Kansas City deserves better than the status quo: Why I’m voting no on the jail tax | Opinion

On April 8, Kansas City voters will be asked to extend the public safety sales tax by 20 years at the cost of $484 million. Traditionally, this tax has funded essential services such as 911 dispatchers and emergency responders. However, this time around, at least $250 million would fund the construction of a city jail, with an additional $375 million required to staff and maintain the facility. That’s over half a billion taxpayer dollars spent on a jail that wouldn’t address our public safety needs.

I regularly hear from my neighbors across Kansas City about their concerns with public safety. Stories about homicides, violent car theft, serial burglaries and persistent gun violence are common. But a city jail won’t address these issues because offenses such as murder, grand theft auto, theft or property damage over $750 are state crimes that would be handled at the county level. Taxpayers are already spending $301 million in construction costs for a new Jackson County jail.

As city councilman for the 6th District, I served on the Municipal Detention and Rehabilitation Committee to more closely review the city’s need for a new jail. Most people who enter our city jail system are held for minor offenses — public urination, sleeping outdoors, trespassing or petty theft — and are often unhoused or dealing with untreated mental illness. Many remain jailed because they aren’t mentally fit to stand trial or simply because they can’t afford bail.

Municipal Court Judge Martina Peterson noted recently to KSHB, “I want to get them released, but they’re not stable yet to be released because they are still hearing voices.”

“Some of these folks should be in a mental health hospital rather than a detention center while they’re going through the municipal court system,” council member Crispin Rea, another jail tax proponent, stated to the Martin City Telegraph.

A new city jail wouldn’t fix these problems — it would only centralize them. The homeless remain unhoused and mental health needs go unmet. Simply put: A new city jail is another expensive Band-Aid solution that would continue churning vulnerable people in and out of jail.

Kansas City should not be in the business of jailing those whose largest crime is needing professional mental health support. This route is costly and inhumane, and does nothing to stop crime and improve our public safety outcomes.

What happened to the “rehabilitation” side of the rehabilitation and detention center?

In 2019, consultants recommended a community resource center to support inmates entering and leaving jail, improving outcomes and reducing recidivism. However, as part of the $2.3 million agreement for the city to purchase land from the county, it prevents inmate releases on-site, effectively prohibiting the center from being built with the jail. Further, this tax does not include funding for the CRC or anything like it.

A real solution for recidivism, public safety

Since October 2024, I have been working with my colleagues and the Municipal Court on a proposal for a community resource center that would improve outcomes for our inmates, decrease recidivism and improve public safety.

This CRC would be based on the Criminal Mental Health Project from Miami-Dade County, Florida, which has seen a reduction in recidivism from 76% to 20%. This facility would centrally locate resources for the court and include a detox center, transitional housing and care navigators to help folks get access to housing, health insurance, mental health care and jobs. Solutions like these reduce our reliance on jails and thereby reduce our jail costs, but this jail tax will not fund a CRC.

There is currently no plan with the proposed sales tax to include or fund rehabilitation. Without rehabilitation, our inmates will continue to be churned through our courts and jail system, costing taxpayers millions of dollars a year without addressing why they are in jail to begin with.

Alternatives to jail improve outcomes and reduce our need for a jail saving taxpayers money while increasing public safety.

We know that community resources save money and lives while increasing public safety — yet, year after year, Kansas City disproportionately funds enforcement over housing, public health and homeless assistance. For every $1 we spend on public health, we spend $12 on enforcement; for every $1 we spend on housing, we spend $12 on enforcement; for every $1 we spend on homelessness, we spend $74 on enforcement. Every year, as spending on enforcement rises, so too does crime.

Kansas City leaders have failed our communities most impacted by crime because we would rather do what is most politically expedient rather than what is necessary to improve outcomes for our people. We have underfunded essential resources such as affordable housing, mental health care and schools, prioritizing enforcement instead. A new jail should be a last resort, but this tax funds it first, creating a costly and unnecessary tax burden on our residents while leaving critical rehabilitation solutions that have a proven track record of improving public safety behind.

Join me and vote no on the jail tax, and vote yes on the school bond to fund our schools and invest in our children on April 8.