Overland Park could soon ask city voters to decide on a new sales tax to pay for parks and recreation projects, though several details are still unclear.
Currently on the table is a 1/8-cent sales tax, a 1/4-cent sales tax or a 3/8-cent sales tax that could come up in a special election early next year.
The discussion follows the Overland Park City Council’s approval on Monday of the new 10-year parks and recreation plan, called Playbook OP. The final vote was 9-3, with Council President Melissa Cheatham and Councilmembers Drew Mitrisin and Richard Borlaza, who have all opposed the plan’s aquatics vision, in dissent.
Playbook OP envisions millions more dollars in parks and recreation investments over the next decade, including new projects and a growing volume of maintenance and repair work on aging parks across the city.
But now, the city has to figure out how to pay for that.
Based on current average annual investment levels on parks projects, Overland Park faces a roughly $250 million delta between anticipated spending and the full estimated cost of Playbook OP in the next decade. All of that has prompted talks about the potential sales tax as a means of adding funds to see the entire plan brought to life.
Playbook OP ponders parks sales tax
Overland Park has historically funded the majority of its parks projects from its general fund, supported by property taxes and regular sales tax collection.
Playbook OP does raise the prospect of a parks sales tax as a means to address the nearly $250 million funding deficit. That would specifically set aside funds for parks, trails and recreation, and could not be used for other purposes, functioning similarly to Overland Park’s 3/8-cent OP Moves sales tax, which raises funds exclusively for infrastructure projects.
The exact amount the city could ask for in a parks and recreation sales tax is still unsettled. However, a 1/8-cent parks sales tax would make the overall sales tax rate in Overland Park 9.475%. It would raise about $8.8 million in one year, or $88 million in a decade.
A 1/8-cent sales tax would generate about one cent on a $10 purchase.
During the Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, Mayor Curt Skoog voiced support for a 1/8-cent tax, saying it is important to weigh a desire to generate more parks revenues with the public’s comfort level with levying a new tax.
He said the 1/8 -cent tax would make a big difference in the city’s ability to take care of existing park and recreation facilities that may be facing deferred maintenance.
“That would be a big step ahead of where we are today,” he said.
Councilmember Logan Heley disagreed, urging his fellow councilmembers to support a larger sales tax, potentially the 3/8-cent option. He pointed to the success other communities have had in passing their own parks sales taxes.
“I really have no concern about our community approving any of these three options. I think any of these three would likely pass overwhelmingly,” he said. “I would hate for us to make this sort of generational decision and leave such significant revenue on the table.”
Other funding sources suggested by Playbook OP include increasing the cost of rentals, raising the general city sales tax, decreasing city subsidization of attractions like Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead and pursuing more sponsorships, like the one in place at the Scheels Overland Park Soccer Complex.
Other Johnson County cities have parks sales taxes
If Overland Park decides to proceed with a potential parks and recreation sales tax, it wouldn’t be the first city in Johnson County to do so.
Olathe has had a 1/8-cent parks sales tax since 1999, which the public has renewed several times over the years. The most recent renewal in 2023 passed overwhelmingly with nearly 78% of the vote.
Shawnee also has a 1/8-cent “Parks and Pipes” sales tax, which pays for parks and recreation as well as stormwater projects. In 2023, city voters renewed the tax, with nearly 75% of ballots in favor.
Additionally, Lenexa has a 3/8-cent sales tax which pays for several things, including parks and recreation. Last April, that city greenlit a 20-year extension to the tax with almost 80% of voters in support.
What’s next in parks sales tax talks?
Because the city council did not reach a consensus on whether to proceed with the sales tax and how much to ask for, conversations are likely to continue into an already-scheduled Committee of the Whole meeting on Oct. 5.
If the city council decides to ask for a sales tax, then then will have to vote on ballot language to put in front of city voters no later than the Nov. 16 meeting in order to have it ready for a spring 2027 election.
At this point, the plan is to conduct a potential special election for the sales tax by mail-in ballot, which would be due on March 2, 2027.
If ultimately approved, the 10-year sales tax would start on Oct. 1, 2027, and sunset in 2037. The city council also choose to extend the sales tax with another election before the expiration date, which other Johnson County cities have chosen to do for their own sales taxes.
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