Kansas City voters will decide on two big-dollar water system questions in the Aug. 4 primary election — whether to let the city borrow up to $750 million to fix and expand its waterworks system, and another $750 million for its sewer system.

They appear on the ballot as Kansas City Question 4 (water) and Question 5 (sewer).

Neither question would raise taxes. The bonds would be repaid solely from money KC Water already collects from customers, and that repayment method is built into the ballot language.

In effect, largely the questions are whether to give the city permission to use its cheapest form of borrowing for projects the water department has planned. KC Water told the City Council in May that if the measures fail, the department would have to turn to more expensive debt, which would lead to higher rate increases than planned. 

Kansas City voters have seen — and approved — requests like these before. Kansas City voters passed a $500 million water bond authorization by roughly a 4-to-1 margin in 2014. Similarly, voters passed a $750 million sewer bond authorization by 79.49% in 2022.

Voters are being asked to authorize new revenue bonds because that previous borrowing authority is nearly used up on the waterworks side, and is largely spoken for on the sewer side. Meanwhile, water and sewer projects that need funding remain. 

Here’s what you need to know.

What exactly will I see on the ballot?

Two separate questions, worded similarly. One covers the waterworks system, the other covers sewers. You can vote yes on both, no on both, or split your vote. 

What is a revenue bond? 

A revenue bond is similar to a loan. Money is borrowed (often from investors or specialized funds), then repaid from the revenue of the thing the loan built — in this case, from your monthly water and sewer bills — rather than from taxes. 

That’s different from other bonds like general obligation bonds, which are typically paid back with property, sales, use or earnings taxes. 

By law, KC Water can’t issue revenue bonds without voter permission. KC Water calls revenue bonds a “financing tool” that it has used for decades. 

Will this raise my taxes or water bill? 

Taxes: No. These are revenue bonds repaid only from water and sewer system revenues, not by property or sales taxes. 

Your water and sewer bill: Passing the bond authorizations doesn’t trigger a rate increase. The cost of this borrowing is already baked into KC Water’s rates and long-term financial plan.

In a May City Council committee meeting, KC Water officials were asked directly if the water and sewer bond measures would raise rates. A financial analyst with the utility said that authorizing the bonds (a “yes” vote) would keep the already planned utility rate increases level.

Water and sewer rates go up most years as part of KC Water’s normal financial planning to account for infrastructure maintenance and projects that in some cases are required by federal court orders. The bonds in question would pay for these projects and be repaid with revenue from customers’ water and sewer bills. 

A “no” vote could mean higher water and sewer bills. According to KC Water, rejecting the bonds in question would mean that planned projects would still need to be done, but would be paid for using other financing options that would be more costly to the utility. They say that added cost would likely show up in the form of higher water and sewer bills for customers than previously planned. 

Water and sewer bills are planned to increase in either case, but KC Water says that rejecting  authorization of the revenue bonds could increase rates faster. 

What does a ‘yes’ vote mean?

A yes vote gives the city permission to borrow up to $750 million per system, over multiple years, for water and sewer capital projects. If the majority votes “yes,” the authority to sell the bonds takes effect immediately once election results are certified. 

A “yes” vote also preserves the option to use Missouri’s State Revolving Fund (SRF) for clean water and drinking water. This makes very low-interest financing from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources available for large water and sewer projects. The state revolving fund program requires utilities to have voter-approved bond authorization, and KC Water says it’s the cheapest financing available to Missouri water utilities.

Passage of the two bond questions does not mean the city borrows $1.5 billion the day after the election. The bonds would be sold — on the bond market or to the state through the revolving fund — in separate sales over several years to finance projects. Each individual bond sale would be accompanied by a specific project list that the bond sale would fund, which also must have approval from the City Council. 

For comparison, the last water bond authorization — $500 million approved in 2014 — saw six separate bond sales over roughly a decade. The last sewer bond authorization, $750 million in 2022, has seen two issuances so far but three more are anticipated that will take up most of that bond authorization. 

What does a ‘no’ vote mean?

In short, likely higher increases in water and bills than what’s already planned.

The bond questions failing at the ballot would likely not stop planned projects. According to KC Water officials, repairing or replacing aging water and sewer infrastructure, treatment plant upgrades and court-mandated sewer work would still continue. 

What would change is how those projects are paid for. 

KC Water anticipates that without voter-approved revenue bond authority they would pay for water and sewer projects with other financing options that could cost tens of millions of dollars more. 

This projected higher cost is because once the previous voter-approved revenue bond authority is exhausted, KC Water would no longer be eligible to apply for access to Missouri’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund or the Clean Water State Revolving Fund without new authorization. Those funds offer deeply discounted interest rates for water infrastructure projects for utilities, but require either revenue or general obligation bonds to be authorized. 

