KC should vote no on Question 1 and reject ill-timed sales tax hike for fire department

Kansas City voters will decide Tuesday if they want to raise sales taxes by one-fourth of a cent until 2036 to pay for updated and upgraded equipment for the city’s fire department, including new ambulances.

They should vote no on Question 1.

We make this recommendation fully appreciating the work firefighters and paramedics do and understanding their need for modern, safe equipment, particularly in the current coronavirus crisis. All Kansas Citians should salute their hard work and courage.

The fire department provides one of the most important city services and enjoys strong community support, and rightfully so. Chief Donna Maize has done an admirable job of assessing the department’s needs and developing long-term plans.

But asking for yet another sales tax increase for the fire service at a time when tens of thousands are unemployed, struggling just to make ends meet, is extremely ill-advised. Simply put, this is the wrong tax at the wrong time.

Kansas Citians already pay sales taxes of 10 cents on the dollar in many places. That’s deeply unfair to low- and middle-income residents, particularly since local sales taxes are fully collected on food purchases.

Kansas City’s overall tax burden remains highly regressive and just plain high. This year’s property tax fiasco has made things worse. Any request for additional funds requires full transparency from City Hall and must face the strictest scrutiny from voters.

Yet this tax proposal was hashed out largely in secret, without a thorough vetting by City Council members or the public. It’s clear that a small group of council members who are aligned with the fire union rushed the plan through to place it on a low-turnout spring ballot. That in itself is unacceptable.

The election, originally scheduled for April, was delayed until June because of the pandemic. Now, in part because the state has failed in its duty to protect the health of voters and poll workers, turnout may drop to a historic low.

A handful of voters should not increase taxes by more than $20 million a year for the next 15 years.

Sadly, the City Council and Mayor Quinton Lucas have not used the delay to further explain the need for the additional levy. There has been little to no effort by city government or the fire service to demonstrate a real effort to cut costs, or to find money for needed equipment within existing resources — the kind of budgeting every Kansas City family must do every day.

Remember, Kansas City voters approved a quarter-cent, $350 million sales tax for fire equipment in 2014. Just six years later, the department needs to double its equipment levy? When is enough, enough?

Will the department be back six years from now, asking for more money yet again?

And why now? If voters reject the fire sales tax increase at the polls, the department can find existing resources for immediate needs, then ask voters next year — after a transparent process, that includes a complete discussion of needs and wants, and proof the department can save money where it needs to do so.

Additionally, in a year, the financial impact of the coronavirus outbreak will likely be much more clear. That will be true for City Hall, and for families paying taxes.

There is no organized opposition to the tax, just the usual insistence that taxpayers support first responders, again, no questions asked. That’s unfortunate.

The mayor, who said during last year’s campaign that city taxes were high enough, has quickly flip-flopped on this issue. He was endorsed by the fire union and says passing the sales tax might help with other negotiations with the fire service.

That’s no reason to vote yes. Any tax increase must be justified on its own merits.

A year ago, Kansas City rejected a sales tax increase for early childhood education. Voters did so because the plan was poorly thought out, too expensive and relied on a regressive sales tax. That’s exactly the situation this year.

Voters can support the fire department without supporting another tax increase. They should reject Question 1 on Tuesday and tell City Hall to sharpen their pencils and consider other ways to meet these needs. That’s always important, but in the current economic crisis, it’s essential.