The potential for a “drastically different” downtown Merriam may come with the cost of a new municipal sales tax.

On Monday, City Administrator Chris Engel outlined an early proposal to the Merriam City Council for a potential sales tax ballot initiative to put before voters, aimed at helping pay for a not-yet-finalized downtown makeover.

The idea for a new sales tax is being floated as the city’s downtown master plan steering committee last month recommended the most expensive of three options for the city’s downtown: a plan costing between $196 million and $299 million that would transform today’s mostly industrial downtown area into one with housing and retail shops and also elevate the area out of the Turkey Creek floodplain.

(Two other alternatives considered by the steering committee are projected to cost $122 million and $20 million, respectively, though the cheapest option includes no flood mitigation.)

Engel told the city council on Monday that, in past surveys for the downtown master plan, 80% of residents said they support using sales taxes to pay for any downtown changes.

Engel said asking voters to approve a downtown sales tax would also serve as a referendum of sorts for the city’s longterm plans for downtown.

“In the absence of a referendum in and of itself, this is your next best thing,” Engel said. “We will reach out to every single registered voter in Merriam and ask them, ‘Do they want us to move forward with skin in the game?’”

The early proposal comes as two current sales taxes, one for the Merriam Community Center and another countywide public safety sales tax that gives some funds to cities, are both on track to sunset at the end of 2027.

The city council did not take a vote on a possible downtown sales tax Monday.

Three sales tax options presented, from quarter- to half-cent

Engel laid out several potential options for a special sales tax to the city council.

Those options are a half-cent, three-eighths cent and a quarter-cent sales tax on top of sales taxes shoppers currently pay at Merriam businesses.

Here’s how much money those three options could generate annually, according to Engel’s presentation:

• A half-cent sales tax could generate roughly $5.2 million annually
• A three-eighths cent sales tax could generate roughly $3.9 million annually
• A quarter-cent sales tax could generate roughly $2.6 million annually

Those options would amount to $0.50 on a $100 purchase for a half-cent sales tax, $0.38 for a three-eighths cent sales tax and $0.25 for a quarter-cent sales tax.

Engel said most of the money generated from a new sales tax would come from nonresidents who shop in Merriam.

He noted that the city’s “pull factor,” an economic term for a city’s retailers attracting business, was the highest in the state. The city hosts a number of car dealerships along I-35 and also is home to the metro’s only Ikea store.

Non-residents, Engel said, are about to help pay off the city’s new community center next year because of the same economic forces. 

“I think we should continue to do that, we should continue to exploit that in any fashion that we can, because that is a fantastic superpower,” Engel said.

Still, Engel said none of the three sales tax options would pay for any vision for downtown Merriam in full.

A 2028 start date, if approved

Engel’s proposal eyes a potential Jan. 1, 2028 start date for any potential special sales tax, with a vote on any proposal next year.

Engel said a special sales tax mail-in ballot requires proper notice and coordination with the Johnson County Election Office.

Plus, a 2028 start date would give time for the other two sales taxes on the books — the municipal and county ones — to expire before a new sales tax takes effect.

If a special sales tax for downtown, which can be defined in mail-in ballot language, passes and is imposed by Jan. 1, 2028, Engel said “there would be minimal impact” for shoppers at businesses in Merriam.

Next steps:

• Engel said the plan is to bring draft ballot language before city council discussion, potentially at the next meeting.
• The city council may consider a resolution to call for a vote as early as November.
• If the city council moves forward, then a special mail-in election would happen in March 2027.

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