The 1 percent earnings tax that all who work in Kansas City pay comprises 40 percent of our police department budget. Voters will go to the polls April 5 to decide whether to extend that tax another five years. Without it, police will be forced to make significant cuts. The above chart shows how staffing would need to be reduced during the 10-year phase-out of the earnings tax. By the end, KCPD staffing levels would be the same as they were in 1963.
Because of this estimated reduction, police response to some incidents would be significantly reduced and possibly eliminated, such as non-injury car crashes, burglaries, fraud and forgery. Response times would increase, and elements like the Drug Enforcement Unit, Crimes Against Children Section, Helicopter Section, Canine Section and a Northland patrol division station could be eliminated.
This educational presentation explains more in-depth the estimated impact losing the earnings tax would have on the Kansas City Missouri Police Department.
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