A new jail won’t fix Kansas City’s actual crime problems. Vote no on April 8 | Opinion
On April 8, Kansas City voters will decide whether to renew the quarter-cent public safety sales tax, a regressive tax historically used as a bonus fund for the police department. This time, the majority of funds would go towards constructing a new city jail — a project estimated to cost taxpayers at least $250 million for construction alone, leaving the financing of ongoing operations and maintenance uncertain. Even with the tax revenue, Kansas City doesn’t have sufficient funding allocated to cover lifetime jail costs, potentially adding another $800 million burden to taxpayers.
This isn’t the first time elected leaders have asked Kansas Citians to shoulder the burden of a sales tax to pay for a massive development. Just last year, voters overwhelmingly rejected a similar tax for a new baseball stadium near downtown, recognizing that everyday people would be forced to subsidize the profit of developers at the expense of schools and public services.
Unlike the stadium tax proposal, city officials have learned their lesson about touting a big, pricey project this time. Their campaign messaging emphasizes that a portion of the sales tax would support police department projects and 911 dispatchers — without clearly mentioning that most of the funds could build a jail. In fact, the ballot language itself omits any mention of the jail, leaving some voters unclear about what they’re really funding. See the sample ballot on the election board’s website at kceb.org
Yet despite no public vote, city officials have already spent $2.3 million purchasing 23 acres for this jail to be located on the same land where taxpayers are currently paying $301 million in construction costs for a new Jackson County jail.
The reality is that city jails primarily detain people accused of minor ordinance violations — mostly the unhoused or those dealing with mental health issues. Across the legal system, most violent offenses and domestic abuse cases are handled at the county jail or state prisons, not city jails.
A majority of people held in municipal jails are pretrial detainees. Studies show an estimated 81% of people held in local jails are unconvicted, many kept there simply because they can’t afford to post bail. We also know that pretrial detention disproportionately affects Black residents. The city’s jail data is deeply troubling. Black people make up around 70% of existing jail detainees, yet comprise only 26% of Kansas City’s total population.
Recent data has also found there is a significant overlap between incarceration and mental health in Kansas City. According to the city’s jail health contractor, 89% of the those held have had some interaction for medical or mental health services. Because of glaring health disparities, this provider emphasizes mental health and substance use interventions as means to divert individuals from jail wherever possible.
Another issue on the same ballot is a critical $474 million school bond for Kansas City Public Schools — something that hasn’t passed in 60 years. While our schools desperately need investment, we’re simultaneously asked to fund a jail that would disproportionately impact the very students we should be supporting. Nationally, around 1 in 3 people in state prisons are arrested before their 16th birthday. It’s ironic — and unnerving — that as we consider investing in our children’s futures through education, we might burden those same children with financing a city jail for decades, and possibly funnel them through it.
I know this risk personally. As a seventh grader, I was arrested — experiencing firsthand the harsh realities faced by many Black students who must navigate a world shaped by racism and incarceration. While some peers received only a slap on the wrist, others like me were met with handcuffs and lasting consequences.
With looming bus cuts, overdue school repairs and a mental health epidemic, we demand better paths forward. Investing in prevention and community resources addresses the root causes of crime — poverty, homelessness and untreated mental health issues. Building a new jail funded by this tax proposal is a costly, reckless project that would perpetuate cycles of poverty and incarceration.
On April 8, I urge you to vote no on the public safety sales tax and yes on the school bond, prioritizing real investment in our communities and our kids’ futures.