Missouri court changes date of vote on Kansas City police funding to August

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri voters in August will weigh in on a constitutional amendment requiring Kansas City to spend more money on police, the state Supreme Court ordered Tuesday.

The high court changed the date when the ballot measure will appear from November to Aug. 6, the same day as Missouri's primaries. The court in April took the unusual step of striking down the 2022 voter-approved amendment.

Democratic Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has said voters were misled because the ballot language used poor financial estimates in the fiscal note summary. The measure requires the city to spend 25% of general revenue on police, up from previous 20%.

A lawsuit Lucas filed last year said Kansas City leaders informed state officials before the November 2022 election that the ballot measure would cost the city nearly $39 million and require cuts in other services. But the fiscal note summary stated that “local governmental entities estimate no additional costs or savings related to this proposal.”

Voters approved the ballot measure by 63%.