Kansas City Council: Special Committee for Legal Review (Sept. 21, 2026)

By Brandee Collins, Kansas City Documenter

These notes were produced through Kansas City Documenters, which trains and pays community members to take fact-checked notes at public meetings, strengthening transparency and accountability in local government.

Summary

• The committee recommended approving Kansas City’s share of a nationwide Kia and Hyundai vehicle theft settlement, with the still-confidential proceeds going to the city’s Violence Prevention Fund.
• The committee advanced, without opposition, two ordinances that would put citizen-initiated measures on the April 6, 2027, ballot: a monorail and transit package split into two sales tax questions, and a measure requiring voter approval before the city materially supports certain stadiums or arenas.
• The committee held five items off the docket, including World Cup funding and two proposals from Councilmember Nathan Willett, and sent 20 long-pending ordinances to the full council to be released from its semiannual docket.

Notes

Mayor Quinton Lucas, the committee chair, opened the meeting with separate requests to remove several items from the docket. The items removed from the docket without objection were:

• 260316: This would have waived the city’s reserve policy to appropriate $200,000 from the Convention and Tourism Fund for World Cup hosting costs. Lucas suggested the funding was not needed because the tournament had come and gone successfully.
• 260609 and 260610: The citizen-petition ordinances pertaining to the proposed new downtown stadium for the Kansas City Royals and a transit sales tax measure were superseded by two others on the committee agenda.
• Lucas said indications from Willett led him to propose removing two measures introduced by the councilman:
  • 260629: The resolution called for adding support for the federal SAVE Act to the city’s federal legislative priorities.
  • 260638: The ordinance called for creating a Kansas City Data Center Transparency Task Force.

• Kia and Hyundai settlement
  • 260838: The resolution approves the city’s settlement with Hyundai Motor America and Kia America in the national vehicle theft litigation. It authorizes the city attorney to sign the settlement, keeps the terms confidential until all parties sign and directs the proceeds to the Violence Prevention Fund.
  • City Attorney Matthew Gigliotti said the city sued in 2023 to recover public safety costs. The suit alleged the automakers did too little to keep their anti-theft protections from being defeated, making it too easy to break into cars, which led to crime on Kansas City’s streets. He said Kansas City and 28 or 29 other municipalities were finalizing a nationwide cost-recovery settlement. The council has been briefed on the terms, which remain confidential. The proceeds will go to the Violence Prevention Fund once received and cleared. 
  • Lucas said directing the money to the fund reflected advocacy by committee Vice Chair Melissa Robinson. He said groups like Aim4Peace have had to struggle for funding. He said the goal was to secure a dedicated source of violence prevention money that would stay available after current officials leave office.
  • Action: Recommended advance and do pass by voice vote, without opposition.

[Editor’s Note: The full council approved the resolution at its Sept. 24 meeting. The vote was 12-0 with Robinson absent.]

• Monorail and transit sales taxes
  • 260859: The ordinance — pushed by prolific transit petitioner Clay Chastain — calls for an April 6, 2027, election on a citizen-initiated package split into two ballot questions. The first is a new 1/4-cent capital improvement sales tax. The second continues the existing 3/8-cent public transit sales tax for 40 years starting in 2033. The projects are:
    • A citywide monorail linking Kansas City International Airport, the Northland, downtown, Union Station, the Country Club Plaza, the East Side and the Kansas City Zoo.
    • Electric shuttle buses.
    • A streetcar extension to the 18th and Vine Historic Jazz District.
    • Converting parts of Troost Avenue and West 39th Street into corridors that restrict thru traffic.
    • Penn Valley Park improvements.
    • A regional transportation hub at Union Station, including possible eminent domain for 2300 and 2301 Main St.
  • The city attorney’s office said that the petition had arrived as one ordinance but that the city had split it into two questions because each is a separate tax authorization. This approach tracks with action taken in 2014 — following litigation — regarding a similar proposal Chastain advanced. Lucas asked about the order in which the questions will appear on the ballot. A representative from the city attorney’s office said the mayor’s office had historically sent the city clerk a note setting the order.
  • A committee member said each tax could pass or fail on its own, though both fund the same projects. The member asked what would happen if only one were to pass and funding were to fall short. The city attorney’s office representative said the city would need to study the effect on project timelines, since the initiative includes none, and added that the council would have to address any inconsistencies after the election.
  • Public comment: A member of the public asked what the 3/8-cent tax currently funded. The city attorney’s office representative said it was the public transit sales tax, one of two taxes that fund the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. Under the initiative, it would shift from the KCATA and instead to the initiative’s projects starting in 2033, continuing through 2073.
  • Action: Recommended advance and do pass by voice vote, without opposition.

