Kansas City voters approve $175 million in bonds. Here’s what it will be used for
Over the next five years, up to $175 million will be invested into parks, facilities and affordable housing in Kansas City after voters approved two bond initiatives.
On Tuesday, Kansas Citians voted in favor of all three questions posed to them.
This means money will be earmarked for repairs and improvements to the city’s parks, pools, community centers and convention center and the city’s housing trust fund. Voters also agreed to the sale of a small piece of parks property near the airport.
Both bonds passed with the support of more than 71% of voters. This exceeded the required supermajority of roughly 57%.
The money will come out of a general obligation bond, which is usually paid back through city taxes.
Taxes will not increase as a result of the bond initiatives. This is because the new bond note will replace the existing bond note once it’s paid off.
Question 1: Parks bond initiative
Up to $125 million will go towards “the acquisition, construction, renovation, improvement, equipping, and furnishing of City parks, recreation, and entertainment facilities.”
The largest chunk of change — $80 million — will fund renovations of current parks and community centers, including swimming pools and playgrounds. But this will only cover a fraction of the estimated $185 million in repairs and maintenance across the parks system, Morgan Said, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said in the weeks leading up to the election.
But the approved bond initiative should help kick off some of the much-needed improvements.
This will be spread across 18 parks, 10 community centers and several pools that have up until this point been closed.
Community centers will get $30 million to put toward overdue maintenance. This includes flooring for basketball courts and plumbing repairs at the pool at the Tony Aguirre Community Center in the Westside neighborhood.
The seven pools will split $15 million in funds for renovations, including the Jarboe Park Pool, also in the Westside, which has been closed for several years.
Money for the 18 parks will be distributed evenly between the city’s six council districts, with each getting $1.6 million.
In total, $45 million will be invested into the the Kansas City Convention Center which is in need of new carpeting, new escalators and bathroom renovations. The repairs will also bring the building into compliance with the American with Disabilities Act.
Kansas City Manager Brian has said he hopes the renovations will make Kansas City more of a contender to host major events that generate sales tax revenue.
Kimiko Gilmore, Director of Kansas City Conventions, said in a video statement Wednesday morning that the repairs would “get the convention center into the 21st century.”
Question 2: Affordable housing bond initiative
Up to $50 million will go toward the city’s Housing Trust Fund. “for the purpose of affordable housing through the rehabilitation, renovation, and construction of houses and buildings, including blight removal, to provide affordable housing for very low- to moderate-income households.”
The affordable housing trust fund, created in 2018, sets money aside to help fund affordable housing projects in the city. The city’s goal at the time was to invest $75 million into the fund. Tuesday’s vote gets them one step closer to that.
Up to this point, $25 million in federal American Rescue Plan money was allocated to the fund, along with $10.5 million in local dollars that was reallocated when city council members voted in January to put the money toward affordable housing rather than as a tax break for a large Chicago-based real estate developer.
Since its creation, 500 affordable housing units have been added to the city’s inventory through the fund.
In September, the city reported it was 27,000 units short of being able to house renters in the lowest income group, which is made up of people who make 30% of the average median income or less.
That pushes those tenants into more precarious housing situations, with more than 60% of lowest income renters paying more than 50% of their income toward rent, putting them at higher risk of eviction with few options of other places to live in Kansas City.
Tuesday’s bond initiative was introduced by Mayor Quinton Lucas and later championed by the local tenants rights group, KC Tenants.
Question 3: Park property sale
A public vote is required for the sale of parks property in Kansas City.
On Tuesday, the city asked whether they could remove two pieces of land, just under 12 acres in total, from the parks system to make way for the realignment of the proposed Tiffany Springs Parkway between NW Prairie View Road and Amity Avenue.
The ballot question, which required a simple majority to pass, saw just shy of 55% of voters in favor.
Star reporters Kynala Phillips and Natalie Wallington contributed.
This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 1:13 PM.
