Kansas City Sales Tax Vote Clears Path for New Jail, Public Safety Upgrades
By Kat Balster
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City voters approved a 20-year renewal of the city’s quarter-cent public safety sales tax on April 8, securing funding for a new municipal jail and other key public safety infrastructure after years of uncertainty and logistical hurdles.
The measure, known as Question 1, passed with 60.4% of the vote—roughly 26,000 in favor and 17,000 opposed—extending a tax first enacted in 2002 and previously renewed in 2010. The tax generates about $24 million annually and is expected to bring in an estimated $480 million over the next two decades. The revenue will fund construction and operation of a long-anticipated detention and rehabilitation center as well as upgrades for police, emergency medical services and 911 operations.
“This is not a mass incarceration, big state prison sort of thing,” said Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas, a vocal supporter of the measure. “This is something that says, ‘How can we do right by people?’”
In a statement issued by the city following the election, Lucas added, “Kansas City voters have told us for years that public safety is essential for a stronger Kansas City. I thank the voters today for their trust and commitment in us to create a safer community.”
Kansas City has not had its own jail since closing its municipal facility in 2009. After an interim agreement with Jackson County ended in 2019 over a funding dispute, city detainees have been transported more than an hour away to rural jails in Vernon and Johnson Counties—a costly arrangement that limits access to legal counsel, visitation and care.
Efforts to partner with Jackson County on a shared facility collapsed in 2023 after disagreements over operational costs and liabilities. City officials ultimately decided to move forward with a standalone facility, purchasing land next to Jackson County’s under-construction jail near U.S. Highway 40 and Blue Valley Park.
The new city jail is expected to include 250 beds and cost between $150 million and $250 million to build. In early 2025, the city issued a request for qualifications for the facility’s design. Team selection is pending, and construction is anticipated to begin in late 2027.
In a public statement, public safety director Lace Cline said the tax renewal addresses critical gaps in the city’s detention system.
“Currently, we’re forced to make impossible choices about who can be detained based on limited capacity, including releasing domestic violence offenders back into the lives of their victims without an adequate cooling off period,” Cline said. “Increased funding will change that by allowing us to build an appropriate facility right here in Kansas City.”
City officials have also committed to immediate planning efforts and community input sessions related to the facility. Additional investments from the tax will support the Kansas City Police Department, emergency medical services and the unification of the city’s 911 dispatch systems. A portion of the funds will also return booking and holding operations to the Kansas City Police Headquarters and support crime-related assistance programs for local businesses.
The renewed sales tax is scheduled to take effect July 1, 2026.