[Editor’s Note: The full council approved the resolution at its Oct. 1 meeting. The vote was 10-2 with Councilman Kevin McManus absent. Willett and Councilman Kevin O’Neill were the “no” votes. Approving the resolution indicates support for moving the question to the ballot according to the citizen petition process, not necessarily support for what the question proposes.]

• Stadium voter-approval measure
  • 260858: The ordinance calls for an April 6, 2027, election on a citizen-initiated measure. It would bar city officers, agents and employees from advancing any plan to design or build, with material city support, a stadium, arena or similar venue seating 2,500 or more for a for-profit business unless voters approve it first. The ban also covers related development and certain infrastructure. Violations would carry a $500 fine per day.
  • Public comment: Kenda Tomes McClain, who is a candidate in next year’s mayoral election, supported putting stadium decisions before voters. She said:
    • Kansas City residents made clear in a 2024 countywide vote that they did not want to fund a new stadium and that past stadiums had produced little economic development.
    • The ordinance didn’t go far enough and should also cover the Royals stadium proposal now under discussion.
    • The proposal’s financing is hard to understand and asked what non-baseball-related revenue meant. She proposed a citizen task force to review the financing and offered to serve on it
  • Action: Recommended advance and do pass by voice vote, without opposition.

[Editor’s Note: The full council approved the resolution at its Oct. 1 meeting. The vote was 11-1 with McManus absent. O’Neill was the “no” vote. Approving the resolution indicates support for moving the question to the ballot according to the citizen petition process, not necessarily support for what the question proposes.]

• City Response
  • The city issued a news release on Oct. 1 regarding the council’s action to place both measures on the ballot. In the release, Lucas said neither proposal would prevent the city from moving ahead with current transit plans, including funding the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, or stadium developments like the new Royals Stadium or the expansion of the Kansas City Current stadium on the Berkley Riverfront.

• Semiannual docket
  • Lucas recommended sending the committee’s long-held ordinances to the full council and said some of them had been pending four to five years. He said that step was how they get released.
  • McManus said he was not on the council when many of the items were introduced and deferred to Robinson on any concerns. He then moved to report 20 ordinances to the full council with a recommendation that they be released from the semiannual docket. 
  • Action: Approved by voice vote, without opposition.

[Editor’s Note: All the semiannual docket items were released, according to a summary of action from the Sept. 24 council meeting.]

Observations & Follow-Up Questions

Observations:

• The Hyundai Motor America and Kia America settlement amount was not disclosed. The ordinance says the agreement becomes public once every party signs. It also directs the proceeds to the Violence Prevention Fund’s FY 2027-28 funding plan.
• Holding 260316 leaves open how the city will cover the final $200,000 of its World Cup funding agreement with KC2026. This was not discussed.
• The 260859 ordinance text still lists Jan. 1, 2026, as the start date for the new 1/4-cent tax, which is before the April 2027 election. This was not discussed.

Follow-up questions:

• When will Kansas City’s settlement amount become public, and how will the city decide which programs receive the money through the Violence Prevention Fund?
• If voters approve the transit tax question, how would KCATA bus service be funded after 2033, when the 3/8-cent tax would shift to the monorail projects?
• If voters approve it in April, would the stadium measure apply to the Royals stadium proposal already under discussion?

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