KC Water anticipates that if these measures do not pass it would mean higher water and sewer bills. In a May City Council committee meeting a KC Water financial analyst said that if the bond questions do not pass, “we would have to ask for significant rate increases above the ones we’ve been asking for year after year.” 

What would the waterworks money pay for? 

There is no locked-in, legally binding project list — that comes later, when each bond sale goes to the City Council for approval.

But KC Water shared its projected five-year plan with the City Council (see presentation attachment) ahead of this question being placed on the ballot.

The department projects just over $1.2 billion in water system capital needs from fiscal year 2027 through 2031. 

The biggest category is distribution (the pipes under your street), at about $737 million over five years, followed by facilities at about $314 million and transmission at just under $92 million.

KC Water’s priority list for the bond money includes:

• Ongoing water main replacement — about 28 miles per year out of the system’s 2,800 miles of pipe, plus valve and hydrant maintenance.
• Northland pump station, transmission and storage work.
• South Booster and Turkey Creek pump station work.
• Replacing the 20-year-old computerized system operators used to monitor and control the waterworks. 

You can look up projects near your address on KC Water’s project map at kcwater.us/projects.

What would the sewer money pay for? 

As with the waterworks question, there is no locked-in, legally binding project list — that comes later, when each bond sale goes to the City Council for approval.

But KC Water shared its projected five-year capital improvements plan with the City Council (see presentation attachment) ahead of this question being placed on the ballot.

KC Water projects about $1.7 billion in sewer capital needs from fiscal year 2027 through 2031. 

Roughly $1.27 billion of that is for the overflow control program, the federally mandated sewer overhaul Kansas City often refers to as its “smart sewer” system. The next largest expenditure is $257 million for wastewater treatment plants over five years.

KC Water’s priority list for the bond money includes: 

• Water treatment plant building renovation and construction projects.
• Smart sewer rehabilitation to extend the life of major sewer lines by lining the interior.
• Increasing capacity and replacing systems at the Rocky Branch wastewater treatment plant.
• Replacing existing sewer lines located in and near waterways.

The smart sewer program keeps a public list of active, future and completed projects available at kcsmartsewer.us/projects.

Why does a federal court order matter for sewers here? 

Much of the sewer spending isn’t optional. 

In 2010, Kansas City entered a consent decree — a legally binding agreement approved by a federal judge — requiring the city to dramatically reduce sewage overflows into local creeks and rivers. 

The program to come into compliance with the consent decree is the overflow control program, or “smart sewer.” The total cost of that program is $2.3 billion in upgrades that must be completed by 2040. Kansas City is one of several American cities under similar decrees.

That original plan was projected to cost $4.7 billion over 25 years. But after three amendments to the consent decree, the overall cost was reduced and the timeline to come into compliance was extended five years. 

The mandate is reflected in the sewer bond question with the phrase “to maintain compliance with federal, state and judicial requirements.” That’s why a no vote wouldn’t cancel the sewer work.

Haven’t we voted on this before?

Yes, and Kansas City voters previously voted “yes” overwhelmingly.

The most recent water and sewer revenue bond votes were: 

• April 2014: Voters approved $500 million in water revenue bonds with 79% of the vote.
• April 2022: Voters approved $750 million in sewer revenue bonds, also with 79%.

That money has since helped pay for backup generators, odor control, upgrades to the Westside Wastewater Treatment Plant and millions of dollars in water and sewer main repairs across the city.

Why the water and sewer bonds are back on the ballot: 

• Waterworks: The 2014 authorization is nearly exhausted. The city has issued six bond packages against it, most recently about $145 million in March 2025, leaving only about $15 million of borrowing authority.
• Sewer: About $554 million of the 2022 authorization remains on paper. But KC Water has three bond-related projects planned — $100 million for the Todd Creek wastewater treatment plant, $100 million for grit removal at the Blue River wastewater treatment plant and $200 million for a high-rate treatment process. That would draw the balance down to roughly $154.6 million of bond borrowing authority.

KC Water told the City Council’s Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee that its bond authority is dwindling while billions in projects loom, and that rising interest rates make cheap financing tools more valuable.

Who controls the money after the vote?

Voters weighing in is a step, but not the last. 

If the bond questions pass, each time KC Water wants to actually sell bonds to finance a project under this authorization, it must bring a separate ordinance to the City Council for approval.

Each time KC Water officials go to the council for approval they would need to specify the amount of the sale and the capital projects the proceeds would fund. Individual projects within each bond issuance would also go to the council for review and approval.

The money can be spent on the purposes stated in the ballot language — rehabilitating, expanding and improving the water and sewer systems, including land and rights-of-way.

If the majority votes yes, the authority to sell the bonds takes effect immediately once election results are certified.