Voters approve 10-year tax to fund Kansas City’s bus system

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Voters in Kansas City have spoken on the future of public transportation funding.

Voters approved a 3/8th-cent sales tax that will be collected for the next 10 years.

The city council added wording to the ballot language to ensure money raised by the tax could only be used to operate, maintain, develop, and improve Kansas City’s bus system. The money is not allowed to be used to build or fund other forms of public transportation.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas previously said the 3/8th-cent sales tax has generated $366 million for transit in Kansas City since 2010.

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Voters initially approved the transportation tax in 2003. It was expected to last five-years until a regional transportation tax could be implemented, but that never happened. In 2008, the city asked voted to extend the tax 15 years, which passed.

The city also supports the KCATA with a separate 1/2-cent sales tax that does not require voter approval.

The KCATA bus system has been free to ride since 2019 and no longer relies on fares to generate revenue.

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