Voters renew COMBAT by wide margin

By MICHAEL MANSUR

The Kansas City Star

More News

Jackson County voters today overwhelmingly renewed the county’s quarter-cent sales tax to combat drugs and promote treatment and prevention.

COMBAT – which stands for Community-Backed Anti-Drug Tax – passing with more than 71 percent of the voters’ support.

In Kansas City precincts, COMBAT passed with 75 percent support; in eastern Jackson County precincts, 68 percent of voters favored it.

“It’s difficult to vote for a tax, even a renewal, in the teeth of a recession,” County Executive Mike Sanders told supporters gathered tonight at the Westport Flea Market.

Sanders, who said he didn’t expect the result to be so overwhelmingly in support of COMBAT, thanked supporters. He added that was gratified that voters had expressed such confidence in the county’s anti-drug program.

Sanders also pledged to work to make COMBAT programs better.

Bob Gough of the Jackson County Taxpayers Association, which had opposed the tax renewal, said, “I’m very disappointed.”

He was a bit surprised by the wide margin in the early returns. “They spent several hundred thousand on this campaign and the opposite side spent practically nothing,” he said.

Gough said he would like to see more transparency in how the county spends those tax dollars.

| Michael Mansur, mmansur@kcstar.com

Posted on Tue, Nov. 03, 2009 10:33 PM

Buzz Up

Comment (0)

Join the discussion

Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open, civil debate is the goal. Please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as abuse" link.