KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Street sweepers will soon be back on Kansas City, Missouri, roads after the program was gutted earlier this year because of a funding deficit.
The Kansas City Council on Thursday voted to allocate up to $2 million in funding to immediately resume the street sweeping program. The money will come from the stormwater fund or another appropriate fund.
The council also voted to include a funding request in the city's next fiscal year budget to continue the program.
Since 2005, street sweeping has been funded through a $2.50 stormwater fee that KC Water customers pay. City Communications Director Chris Hernandez previously told 41 Action News that the fee has not increased in 16 years, which led to a deficit in the fund.
As a result, the city cut the $1.4 million program in April. However, a consent decree — part of a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency over Clean Water Act violations — prevented the city from eliminating the program.
Crews continued to clean and repair catch basins while the city worked on permanent funding solutions.
