Kansas City is not trying to defund its police. The Missouri Supreme Court was right | Opinion

We’ve long held that Kansas Citians and Kansas Citians alone should have the final say in how the city spends taxpayer dollars on policing. After the recent Missouri Supreme Court ruling, we repeat: Missourians must say no to a do-over on Amendment 4 in November’s election.

Politicians in the General Assembly should not dictate how much we spend on law enforcement. Every other city in the state controls its own police budget. Kansas City should, too.

Last week, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in Kansas City’s favor, ordering a redo of a 2022 constitutional amendment that mandates the city spend 25% of its general revenue budget on policing.

Two years ago, 63% of Missouri voters approved the measure. But then, citing a misleading fiscal note in the summary for Amendment 4, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas sued Secretary of State Jay Aschcroft and auditor Scott Fitzgerald and won.

The opacity of the original ballot language may very well have led voters down the wrong path then. Fortunately, the new proposal is written much more clearly.

In its April 30 ruling, the state Supreme Court ordered a special election to take place Nov. 5, as part of the general election. The new measure, the state’s highest court ruled, must read:

“Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to authorize laws, passed before December 31st, 2026, that increase minimum funding for a police force established by a state board of police commissioners to ensure such police force has additional resources to serve its communities?

“This would authorize a law passed in 2022 increasing required funding by the City of Kansas City for police department requests from 20% of general revenue to 25%, an increase of $38,743,646, though the City previously provided that level of funding voluntarily. No other state or local governmental entities estimate costs or savings.”

We urge Kansas City public servants and community and civic leaders to raise awareness of the negative impact that a yes vote would have on the city’s ability to provide basic services to its constituents.

A valid argument could be made that voters outside Kansas City may have not understood the impact Amendment 4 would have on the city’s budget, said Lora McDonald, executive director of Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equality or MORE2.

MORE2 sued Kansas City after city officials refused to turn over communications between Mayor Quinton Lucas and a city attorney about the lawsuit Lucas filed against the state regarding the amendment, The Star reported last summer. Kansas City violated Missouri’s Sunshine Law open records statute, MORE2 alleged in the suit, which is still working its way through the courts.

“Since we are getting another shot at a statewide election, we need to be vigilant to ensure the ballot language and the fiscal note accurately depicts what is happening,” McDonald said this week.

We are not anti-police. Neither is Lucas or the City Council. Contrary to misleading statements from statewide politicians such as Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, there is no movement to defund Kansas City police, and never has been.

In fact, the department’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year is nearly $318 million, an 11.5% increase of more than $284 million the department was allocated the previous fiscal year.

A $33 million bump in police spending for new hires and retention is not chump change. And the increase falls in line with the city’s recent track record. By law, Kansas City must use 20% of its budget on policing. As pointed out in Lucas’ lawsuit, the City Council often goes above and beyond those minimum requirements.

For example, in fiscal year 2022, the police department received 24.8% of the city’s general revenue, according to court records. No government overreach was needed then or now.

“While @QuintonLucasKC went to Court to defund the police, I will never stop fighting to ensure the KC police are funded,” Ashcroft, a gubernatorial Republican candidate for Missouri governor, wrote in a highly misleading April 30 post on X.

The fiscal note on 2022’s amendment read: “State and local governmental entities estimate no additional costs or savings related to this proposal.”

By a majority vote, the seven-member Missouri Supreme Court ruled the note was inaccurate and misleading to voters because it was the last thing they read before filling out their ballot. In fact, city officials estimated Amendment 4 would cost Kansas City taxpayers about $39 million dollars per year until the mandate ends in 2026, according to Lucas’ lawsuit.

As a board, we are opposed to any measure that dictates how Kansas City spends taxpayers’ money on our local police department. Missourians unfettered by state oversight of their own departments should be against it, too.