KANSAS CITY, Kan. — KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
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Wyandotte County voters rejected two sales tax increases Tuesday that would have funded mental health support, infrastructure and homeless services — including programs like those offered at the Willa Gill Center.
One measure was a county sales tax to help the homeless and community health services. The other was a Kansas City, Kansas, sales tax for parks and infrastructure. On a $100 purchase, the county measure would have added $0.25. The city measure would have added $0.38.
The Unified Government said it put these measures forward because existing sales taxes were never meant to cover those needs. For the measures to appear on a future ballot, county commissioners would have to vote to put them there again.
Another well-known item on the list of projects was replacing the Parkwood Pool.
James Connelly, a 30-year Wyandotte County resident, is retired and living on a fixed income.
Connelly voted no. He said he has watched taxes increase for years without seeing results.
"Every year, my taxes have went up on my property and my sales tax. And I haven't seen a decrease or assistance with schools or anything," Connelly said.
He said he could not support another increase without proof the money would be spent as promised.
"I'm retired. I'm on a fixed income, so why do I want an increase on anything that I can't factually prove that that's where the money is actually going?" Connelly said.
He argued the government should be able to cover these services with existing resources.
"Those are things that is committed to the community that the city should take care of without having to raise my taxes," Connelly said. "They should do due diligence to ensure that the money is spent properly.”
In a statement Friday, Mayor Christal Watson called the failed vote a learning opportunity and said she will work harder to find another way forward. Watson also noted that voter turnout hit 45%, up from 38% in 2022.
““I want to commend our community for coming out in record numbers to vote with over a 45% voter turnout,” said Mayor Christal E. Watson in a statement. “In this election, we proposed two sales tax ballot measures for the City and County. I respect the decision and will of the voters, and while the measure didn’t pass, I remain encouraged by the community’s engagement around the most urgent issues we face every day, in every corner of our city. This is a learning opportunity to better understand what we need to meaningfully address homelessness, access to healthcare, improvements to our infrastructure and parks. This result means that I’ll keep listening, and I’ll work harder to find another way to address our community’s challenges. I care about Kansas City, Kansas, and Wyandotte County and I will continue to work with all stakeholders who want to solve our problems together.”
Groups including Justice for Wyandotte and the KCK Neighbors Alliance worked to canvass and inform community members about the measures ahead of the vote.
Amber Adams, director of operations and external affairs for the Community Health Council of Wyandotte County — one of the organizations that pushed for the measures to pass — voted yes. Despite the outcome, Adams said she still found reason for optimism.
Friday’s numbers from the election office show the yes and no votes for county question were about 2,000 votes apart. The city question was closer to a 3,000 vote gap.
"I was also really hopeful because I'm glad that it didn't fail as bad as I thought it would," Adams said.
Her organization works to close the healthcare access gap facing Wyandotte County residents — a gap she said has only deepened with ongoing Medicaid cuts and coverage limitations at some local providers. Adams said these are services that go critically underfunded despite clear public need.
"These are things that aren't necessarily adequately funded on a normal basis like people would think about, but it does take an investment, and this is one of those good investments we were hopeful could have happened in order to give residents what they want and what they deserve," Adams said.
Adams pushed back on the idea that the tax would have been an unfair burden. She said it was an equitable investment.
"We talk about not all taxes are regressive that we think about," Adams said "This would have been a tax that was distributed equally throughout our county that would have created equitable access to community health needs that we all do agree that we need. That was the beautiful thing that this tax could have introduced a direct benefit to not only some of the social services like mental health, and also homeless outreach services, but also to those community health needs.”
One project the funding would have supported is a permanent home to replace the Willa Gill Center, a homeless outreach center that now has to relocate due to the expansion of the Kansas City Kansas Community College’s downtown campus. The Community Health Council has also partnered with United Way of Kansas City to provide winter outreach kits — including socks, gloves, safer sex supplies and Narcan — as part of its ongoing outreach work.
Adams said the failed vote leaves a critical question unanswered for the county's uninsured population.
"We still have a pretty high uninsured population. So those folks are still going to have to get healthcare access from somewhere," Adams said.
She said organizations are already working to find a path forward.
"Now that we no longer have this tax, now our other service organizations are coming together to look at, where are these folks receiving care at? How are they going to be able to afford the care? And how are we still going to be able to give them services without the funding of this tax?" Adams said. "Now, more than ever, there's a sense of urgency.”
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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