Extending Kansas City’s earnings tax is highest priority in Tuesday’s area elections
Area voters face crucial decisions on Tuesday, led by the need to renew Kansas City’s 1 percent earnings tax.
The Star is making recommendations in selected contests in Missouri, where polls are open 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Kansas City earnings tax
Mayor Sly James is an ultra-competitive guy, and he’s going all out to win this election — which deserves a hearty “yes” vote — by a big margin.
That’s partly because it would be nice to once again thump St. Louis area multimillionaire Rex Sinquefield at the polls. He’s spending a reported $2 million in his misguided efforts to kill the tax in Kansas City and St. Louis.
But James also wants to show meddling Republican legislators in Jefferson City that Kansas Citians overwhelmingly support the tax. That could make it more difficult for lawmakers — a few of whom have received large amounts of Sinquefield campaign cash — to pursue their own bills to eliminate the tax, no matter what local residents say.
How large of a margin would that take? Kansas City set a high bar in 2011, when 78 percent of voters endorsed the first five-year renewal.
The earnings tax is expected to provide $240 million in the next fiscal year starting May 1. That accounts for roughly 40 percent of the general fund, and almost 75 percent of the revenue is set to go for police, fire and ambulance services.
Detractors have not put forth a solid replacement plan for earnings tax revenue without imposing significantly higher property and sales taxes on Kansas Citians. The “be more efficient” arguments made by the Sinquefield-backed Show-Me Institute are laughable because most don’t include the tough choices of exactly how to do that.
Extending the tax another five years is an extremely high priority today.
Kansas City Public Schools
No names will appear on the ballot for three empty subdistrict seats on the school board.
Only Jennifer Wolfsie met the January filing deadline to obtain enough qualified signatures to be certified for the election to fill Airick Leonard West’s at-large seat. Because Wolfsie is unopposed, her name won’t be on Tuesday’s ballot. She will be declared the winner and sworn in April 13.
Voters are being asked to write in the name of the candidate they want for the three open board seats. The Star makes no recommendation in these races:
Subdistrict 1: Natalie Lewis and Albert Ray
Subdistrict 3: John Fierro
Subdistrict 5: Bryan Dial, Ajia Morris and Catina Taylor
Independence police tax
Last year, Independence voters narrowly turned down renewal of an eighth-cent sales tax to help fund the Police Department.
Properly so, city officials brought this important issue back to the ballot. Voters have good reasons to say “yes” to a 12-year extension of the tax, which generates $2 million a year.
The city expects to use about two-thirds of the revenue to buy and maintain patrol cars, and it needs to buy bullet-proof vests and upgrade the radio system. These are vital capital improvements needs for the area’s fifth largest city.
Hickman Mills School District
Voters need to keep this urban district moving forward by improving its buildings and choosing solid school board members.
The Star recommends a “yes” vote on a $19 million bond issue that will not require a tax increase.
District officials say they would use the money to upgrade eight elementary schools as well as Ruskin High School, Baptiste Educational Center and the Hickman Mills Freshman Center.
To continue the positive consistency on the school board, The Star recommends the re-election of Shawn Kirkwood and Byron Townsend.
This story was originally published April 4, 2016 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Extending Kansas City’s earnings tax is highest priority in Tuesday’s area elections."