Vote yes to renew Kansas City’s public improvements sales tax
Kansas Citians should vote yes on April 3, to renew a one-cent sales tax for public improvements.
The tax is an irreplaceable tool for maintaining and improving Kansas City’s neighborhoods, and deserves voters’ endorsement.
It isn’t perfect. The renewal period — 20 years — is too long. Sales taxes have a disproportionate, negative impact on low- and moderate-income Kansas Citians. And some of the uses of the levy have strayed from their original purpose.
Taken as a whole, however, the tax makes Kansas City a better place, and should be approved.
The tax is known by its acronym: PIAC, which stands for the Public Improvements Advisory Committee. Each year, the 13-member committee receives requests from neighborhoods across the city, for street repairs, improved community centers, better stoplights and other projects.
PIAC sorts through those requests and recommends improvements and repairs spread among all six council districts. The City Council makes the final spending decisions.
This year, the PIAC committee recommended new playground equipment at Penguin Park, north of the river. A toddler playground is planned for Anne Garney Park.
Curbs and sidewalks will be rebuilt along Prospect Avenue. The West Bottoms is in line for modern lights. Water drainage problems at 66th Street and Bennington Avenue will be addressed. And so on.
The PIAC process is hugely popular. The allocation system is usually fair and accessible. The sales tax provides a regular funding stream for projects that might not make it to a citywide to-do list.
If voters approve Question 1, PIAC would allocate roughly $24.5 million each year over the next 20 years for neighborhood needs. The money will bring safer streets, improved flood control and better parks and entertainment areas.
An additional $17.5 million from the tax will be spent each year on street resurfacing. In a city with an estimated 6,500 lane miles of roadway, money for street repairs is essential.
The remainder — $28 million year — will go for “other” capital improvements.
It’s this category of spending that gives us the most concern. Kansas Citians should be worried that PIAC money meant to improve swimming pools and sidewalks might turn into another funding stream for more expensive projects.
The signs aren’t good. City Manager Troy Schulte says some of the PIAC money, if the tax is renewed, will provide funds to build a new Buck O’Neil Bridge over the Missouri River downtown.
The city needs about $60 million to pay for its share of a new $200 million bridge. Schulte says he doesn’t think PIAC will pay the full amount all at once. Instead, he’s likely to borrow the money and pay it back from PIAC funds.
While that would leave more money for other projects each year, it would mean PIAC money would be spent on interest costs. That flies in the face of the original PIAC idea, which was to provide an annual pay-as-you-go system for repairs and improvements.
It’s also unclear why city taxpayers must pay $60 million for a new bridge. The old bridge is a state responsibility. The northern part of the bridge lies in U.S. Rep. Sam Graves’ district. He should be working harder for federal funds for a new structure.
Schulte says he’ll seek other funds for the bridge and repay that PIAC money if he can. That’s an important promise.
The city’s voters approved an $800 million general obligation bond issue for infrastructure repairs just a year ago. While the City Council specifically promised not to spend any of that money on the O’Neil Bridge (a politically-motivated commitment), the GO bond money is a better funding source for big-ticket items than the PIAC tax.
Borrowing from PIAC funds for a project as big as the O’Neil Bridge can’t happen again. It must be a one-time-only affair.
The council should have set a shorter sunset for the tax. Schulte told us he wanted to synchronize the PIAC tax with the GO bonds, and provide for a 20-year plan for infrastructure improvements in the city. Voters should have been given an opportunity to judge the use of the money after 10 years, not 20.
These are significant concerns. Kansas Citians will have to be vigilant in the years ahead to make sure the PIAC tax is spent wisely and appropriately, not on gaudy projects that don’t improve residents’ lives.
We’re pretty confident Kansas Citians are up to the task. Neighborhood groups guard their PIAC money carefully, as do most members of the City Council. And remember: This isn’t a tax increase. It’s a renewal of an existing tax.
With that in mind, we recommend a “yes” vote on Question 1 on April 3.
This story was originally published March 25, 2018 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Vote yes to renew Kansas City’s public improvements sales tax."