KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Ryan frequently reviews meeting agendas and noticed $5 million left unspent in Belton. He sought answers Thursday night from the city. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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The bi-annual Belton Public Safety Sales Tax Committee meeting was something I was able to experience firsthand on Thursday night.
The City of Belton has numerous committees that oversee different areas of the government.
This story began when voters approved a half-cent public safety sales tax back in 2018. Part of the deal was an oversight committee comprised of citizens, fire and police department representatives, a City Council liaison, and city staff established to review annual public safety sales tax expenditures.
"I’m glad there is an oversight committee," City Finance Director Casey Koehn said "I think that’s great to make sure that fire, police and I am being held accountable."
Koehn led Thursday night's meeting alongside Andrea Cunningham, Belton's city clerk.
The group reviewed the current financial sheets and earnings from the sales tax to get an understanding of where the fund stands
"It (the tax) generates about $3.6 million a year," Koehn told me.
That's up from the projected $1.6 million estimated in 2018.
The Public Safety Sales Tax asked voters to approve the tax with the intent to provide additional funds for public safety for the city. That included a range of expenditures for equipment, salaries and benefits, and facilities.
In 2019, the money would be spent to rehire six police officer and firefighter/EMS positions frozen in that budget year. Additionally, it would fund new equipment for first responders, vehicles and other equipment.
"It has funded some equipment, but right now it primarily funds a portion of salaries," Koehn told me.
I did some research on the city's website.
I found the 2024 annual fire report states the Belton Fire Department is fully staffed with 16 per shift and new minimum staffing of 13 since September 2024.
According to a fact sheet for the 2018 election, the Belton Fire Department had only 11 total firefighters for minimum daily staffing. National standards at the time called for 17 or 18 personnel to respond to a house fire, including EMS response, which is an improvement since voters approved the sales tax.
Koehn told me the fire department's budget this year is lower than the police department at $8.9 million, nearly double the budget in 2020.
The Belton Police Department operates on a $9.5 million budget. Koehn explained that budget can be stretched farther for equipment.
"I remember when the cost of a fire engine was less than a million and now it’s $2 million dollars," she told me. "It’s getting harder to fund municipal government."
Operational expenses continue to grow. Just as the fire department budget doubled in five years, the police department budget did nearly the same.
"The fire budget is much larger than PD as far as capital is concerned," she said. "A piece of equipment for them, a fire engine, $2 million; a police car is $55,000. It doesn’t go as far for fire as it does for PD."
As for the Belton Police Department, a spokesperson told me in an email that since 2023, there were nine open police officer positions, three open corrections officer positions, and the need for at least one dispatcher.
The spokesperson says now there are only four open police officer positions with two cadets just hired. That leaves just two open positions.
There are numerous applicants in the process to fill the remaining positions. All corrections officer positions have been filled.
While in the Dispatch Department, three open positions remain.
Earlier this year at a Belton City Council meeting, City Manager Joe Warren received push back on a suggestion to consolidate dispatch services to the Cass County County Sheriff's Office.
Warren cited staffing shortages, wage competition and potential savings of $300,000 annually.
The city, responding on its website in September, said it would not go through with consolidation.
“The timing just isn’t right,” City Manager Joe Warren said in an online statement. “We appreciate all the work that our staff and the Sheriff’s Office have each done to create the possibility of a consolidated service.”
I asked Koehn if Public Safety Tax money could help resolve an earlier concern this year about dispatch services. She said the money cannot fund dispatcher salaries.
The sales tax must generate a certain funding level to cover approved salaries before it can go to another need. As of Thursday night, the account had not met that requirement.
"At the end of Fiscal Year 2026, we will transfer from that fund to the general fund to cover police and fire salaries," she said.
Thursday night's meeting ended with a recommendation to the city council to fund an estimated $600,000 to $800,000 roof project at the police station.
The roof in the police station collapsed during a July storm and was only repaired to get the building back into safe working order.
Koehn also floated the idea of how the city will fund a new fire station and even a new City Hall building as Belton continues to grow.
"It’s a tough job, but I am actually looking forward to the challenge of the city of Belton and the growth in the next five years," Koehn told me.
It's why she's being conservative with the Public Safety Sales Tax money. She wants to ensure they can pay for unexpected expenses.
The big question is, as the cost to operate city government increases, is the half-cent public safety sales tax enough?
"It’s not enough," Koehn said. "I don’t know if any city can say that they do have a enough tax dollars coming in."
The next Public Safety Sales Tax Committee meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on May 14, 2026
It's open to the public and it's an interesting look at how a city pays it bills.
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