The Lenexa City Council has approved language for a special mail-in ballot measure asking residents to extend the city’s existing 3/8-cent sales tax.
On Tuesday, the city council voted 6-0 to approve a resolution finalizing ballot language that will go before voters in spring 2025, asking whether the sales tax should be renewed or not. Councilmembers Joe Karlin and Craig Denny were absent.
Specific dates for when ballots will go out and when they must be returned by are still being finalized.
Originally approved by voters in 2008, the 3/8-cent tax has served as a key funding source for some of the city’s most visible projects over the past decade-and-a-half.
Revenue generated by the tax has helped fund ongoing street maintenance projects, park improvements, city facility renovations and trail construction.
If it is not renewed, the current tax will expire in September 2028. If approved, the tax will be extended through 2048.
The sales tax has been on the books since 2008
Since first approved more than 15 years ago, the sales tax has funded road and sidewalk resurfacing projects, renovations to facilities like the Sar-Ko-Par Aquatic Center and Ad Astra Pool, as well as the upcoming Lenexa Old Town Activity Center and playground equipment replacement.
Between 35-40% of the total tax proceeds have been paid by visitors to Lenexa and not residents, according to estimates from the Kansas Department of Revenue.
Overall, the city says the sales tax has generated nearly $150 million so far. If renewed, the city estimates the tax will generate an additional roughly $260 million by the time it expires in 2048.
During Tuesday’s city council meeting, Mike Nolan, assistant city manager, clarified that the renewal would not create a new tax and would not raise the amount of existing taxes.
“This would be a renewal of an existing sales tax and is not a new sales tax,” he said.
Four open houses are scheduled
The city has now established a FAQ web page about the sales taxes and what it has paid for since first being instituted.
The city will also host four community open houses in February and March.
The first open house will be held at 5 p.m. on Feb. 24, at the Lenexa Rec Center, 17201 West 87th Street Pkwy.
The total estimated cost to carry out the mail-in ballot election is between $140,000 and $190,000, with most of it being used for printing and mailing ballots. Those funds are included in the city’s budget for next year.
The city hopes to clarify ballot language
Before the the city council voted on Tuesday, Mayor Julie Sayers expressed concern that voters may not be able to understand some of the ballot language.
Through the city’s open houses and educational campaign about the sales tax, it hopes to clear that up, City Manager Beccy Yocham said.
“Throughout our educational campaign, we’re going to use plain language for all of this,” she said. “The only time you’re going to see this legalese, for lack of a better term, is in the ballot itself.”
“So hopefully we’ve done a good enough job educating our residents and voters about what the intentions are that they will understand what is intended when they go to actually mark a ballot,” she added.
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