Winter shelter, EV charging stations & more: How KC is spending its marijuana tax money
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Kansas City has received $4.1 million from a city tax on recreational marijuana to be spent in three areas: public works, homelessness and health.
Recreational marijuana use in Missouri was legalized in late 2022. In April 2023, local voters approved an extra 3% tax in Kansas City, on top of a 6% state tax.
So far, revenue generated from the sales tax has been spent on some of the city's most pressing problems.
According to documents from the city, $1.5 million has been budgeted for the public works department. That includes funds for public notice ads and a neighborhood dumpster program. It also includes $355,000 for trash removal equipment and $745,000 for litter abatement.
A half-million dollars was allocated to the housing department, records from the city show. That money has gone toward a cold weather shelter, including operations, supplies, staff and food.
Kansas City does not have a permanent low-barrier shelter , making it an outlier among similar-sized cities. Such shelters provide beds to anyone, regardless of their religion, addiction or other circumstances.
The city has funded seasonal shelter beds since winter 2021, after a man froze to death . The winter 2023 plan ran from Dec. 1 to March 1.
The Kansas City area has the highest percentage of people experiencing chronic homelessness living unsheltered of any major U.S. city, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Of 280 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness in the area, nearly 96% were living outside.
In August 2022, the city appropriated $8.3 million in federal grants to use for a permanent low-barrier shelter and other housing needs. In 2023, it published a plan for the money and solicited bids from nonprofits for the shelter.
Earlier this year, Mayor Quinton Lucas proposed using $7.1 million of those federal grants for a shelter run by a local nonprofit. In the spring, the City Council voted to reject proposed shelter plans , cancel the city's solicitation process and try again after facing pushback from some neighbors.
Over the summer, the council moved to start negotiating potential shelter contracts totaling the same dollar amount — but with multiple nonprofits in the mix instead of just one.
No proposal — including the number of beds, location or timeline — has been announced yet. Both HUD and the City Council will need to approve the plan.
Violence prevention
In recent years, city officials have voiced concern about violent crime. Last year was the deadliest year on record for homicides in Kansas City. This year, the homicide rate has slowed, but nonfatal shootings are up.
Several new initiatives to curb violence have been announced in recent months, including SAVE KC. The organization works to reduce violence through a strategy called focused deterrence. Community leaders host "call ins" where they discuss the consequences of gun violence and offer services to those close to violence.
According to city records, $42,000 was earmarked for a client advocate to assist nonfatal shooting victims and families of homicide victims through SAVE KC.
The largest allocation for violence prevention efforts, which go through the public health department — more than $279,000 — went toward electric vehicle charging stations.
Assistant city manager Melissa Kozakiewicz said the "upgrades were needed for the violence prevention team's fleet."
The funds were allocated to the health department's Aim4Peace program through an ordinance that passed in September 2023. The group relies on conflict mediation by trained staff rooted in communities, not law enforcement.
Other expenses included $336,253 for payroll and $4,500 for a violence intervention "train the trainer" program.
Additional money from the tax will be used for violence prevention activities through Aim4Peace, Kozakiewicz said.
