Kansas City voters overwhelmingly renew 1% earnings tax for five more years

Kansas City voters overwhelmingly renewed the city’s 1% earnings tax on Tuesday, maintaining a critical funding source for city services and unmistakably staving off concerns that the city’s budget could be thrown into disarray.

Citywide, over 75% of voters chose to renew the tax, while about 25% voted against renewing it, according to unofficial results from local election boards. The vote will keep the existing 1% earnings tax in place, not add a new tax.

Known as the “e-tax,” it applies to earned income like salaries and wages, and the city collects the 1% tax from those who live or work in Kansas City. It does not apply to retirement income like Social Security.

Somebody who lives in Shawnee but commutes downtown for work, for example, pays the tax, and roughly half its revenue comes from people who live outside the city.

That adds up to approximately $374 million each year that helps cover various city services and functions like street repair, snow removal, weekly trash collection, codes inspection and historic preservation alongside police, fire, emergency and ambulance services. It makes up roughly 46% of the city’s general fund, the foundation of its budget.

“Kansas City voters made a clear decision today to invest in our city’s future,” Melissa Patterson Hazley, council member for the Third District At-Large, said in a statement. “The renewal of the e-tax means we can continue delivering the basic services residents rely on every day while protecting the progress we’ve made across our neighborhoods. We’re built real momentum, and this overwhelming support allows us to keep it going.

“I’m grateful to every voter who showed up and made their voice heard. Let’s get back to work,” Patterson Hazley said.

Kansas City has had an earnings tax since the 1960s, but voters have been required to renew the tax every five years following a state ballot initiative in 2010.

Tuesday’s results saw only a small shift from the vote in 2021, when about 77% of voters chose to renew the tax.

The earnings tax is expected to be back in front of voters in 2031. If voters ever knock down the tax, it cannot be reinstated.

But voters renewed the tax with overwhelming support in past elections and did so again on Tuesday.

Given the massive majority in favor of renewal once again, Mayor Quinton Lucas called on Missouri state lawmakers to “not make us have to do this again in five years.”

Prior to the vote, local officials and other local leaders took no chances and got involved in a campaign that included social media ads and mailers to voters to communicate how the revenue benefits the city and helps cover an array of services.

The vote to approve the tax came in light of broader concerns with tax-related issues around Kansas City, including outrage over property taxes for homeowners in Jackson County, pushback against incentives for developers and a push to end the income tax in Missouri.

If the earnings tax ever went away, it would be phased out by 0.1% per year over 10 years and then would be gone for good.

Officials have said that could lead to service cuts and layoffs. The city would have few options to replace the lost revenue: without the earnings tax, the city could consider doubling the sales tax or quadrupling the property tax levy, but those would also require voter approval and state law changes.

Under the hood, voters in the Jackson County portion of Kansas City supported renewing the tax 81.5% to 18.5%.

In Clay County, 64.7% of voters wanted to renew the tax versus 35.5% who voted against renewal, while in Platte County 64.4% wanted to renew it versus 35.6% who did not.

No votes were recorded on the question in Cass County.

This story was originally published April 7, 2026 at 9:32 PM.