Johnson County voters will decide this November whether the special public safety sales tax that paid for the new courthouse and medical examiner facility should be continued for another 10 years.
County commissioners voted Thursday to put the Public Safety III quarter-cent tax on the ballot, saying it is a way to maintain vital county services at a time when inflation and ebbing revenues are straining the budget.
The sales tax was originally approved in 2016 and is set to expire in March of 2027 unless voters extend it.
According to staff estimates, an extension would bring in $54 million a year which would be split between the county and cities. The county’s portion would come to about $35 million a year.
The revenues would be used to support public safety, including the Med-Act ambulance service, sheriff’s office, district attorney, mental health crisis intervention and disaster response, for both capital and operating expenses.
Department heads have noted steadily increasing 911 calls from Johnson County’s growing and aging population, which will lead to the need for more ambulances and Med-Act facilities in the coming years.
The commission voted 6-1 in favor of putting the question on November’s ballot, with Commissioner Michael Ashcraft the lone vote against.
What commissioners said
Generally, the commission agreed that the public safety sales tax was the most palatable option for raising revenues at a time when a resident survey showed increased property taxes to be unpopular.
Commissioner Jeff Meyers also said the sales tax is the wisest route to take in the current “unprecedented times” with uncertain funding from federal and state governments.
“We as a county have to take care to make sure that our residents continue receiving the important services they deserve,” he said.
County chair Mike Kelly said state legislators have made changes on such things as motor vehicle licenses and personal property taxes that put more of the tax burden on counties. He said the sales tax was more attractive than raising property taxes because some of it will be paid by out-of-county residents.
Adequate funding ensures people who call 911 in Johnson County are not put on hold, he added.
But Kelly also said the county could not simply cut its way out of its budget issues, adding that county department staffers have achieved a lot of innovative ways to save taxpayer money already.
“There’s not a lot of meat on that bone. We do a pretty darn good job. I look forward to very specific recommendations from those who think there are opportunities to cut our way to the same amount of money that a public safety sales tax would bring,” Kelly said.
Ashcraft, who voted against putting the renewal before voters, expressed concerns that the county could become too dependent on a temporary funding source for ongoing operations.
The sales tax was originally intended for the dire needs of the courthouse and for an expanded medical examiner’s office, he said.
The new courthouse opened in 2021 and the old one was demolished to make way for a new open-air complex now dubbed Johnson County Square.
“I believe that we as elected officials have to be more diligent in terms of how we use existing resources before we go back to the public and ask for additional resources unless it’s for a specific project,” Ashcraft said.
Back and forth with housing advocates
Commissioners have been exploring ways to strengthen the budget for the past two years, ever since County Manager Penny Postoak Ferguson delivered a dire warning that the county’s spending and revenue growth is unsustainable in the long run.
Earlier this spring, commissioners also considered and ruled out a new “health and safety” sales tax that would not have an expiration date. County officials also are using an artificial intelligence platform to analyze where spending can be cut.
On Thursday, some commissioners took issue with comments made by four representatives of the Good Faith Network, an interfaith organization that has been active in housing issues in the county and has campaigned for a housing trust fund and homeless shelter.
Members wearing Good Faith Network tags filled the hearing room and delivered pointed comments about the commission’s priorities. Some said they are unopposed to public safety but would prefer more of an urgency on such things as a housing trust fund.
“Do we have a public safety crisis? Perhaps we do. And if that is the case, why hasn’t the same boldness been applied to the other crises the county itself acknowledges?” said Rabbi Talia Kaplan of Congregation Beth Shalom in Overland Park.
Cheryl Jefferson Bell, pastor of community justice at Resurrection United Methodist Church said, “It seems that when we ask questions or express concern about why some priorities seemingly overshadow others, we’re met with responses that simply imply, stick to volunteering and donating and leave the policy to us.”
Commissioners pushed back, saying they have worked hard on housing issues like last year’s ultimately unsuccessful effort to convert a Lenexa hotel into a homeless shelter, as well as helping meet the needs of hundreds of people unhoused this week after the city of Gardner condemned the Aspen Place Apartments.
Kelly said, “It’s a disservice to the work and the professionals that are in Johnson County to pit public safety against housing. I think that’s unfair.”
He added, “I’ll put my track record up against any other county commissioner in Johnson County’s history as to a focus on housing.”
Commissioner Janeé Hanzlick agreed. Public safety is a mandated requirement with astronomically rising costs, she said.
“This board has proven we are committed to this issue [housing],” with past action supporting the Olathe Pathway project by Habitat for Humanity and others, she said.
