KANSAS CITY, Mo. - City officials say the Kansas City Power & Light District, opened in 2007, is by no means a failure, but lower-than-expected tax revenues from there and other businesses have caused a near-$70 million shortfall in the city budget.
City Council member Deb Hermann adds that Power & Light officials also asked for a reduction in property taxes. The reduction combined with lower-than-expected tax revenues makes up a $20 million chunk of the shortfall.
Leaders say also to blame is employment costs, sales and property taxes all over the city, the operation of Kemper Arena in the red and more money needed by the police department.
Police Chief Jim Corwin says the department needs an additional $6 million to maintain the number of officers on the street now.
In order to keep police on the streets in fact, the city had to make cuts, like bulky item pickup and some youth advocacy programs.
"We had to decide maybe those aren't our core mission," said Deb Hermann, a member of the city council and chair of the Finance and Audit Committee. "Instead of starving everyone, we decided to fund (the police department) adequately and not do those other programs at all."
City officials say it could have been worse if leaders hadn’t already made cuts to the budget over the last two years, adding up to more than $120 million.
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