Missourians narrowly vote to increase amount KC will be required to spend on police
Kansas City will be required to spend 25% of its general revenue on the police department after Missourians cast votes on the issue on Tuesday.
The tally on Amendment 4 was surprisingly close as votes were reported Tuesday evening.
According to the Missouri Secretary of State’s unofficial results, the vote was 51.18% to 48.82%. The Associated Press called the results around 11:40 p.m.
Many Kansas Citians support local control of the police department and saw the vote as an attempt to exert additional statewide power over a local agency.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas had said choosing no on Amendment 4 was “a vote for local control and accountability.”
In the part of Kansas City south of the Missouri River, the Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners’ unofficial results showed that 28,172 voters chose no while 14,206 said yes to the amendment.
The Kansas City Police Department is overseen by the state Board of Police Commissioners, which is comprised of four governor-appointed members and the mayor.
The amendment, which mandated Kansas City increase the amount of the general revenue it spends on the police department from 20% to 25%, was first presented to voters in 2022. It faced criticism from local officials who argued voters across the state shouldn’t decide how a municipality makes public safety decisions.
More than 63% of Missouri voters approved the measure when it was last on the ballot in November 2022.
But the Missouri Supreme Court tossed the results in April, finding that voters were misled by the language on the ballot.
The crux of the court’s decision focused on the fiscal note summary that voters saw on the ballot, which said that “local governmental entities estimate no additional costs or savings related to this proposal.” The court found that this was misleading.
The amendment was placed back on the ballot with revised language, and voters again cast their votes on Tuesday.
Kansas City has often funded the police department at or above the 25% threshold. The $317 million budget approved this year was 25.03% of the general revenue, according to the mayor’s office.
This story was originally published August 6, 2024 at 11:41 PM.
