This KC area city is asking voters to renew a sales tax. See what it’s funded so far
High-quality roads and parks facilities are two services Lenexa residents value the most, Mayor Julie Sayers said, and a key source of its funding has come back on the ballot.
City residents will have until April 1 to vote for Lenexa’s three-eighths cent sales tax — a 20-year tax that takes three-eighths of one percent of purchases (38 cents in a $100 purchase) within the city limits. The funding goes toward road and sidewalk improvements, storm water facilities, street lighting, and the development and maintenance of parks and recreation facilities.
Voters originally approved the measure in 2008, and it expires in 2028.
Lenexa wants approval now to ensure ongoing funding for its Capital Improvement Program, a plan that helps guide city projects in five-year increments — with the next five-year increment running from 2025 until 2029, Sayers said.
“So our plan is out past the expiration of that sales tax, so that’s why we’re getting approval a little early so when we get to the 2026 CIP, we are allowed to plan with that tax in mind,” she said.
The ballots are due by April 1. Lenexa needs a simple majority vote for the tax to pass.
If approved, it will take effect on Oct. 1, 2028 and expire Sept. 30, 2048. If the tax fails, Sayers said she fears that projects would suffer with the lost revenue.
“I think that the ongoing pavement maintenance and there’s just a slew of infrastructure projects in there that we would have to defer or not do completely,” she said.
Lenexa Communications Director Denise Rendina said in an email that the sales tax funds 20% of the city’s CIP.
“If the tax does not pass there would be less overall funding to work with and the City Council would have to determine how much funding to put toward ongoing and future projects,” Rendina said in the email.
“Less work would likely happen for our preventative maintenance. Council could also consider not moving forward with priorities identified in the Parks and Recreation Master Plan like expansion of our trails and maintenance of current trails, new parks, and new recreational activities.”
Where have the tax dollars gone?
According to data compiled by the city, the sales tax has contributed more than $125 million to projects since its beginning in 2008 through the 2024 fiscal year.
In ongoing projects, the tax covers 50% of Lenexa’s funding toward the Pavement Management Program ($43.7 million out of $86.7 million), 77% of Playground Equipment Replacements ($1.64 million out of $2.1 million), and 100% of the city’s trail renovations ($385,000).
It’s also contributed more than $79 million to 17 one-time projects.
It covered 100% of the costs to build the Lenexa Rec Center (more than $40 million), more than 50% of the Sar-Ko Par Aquatic Center ($8 million out of $15 million), and 80% of the Ad Astra Pool Reconstruction ($8 million out of $10 million).
“People tell us in our surveys the things they value the most are our high quality roads that get taken care of in a timely fashion and our parks facilities … parks and pavement,” Sayers said. “We feel that it’s a small investment in that quality we maintain as we offer services to the city.”