving door in our jails.”