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Mayor emphasizes earnings tax vote

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The upcoming earnings tax ballot question was one of Mayor Sly James’ points at Tuesday’s State of the City address that resonated with the men and women who serve Kansas City.

"The entire Kansas City area loses without the earnings tax,” James said.

Next Tuesday, voters will decide to keep or get rid of the earnings tax, also known as the “e-tax,” that brings in $230 million every year. Most of it goes to pay for city services.

“The earnings tax is still the only viable option,” James said.  

The ballot question comes as the City Council recently passed a budget in which KCFD firefighters received a raise.

“We got what we got, we did some dealing with the council to get things done. We thought it was fair,” Bill Galvin, president of IAFF Local 42, said.

It wasn’t the same case for the city’s police officers.

In a blog post Monday evening, Police Chief Darryl Forté detailed how the department has made the lean budget work over the last two years, including making cuts and freezing raises.

The effects are beginning to show.

“It’s taking more time for officers to get to scenes and 911 calls because there are less officers working,” Capt. Tye Grant, a KCPD spokesman, said.  

If the earnings tax were to go away, Forte said the city estimates that 810 officer positions would need to be eliminated.

"The fact of the matter is that we only have so much money,” James said.

The mayor added that the city would be forced to cut $23 million from its budget each year for a decade.

"If you lost 40 percent of your paycheck today, you're going to cut something, and we're going to have to cut something too, it's pretty obvious. I hope we never get there, that's why we're fighting so hard for what we have,” James said.

City leaders are optimistic the earnings tax will pass next Tuesday. If doesn’t, the mayor said besides making mandatory cuts, it could put the city on a path to bankruptcy.

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Andres Gutierrez can be reached at andres.gutierrez@kshb.com

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