How about another election? KC council plans to ask for key vote in April

Kansas City quietly moved from one election into another Thursday, this one unlikely to generate anything like the debate around KCI’s single terminal.

The City Council set in motion plans for an April election to extend the one-cent sales tax for capital improvements. The city collects about $70 million a year from the tax, first approved by voters in 2007 and which is up for renewal next year.

Thirty-five percent of the revenue is evenly distributed among the six council districts for neighborhood conservation, improvement and maintenance. Sixty-five percent goes to maintenance of capital assets. A quarter of that amount is set aside for street resurfacing, repair and construction.

The tax also funds the 13-member Public Improvements Advisory Committee (PIAC), appointed by the mayor and council to make recommendations on how to spend the funds.

City Manager Troy Schulte introduced an ordinance providing for a 20-year extension of the tax, which will be discussed in upcoming committee hearings. The city faces a late January deadline for getting the measure placed on the April 3 ballot.

The revenue will roughly double the $10 million the city currently spends on street repaving, a popular city service.

“People want money for neighborhood projects,” said Mayor Pro-Tem Scott Wagner.

This story was originally published November 9, 2017 at 5:15 PM with the headline "How about another election? KC council plans to ask for key vote in April."