Kansas City mayor outlines millions in cuts as he looks ahead to the next generation
Kansas City’s outlook for this year may not seem uplifting, Mayor Quinton Lucas said in his State of the City address Wednesday night.
The city, along with the entire country, faces job losses, the COVID-19 pandemic and a reckoning over racial justice and inequity. But the city will move forward “knowing that we’re building a better, safer and healthier life for all who follow.”
“Even in our darkest days, know that our work and our sacrifice today develops that bright, impressive, smiling, energetic daughter, son and leader of tomorrow,” Lucas said at Winnetonka High School in the Northland.
“Our challenges are great, but we can never give up,” he said.
In his second annual State of the City address, Lucas outlined plans for the coming year to cut millions from the city budget, keep fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, overhaul the city’s system for offering generous tax subsidies and attempt to bend the ever-rising trajectory of murders in Kansas City.
“We can have new airports, an extended streetcar, new businesses, great sports teams,” Lucas said, “but if a baby can’t live to see her fifth birthday, then we’re nowhere close to the city we need to be.”
Everything about Lucas’ address was different from the first. As he spoke to a mostly empty auditorium dotted with City Council members and reporters, Lucas acknowledged the stark difference from his 2020 address when he previewed what he described as the city’s most equitable budget ever, which boosted spending on roads and made bus transit fare free.
“Today, I come to you with a different tone — one of greater fiscal responsibility and austerity than we have seen in years,” Lucas said.
The city is facing budget shortfalls because of the economic crisis brought on by COVID-19. City officials have been trying to manage the spread of the virus for a year. Police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd brought renewed focus to systemic racism and injustice.
Kansas City had a lot on its plate when Lucas stepped up to the microphone a year ago. But the past 12 months have only added to that.
“A year ago, hundreds of thousands of Kansas Citians … and our neighbors crowded onto the streets of downtown to celebrate our world champions,” Lucas said of the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory parade. “Only weeks later, we would see our streets deserted through downtown as we limited the spread of the greatest public health threat this nation has faced in over a century.”
Lucas’ speech focused on three issues: how to right the budget amid a crisis, create equitable development and make Kansas City safer.
KC budget shortfall
The budget, which Lucas and City Manager Brian Platt will introduce Thursday, is $70 million less than last year’s budget. To reach that number, Lucas and Platt’s budget will outline $55 million in cuts. The city will have to dip into rainy day funds to make up the remaining $15 million.
Though the city’s departments will face “severe” cuts, Lucas pledged those wouldn’t affect essential city services. City Hall also won’t lay off or furlough staff to find savings.
Instead, the city will look for efficiencies, refinance debt, offer employees early retirement packages, consolidate city offices and sell off properties, including the Hale Arena in the West Bottoms.
The potential sale of Hale Arena comes as the American Royal plans to leave its longtime home for a new campus near Village West in Kansas City, Kansas.
Originally started under a tent at the Kansas City Stockyards in 1899, the organization in 2016 announced plans to leave the West Bottoms. It plans to take its marquee rodeo and livestock events to 115 acres it owns and leases in Wyandotte County. American Royal leaders plan to build an agricultural campus that could cost upward of $250 million.
In 2017, the Council agreed to sell the nearby Kemper Arena for $1. Development firm Foutch Brothers spent millions revamping it into a multi-use facility with multiple courts, a fitness center and food and retail space. It’s now known as Hy-Vee Arena.
Kansas City will also refinance debt it issued to build the Power & Light District.
At the same time, Lucas said the city would boost spending on road resurfacing.
But even those measures won’t be enough. Cuts will be necessary, including to some major institutions the city supports, including the Kansas City Zoo, Starlight Theatre, ArtsKC, the Black Archives of Mid-America, Visit KC, Legal Aid of Western Missouri and the Kansas City Film Office.
Lucas said those decisions “were not made lightly.”
Lucas emphasized repeatedly that the budget cuts would not result in fewer Kansas City police officers. He acknowledged some residents would want to see far less police spending while others hoped for more.
“In this submitted budget, we make a financial decision, not a political one,” he said.
Equitable development
Lucas said he would also propose consolidating the disparate boards and commissions that vote on tax incentives, including tax-increment financing.
The boards are part of a complex web of approvals needed to allow developers to build using city subsidies.
“Today, each of those entities is interpreting economic development policies independently, often with different rules of engagement,” Lucas said. “As a result, many members of our community perceive disparities in priorities, don’t know which meeting to go to, may not know what’s going on.”
He said that would create more transparency for residents who might struggle to understand how the city gives away their tax dollars. He hoped it would also decrease developers’ ability to “shop” for incentives.
“No longer in Kansas City should we develop out of fear of falling behind. We should invest in development because we think it’s right for all Kansas Citians,” Lucas said. “We want growth; we want new jobs, but good jobs. … Simply put, we want to know that if the public is paying for development, that development is benefiting the public.”
The consolidation includes Port KC, which has previously argued it can’t be subjected to the same rules as other incentive-granting agencies because it is created under state statute.
In a statement to The Star Wednesday evening, Port KC President and CEO Jon Stephens did not directly address the mayor’s consolidation plan.
“I wholeheartedly agree with the Mayor that our goal should always be equitable growth for all of Kansas City. We have made progress, but must continue the work,” Stephens said. “How we structure policy and process is a complex endeavor, one that is already underway in many respects. It must be well thought through, and implemented in a way that accommodates the diversity of needs and opportunities.”
Violent crime
When Lucas took office in 2019, he asked his colleagues to join him in pledging to get Kansas City off the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s list of most dangerous cities.
Wednesday he said he is often asked if he regrets pledging ambitions efforts to reduce violent crime. His answer: No.
Lucas noted that in 2020, homicides rose once again.
“More often than not, homicides are not random,” Lucas said, noting they often occur when people lack support systems and mental health treatment or do not trust law enforcement.
This past year, his office introduced a system to pardon small-time marijuana offenses. He announced a framework focused on prevention and intervention to prevent violent crime. The city sued federal officials for granting a firearm license to a manufacturer connected to gun trafficking rings.
“For years, we have hired more officers, but violent crime has still gone up,” Lucas said. “Our police officers do the best they can for our city, but this is a problem that they cannot fix alone.”
Fighting COVID
Lucas has spoken often over the last year about the criticism he faces when he enacts rules limiting business activities to slow the spread of COVID-19.
But he said he was proud Kansas City had prevented more deaths per capita than some peer cities. He encouraged residents to get vaccinated when they can and assured them the shot was safe and effective. He noted Kansas City reopened too quickly in the wake of the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic, and in nine months, 2,300 residents died.
Lucas said he doesn’t want to close schools, cancel life events or hurt businesses. But he won’t risk lives, he said, noting the city had lost city staffers. The sign-language interpreter who accompanies Lucas to news conferences lost her parents to the virus.
“Our rules have not been easy, but we will never gamble with my mother’s life or yours for temporary economic gains.”
The Star’s Kevin Hardy contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 6:18 PM.
