Kansas City Mayor Sly James outlines his plans for the city in the the State of the City address on Tuesday morning.
To view the full transcript of the speech, click here.
This is James' fifth address.
We've got a full crowd! #SOTCKC pic.twitter.com/4eVJL4h1wN
— Mayor Sly James (@MayorSlyJames) March 29, 2016
On earnings tax
James made a full court press supporting the earning tax during his 2016 State of the City speech.
“We would need a combination of massive tax increases or a massive increase in a single tax source, like a doubling of sales taxes or tripling property taxes to fully replace the $230 million that the earnings tax generates today,” said he said.
James went on to say that more than 200 city employees a year would need to be laid off over the next 10 years if the earnings tax is defeated, more than half of those over that time frame would be police officers and firefighters James said.
“That would be on top of the 675 non-public safety workers we’ve already trimmed from the city workforce since 2008,” he added.
On Violence
James cautioned that businesses will stop coming to the city or staying in the city if the city’s neighborhoods and people are not safe.
“If we can’t protect our kids from being gunned down in the streets, or even in their very own homes, all the momentum we’re feeling as a city comes to a screeching halt,” said James.
He listed off high profile murders in the city over the past year including victims from a triple homicide who were under 18 years old, three-year-old Amorian Hale, and fallen firefighters Larry Leggio and John Mesh.
“I will continue to call for common sense legislation at the State level that can coexist with the Second Amendment, starting with an armed offender docket pilot program in our courts,” said James.
Follow the hashtag #SOTCKC for social media reaction to James' speech:
