Northeast News
November 6, 2013

Jackson County voters overwhelming voted against the proposed 1/2 cent sales tax for translational medical research.

About 30,000 residents voted during the Nov. 5 special election and about 81 percent voted against the measure, according to unofficial election results.

If approved, the 20-year, half-cent sales tax would have generated about $40 million annually to create a “world class” institute for translational research and medicine.

Children’s Mercy Hospital was slated to receive 50 percent of the tax; St. Luke’s Hospital, 20 percent; the University of Missouri-Kansas City, 20 percent; and 10 percent for supportive grants.

Supporters of the tax said it would have “bridged the gap between basic research discoveries, clinical applications and advanced treatments.”