A rendering of Longfellow Park with Ronald McDonald House’s proposed expansion. | Photo courtesy of Ronald McDonald House Kansas City
A rendering of Longfellow Park with Ronald McDonald House’s proposed expansion. | Photo courtesy of Ronald McDonald House Kansas City

Julia Williams

Editor-in-Chief

Question 1: Capital Improvements Sales Tax — Public Safety 

In January, Kansas City City Council passed Ordinance 240695, which allowed the Public Safety and Property Sales tax to appear on Kansas City ballots — inquiring voters to approve this tax to renew for an additional 20 years. 

The Public Safety Sales Tax was first introduced to Kansas City voters in April 2010 with a mission to improve public safety, neighborhood infrastructure — including sidewalks and road repairs — as well as working to sustain staffing for Kansas City Police and Fire Departments. 

Question 1 on the April 8 election ballot will read as follows:

KANSAS CITY MISSOURI 

SPECIAL ELECTION 

APRIL 8, 2025

QUESTION 1 

Capital Improvements Sales Tax — Public Safety 

Shall the City of Kansas City continue to impose a sales tax authorized by section 94.577 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri for a period of 20 years at a rate of ¼ % to be used for police, emergency medical services and emergency management associated with administering public safety within Kansas City, including the construction, operation, and maintenance of capital improvements, which may include the retirement of debt under previously authorized indebtedness or to repay bonds not yet issued? 

This sales tax would continue the existing sales tax authorized by section 94.577 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri and scheduled to expire on June 30, 2026. 

In addition to previous allocations, the City of Kansas City has plans to use funds from this sales tax to construct and implement a new Jackson County municipal, rehabilitation and detention center — if Kansas City votes in favor of Question 1, according to the City of Kansas City’s website. 

Kansas City’s Municipal Correctional Institute (MCI, a city jail or detention center for ordinance violations — property codes, traffic infractions, etc.) also known as “The Farm,”  was dedicated in 1971, but closed its location near Truman Sports Complex (8100 Ozark Rd.) in 2009. 

Since its discontinuation, Jackson County has transported area offenders to the Vernon County municipal detention center in Nevada, Mo., just shy of 100 miles from Kansas City for the past 16 years. 

However, if Kansas City votes to renew this public safety initiative — which includes a ¼-cent sales tax for all taxpayers — on April 8, the City hopes to reinstate a Municipal Corrections Facility within Jackson County. 

“Residents and business owners deserve to be safe in Kansas City. To accomplish that goal, we are investing millions of dollars into long-term solutions such as alternatives to incarceration, mental health, and social services. The Detention and Rehabilitation Center is one more pillar in that public safety strategy,” Fourth District-At-Large Councilman Crispin Rea shared in a City of Kansas City press release. 

If Kansas City voters do not pass Question 1, the current Public Safety Sales Tax will expire on June 30, 2026. 

For additional information on ballot question 1, or on the City of Kansas City’s proposal, visit: https://www.kcmo.gov/Home/Components/News/News/2294/16. 

Question 2: Park Property 

Question 2 on the April 8 ballot will read as follows: 

QUESTION 2 

(Park Property)

Should the City of Kansas City remove from its park system approximately 3.42 acres of Longfellow Park generally located between E. 25th Street and E. 26th Street, and between Gillham Road and Cherry Street, to convey said property to a not-for-profit corporation, for the public purpose of providing and expanding a campus to provide families with access to free housing, lodging and services that are nearby pediatric hospitals within the City, and authorize the City to convey said property for terms and consideration as the City may determine acceptable? 

Longfellow Park — a Kansas City public park located at 502 E. 26th St. — additionally falls on the same land as Ronald McDonald House Kansas City (2502 Cherry St.), a global, nonprofit with a mission of supporting ill children and their families, according to its website. 

This Ronald McDonald House location — also known as “Longfellow House” — opened in 2006 in partnership with the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department. It joined the existing Ronald McDonald House on Cherry Street, the “Bernstein House” and expanded with the addition of the “Wylie House” in 2015. 

However, with 10 years since the program’s last Kansas City expansion, Ronald McDonald House has begun turning away families in need due to capacity constraints, Ronald McDonald House Kansas City CEO, Tami Greenberg shared in an interview, Monday. 

To ask for private dollars to fund this expansion, Greenberg shared Ronald McDonald House is requesting the public’s permission to purchase and build on land from the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department, which the nonprofit currently resides on. 

This proposal includes Ronald Mcdonald House offering a purchase price to the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department for 3.42 acres of land on Longfellow Park property to utilize for expanding its facilities. 

“We don’t want to remove a park, we love the parks; There is a public green space created for families,” Greenberg said in an interview. 

Currently, 1.5 acres of Longfellow Park is allocated toward green space with a dedicated walking path and exercise equipment. Greenberg said this 1.5 acres would remain within Longfellow Park and would not be included within Ronald McDonald House’s proposed expansion. 

Greenberg additionally mentioned that while this land is currently owned by the City of Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department, its funding comes from Kansas City residents and taxpayers. However, if the City votes to pass Question 2, following a land-sale, expenses would be redirected from the City to Ronald McDonald House. 

Ronald McDonald House does not currently have a target timeline for breaking ground on construction, as Greenberg said if Kansas City votes to pass Question 2, this proposed expansion will require the program to fundraise. 

For additional information on ballot Question 2, or Ronald McDonald House Kansas City, visit: https://rmhckc.org/ , or https://jcebmo.org/election-information/on-the-ballot/.