Kansas City voters will decide on April 8 whether to renew the city’s public safety sales tax, as part of its efforts to fund and build a new municipal jail.

Supporters of the tax renewal say the city is long overdue for its own detention and rehabilitation center — for a decade the city has not had its own jail to detain people who commit city offenses. They say the current arrangement, where arrested people are held in patrol division cells or transferred to facilities in Vernon County or Johnson County, Missouri, is becoming unfeasible as the city combats gun violence and property crimes .

Opponents of the measure say building a new jail is the wrong way to respond to increasing crime, and is a bad use of taxpayer money.

“We deserve something more than the same approach that has failed to improve public safety time and again,” reads a statement from a local coalition organizing against the tax.

Kansas City voters first approved the public safety sales tax in 2002, and renewed it in 2010. It’s set to expire June 2026 unless voters renew the tax for a second time. If renewed, the public safety sales tax, which currently generates about $24 million a year, would run for 20 more years. The city has said it plans to use a bulk of that money on a new city jail.

“I think we've come with a responsible, moderate, not gigantic plan, and that's why I think it's worthwhile to move forward,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said about the plan.

Here’s what you need to know about Kansas City’s public safety tax measure on ballots April 8.

What does the measure say?

"Shall the City of Kansas City continue to impose a sales tax authorized by Section 94.577 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri for a period of 20 years at a rate of 1/4% to be used for police, emergency medical services and emergency management associated with administering public safety within Kansas City, including the construction, operation, and maintenance of capital improvements, which may include the retirement of debt under previously authorized indebtedness or to repay bonds not yet issued?

"This sales tax would continue the existing sales tax authorized by Section 94.577 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri and scheduled to expire on June 30, 2026."

What does it mean to vote ‘yes’?

A ‘yes’ vote will renew the 1/4-cent public safety sales tax for another 20 years. Revenue from the tax will largely go toward a new municipal jail and rehabilitation center, city officials say.

The city plans to build its new jail in eastern Jackson County, next to the site of the new Jackson County Detention Center along U.S. Highway 40 near Blue Valley Park. The city already approved spending $2.3 million to purchase the land for the jail from Jackson County.

It’s still unclear exactly how much money a new detention and rehabilitation center will cost Kansas City, or what it would look like. One estimate says the detention center will cost upwards of $800 million over its lifetime.

Supporters of the tax, including the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, say a new jail is necessary since the city does not currently have one. Currently, the city sends people to jails in Vernon County and Johnson County, Missouri.

The Vernon County jail has come under scrutiny in recent years, following reports of mistreatment against Black men from Kansas City and poor conditions.

Second District Council member Wes Rogers said, if the center is built, the city would be in a better position to offer mental health care through a city-owned facility to people who are incarcerated.

“We're incarcerating people already, and they're not getting, frankly, the quality of care they probably deserve,” Rogers said at a council meeting in December. “And that we can provide if that was here.”

The city’s best option for public safety is to provide different alternatives before people get to incarceration, Fourth District at-Large Council member Crispin Rea said during a December meeting.

“I feel confident that we right-sized this facility to meet that specific need,” Rea said. “You're not wasting money on over-incarcerating, but we're meeting the need that the best science we have available tells us exists.”

The tax currently generates about $24 million annually. William Choi, with the city finance department, told City Council members in December that revenue from the tax is expected to increase by 2% each year.

Previously, tax revenue has been used to support the Kansas City Police Department and emergency and medical services. It also funded improvements at police facilities.

Finance Director Tammy Queen told council members that the KCPD also wants the tax revenue to fund upgrades to police car camera systems, body cameras and a new building for the Central Patrol Division.

What does it mean to vote ‘no’?

Opponents of the public safety sales tax say the city should not tax people to build a new jail, and that a detention center will not solve the problem of crime. Opponents also say sales taxes are regressive, meaning they create a larger burden on low-income taxpayers.

“Research overwhelmingly indicates that building new jails does not make a community safer,” reads a letter from a coalition of local groups opposing the tax renewal that includes Decarcerate KC, KC Tenants, Missouri Worker Center and Stand Up KC. “Our community is hurting and our people deserve something better.”

Sixth District Council member Johnathan Duncan pushed back on the sales tax during a December council meeting. He pointed out the city spends more on policing and enforcement than it does on housing and other social services.

“We keep talking about a balance — there isn't one,” he said. “We are not balanced. We have not been balanced. And when we think about how much we spend on enforcement and detention … and we look at our numbers, they're not getting better.”

Decarcerate KC’s Pateisha Royal, who has been talking with voters about opposing the public safety sales tax, said there are better ways Kansas City can use taxpayer dollars.

“We know that the jail impacts the working class, poor individuals, and brown and Black individuals,” Royal said. “It's impacting not only us, now, but also our future generation. And so I think it would continue to exploit us and our children.”

Lizette Valdes, also a member of Decarcerate KC, lives near the proposed site of the new city jail. She said the city should instead fund programs to support young people.

“When we walk outside, I want to see things that motivate us, empower us, that enrich us,” she said.