Shawnee residents will likely be asked to vote on a new version of the city’s “parks and pipes” sales tax later this year that would allow some of the money raised to be used for something new.
This week, the Shawnee City Council gave its initial blessing to new language for the proposed ⅛-cent sales tax during a council committee meeting.
The move comes after months of sometimes-tense discussion over the future of the tax. The revision, if ultimately approved by voters, would allow the revenue generated from the tax to be used with more “flexibility,” councilmembers say.
For years, the parks side of Shawnee’s “parks and pipes” sales tax has been used to pay for park and trail improvements, usually one-time expenses that have focused on completing new parks or beautifying existing ones.
The revised language the council is now considering would open the door to having some funds used for general operational expenses, something the mayor and city staff have expressed reservations about.
Council wants to be able to use revenues for operations
- This revision would allow the city to pay for things like ongoing parks maintenance with the sales tax money, in addition to the bigger parks projects it’s previously been allocated toward.
- Councilmembers who support the change, including Tony Gillette, stressed that the more operational uses of the funds would only happen in a hypothetical “emergency situation” if the city found itself in a tough economic position.
- On Monday, the vote to send the sales tax and its proposed language to the full city council for final approval was nearly unanimous, with Councilmember Jill Chalfie casting the lone “no” vote.
- Other options for the tax, which the majority of the council rejected, would have kept the language as is or split the two parts of the tax so the city would have had one parks sales tax and another infrastructure-focused sales tax.
Here’s the proposed ‘parks and pipes’ ballot language:
“Shall the City of Shawnee, Kansas, pursuant to the provisions of K.S.A. 12-187, be authorized to levy a Special Purpose Citywide Retailers’ Sales Tax of one-eighth of one percent (0.125%) with approximately one-half of the revenue therefrom pledged to be used for acquiring, improving, and/or providing maintenance for land for parks or recreation purposes and approximately one half for storm drainage improvements, including repayment of bonds issued for those purposes, such tax to take effect on January 1, 2026, the day following the expiration of the existing sales tax for similar purposes, and end on December 31, 2035.”
Shawnee’s mayor has opposed the change
- Previously, disagreements between Mayor Michelle Distler and the majority of the council flared over changes to the sales tax language.
- In remarks at a council meeting at end of March, Distler suggested the shift would be unethical.
- “Seems like a pretty small thing, but it sure took a lot of horsepower to get it done,” city council president Eric Jenkins said Monday after the preliminary vote, referencing discussions the council has had in recent weeks about the tax.
Shawnee staff raise a few potential drawbacks
- Deputy city manager Caitlin Gard said changing the tax’s purpose could confuse people because it would not a true tax renewal but might come off as a brand new tax. Extra public education measures will need to be considered, she said.
- Gard also warned that it could affect the city’s bond rating, which is what Chalfie said she was most concerned about before voting against it.
- Some councilmembers responded, saying they didn’t believe it could have any bearing on Shawnee’s bond rating.
- In the past, Gard has also cautioned against using sales tax revenue on regular operational expenses because the funding source is conditional and park maintenance is an expense that will always need to be paid for.
Next steps for Shawnee:
- The council will still need to vote on the actual ballot language and approve its placement on November’s ballot.
- If it gets the official greenlight, voters in Shawnee will be asked to vote “yes” or “no” on the tax. If approved, it would take effect in 2026.
- It would be placed on the ballot with the municipal races in November, which include some city council spots and the mayor’s seat.
More on this: Tensions emerge over Shawnee’s ‘parks and pipes’ sales tax renewal
