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Tax to improve East KCMO neighborhoods passes

Posted at 5:27 PM, Apr 05, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-05 18:27:48-04

On Tuesday, voters approved a 1/8 sales tax over the next 10 years for economic development projects for East Kansas City, Missouri neighborhoods.

“You can look around various areas of Kansas City, Crossroads, Waldo, Brookside, Power and Light, North town, South town, you name it, economic development is booming, but not here,” Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater KC, Dr. Vernon Howard, Jr. said. “It's a victory when residents are able to rise up and empower themselves and come up with an economic development plan that is vested within their own interests.”

But as of right now, it’s uncertain what these specific development projects will be.

"We have to establish a committee. The mayor has to appoint a committee to provide some governing structures,” KCMO City Manager, Troy Schulte said. “We have not been provided any recommendations for suggested improvements. The mayor will establish kind of a meeting group that will take public input.”

$8.6 million a year for the next decade will go to improving neighborhoods in east Kansas City.

“We need improvements, all the way down to the schools, to the roads, to the community centers, to mentor programs, afterschool programs,” Leon’s Thriftway grocery store employee, Stevan Leon August said. “I think we could really use the money over here.”

Donald Holland, who has lived in the area since 1957, said real change is needed in the area.

“We ready for a change,” Holland said. “We ready to come back, come up. This is a good neighborhood. People are ready for a good thing to happen.”

Although it’s uncertain when these improvements will happen and what they’ll be, lifelong residents hope this will bring an economic boost to the area.

“A lot of families in this neighborhood have either passed on or moved away. We don't want to see all our families and neighborhoods move away to be able to live in a decent neighborhood,” Stapleton said. “This is still a decent neighborhood. We just need a little help with our beautification.”

Schulte said there is still a bit of time to put this committee together, as the tax does not begin until the beginning of October.

Councilman Quinton Lucas said because a citizen’s group spearheaded this, they will need to appoint three people to the committee. It’ll take City Planning, Urban Development, and Economic Development to work with the committee to come up with a list of projects. 

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Rae Daniel can be reached at Rae.Daniel@KSHB.com.

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