Along with a handful of municipalities seeking approval of a sales tax for recreational marijuana – Kansas City, Riverside, Northmoor, Weston – one local city is seeking to bolster its law enforcement through a ballot measure.
In Parkville, two questions are on the election ballot, which also features a non-election for the board of aldermen, with all positions uncontested. The first of the two questions, called “Proposition P,” reads “Shall the City of Parkville impose a citywide sales tax of one-half of one percent for the purpose of improving the public safety of the City, including but not limited to, Police positions, salaries and benefits, and related expenditures on police facilities and equipment?”
City officials say with the growth of the Parkville area this tax would allow the city to improve public safety through bolstering funding for the city’s police department.
Also on the ballot, not for the first time, is “Proposition U,” which reads, “Shall the City of Parkville impose a local use tax (a sales tax on purchases made from out-of-state sellers by in-state buyers and on certain intrabusiness transactions) at the same rate as the total local sales tax rate, for the purpose of funding infrastructure and capital improvements within the City, provided that if the local sales tax rate is reduced or raised by voter approval, the local use tax rate shall also be reduced or raised by the same action?”
The tax only covers purchases made from out of state, allowing local businesses to better compete with online sellers.