Let’s Fix This Kansas City!
Let’s allocate ALL sales tax as approved by voters
A grassroots initiative petition to redirect existing online sales tax funds to voter approved uses the same as regular “brick and mortar” retail sales.
Community groups have collected over 3,000 signatures of Kansas City, Mo. voters to get this on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Kansas City voters can decide if their online sales tax, referred to as “local use tax,” should be divided up the same as sales tax purchases in stores.
What started with a quest to get the park around Brush Creek fixed up became this ballot initiative, which could also save as many as ten bus routes that are currently on the chopping block.
Voters in Kansas City started approving special use taxes years ago. Each time one of these taxes gets passed, the amount of local use tax collected from online and catalog sales increases, but the special use item does not get that revenue.
Instead, Kansas City has been putting that money into General Revenue, where mayor and council appropriate it. That money, projected to be $102 million in this budget year, is allocated elsewhere.
Know the Facts
The Core Issue
Kansas City has collected a local “use tax” on online and catalog purchases since 1996. Between 2012 and 2016, Kansas City voters approved specific, dedicated sales taxes totaling 3.25 cents per dollar to fund vital city services.
The Catch: When you buy in a local brick-and-mortar store, your tax money goes exactly where you voted for it to go. When you buy online, the City dumps that same 3.25 cents into the General Fund, bypassing the voter-approved allocations.
How Your Taxes Are Supposed to Be Divided (3.25¢ Total)
Funded Program / Department Voter-Approved Allocation
Capital Improvements 1.000 cent
Parks & Recreation 0.500 cent
Public Mass Transit 0.500 cent
KCATA (Buses) 0.375 cent
Public Safety 0.250 cent Fire Department 0.250 cent
Fire Capital Improvements 0.250 cent
Central City Economic Development 0.125 cent
How Your Taxes Are Supposed to Be Divided (3.25¢ Total)
Funded Program / Department Voter-Approved Allocation
Capital Improvements 1.000 cent
Parks & Recreation 0.500 cent
Public Mass Transit 0.500 cent
KCATA (Buses) 0.375 cent
Public Safety
0.250 cent
Fire Department
0.250 cent
Fire Capital Improvements 0.250 cent
Central City Economic Development 0.125 cent
The Real-World Impact on Kansas City: Because the City routes online tax revenue away from these dedicated funds, our communities are feeling the squeeze:
- Public Transit Gutted: The KCATA is being shorted nearly $15 million every year.
- Transit Cuts: Bus routes are being slashed in our city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods.
- Zero Fare Ended: Free, accessible public transit has been stripped away.
- Youth Left Behind: KC youth are now forced to pay out-of-pocket for Parks & Recreation services.
Intervention from Jefferson City
In 2025, the KC Fire Department used its union power and political lobbyists in Jefferson City to pass a state law. This law forces the City to properly allocate the Fire Department’s share of online tax revenue.
Other vital city services-like parks—do not have lobbyists, apart from the city. We, the people of Kansas City, must step up to change the law for everyone else.
Debunking City Hall’s Excuses
City officials claim that honoring voter intent and properly allocating this (projected for 2026-2027) $102 million would “bust the city budget” and hurt other departments. The math tells a completely different story:
- 2020 City Budget: $1.73 Billion
- Current City Budget: $2.60 Billion
- Budget Growth: +67% in just six years
With a budget expanding by nearly a billion dollars, the City has more than enough revenue to run efficiently while respecting the will of the voters.
Our Demands
- Equal Allocation: Treat online purchases exactly like in-store purchases.
- Respect Voter Intent: Fund our buses, parks, and infrastructure exactly as the voters mandated.
- Zero Tax Increases: Fix the distribution map without asking taxpayers for another dime.