A picture of dollar bills forming a house.
If approved, Question 1 would give Kansas City permission to bolster its housing trust fund with $100 million for affordable housing. (Canva photo illustration)

Kansas City’s housing advocates won big in 2022 when the city asked voters to approve $50 million for the city’s Housing Trust Fund.

Now City Hall, emboldened by the 71% voter approval in 2022, wants permission from voters to add another round of money to that pot to get more affordable housing built in the city.

When voters cast their ballots in the Aug. 4 primary election, Question 1 will ask voters whether the city can issue $100 million in bonds to fund affordable housing projects through the Housing Trust Fund.

That money, the city estimates, could help create or preserve 4,761 housing units that would be affordable to families making 60% of the area median income. Any housing project that gets money is required to rent at that affordable level for at least 30 years.

The $100 million would be issued in grants or loans over the next five years.

So what kind of housing has this trust fund paid for in the past? And how is it possible that there could be no tax increase to pay for it?

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The Beacon rounded up answers to your questions to help you decide how to vote when you go to the polls on Aug. 4.

Click on a link to jump to a question:

What exactly will I see on the ballot?

The exact language of Question 1 is as follows:

Shall the City of Kansas City, Missouri, issue its general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $100,000,000.00 for the purpose of affordable housing through the rehabilitation, renovation, and construction of houses and buildings, including blight removal, to provide affordable housing for very low- to moderate-income households?

The authorization of the bonds will authorize the City to maintain tangible property tax rates sufficient to pay the interest and principal on the bonds until fully paid.

What is the Housing Trust Fund?

The Housing Trust Fund, established in 2018, is a pot of money that the city uses to support developers who are creating or preserving affordable housing.

That includes single-family homes, senior cottages, teacher villages and multifamily apartment complexes. In some instances, the money is used for repairs, or it can cover a gap in a project’s budget to keep rents low once completed.

The money can be issued as a grant or a loan to the developer depending on the project.

To keep funding housing projects, the trust fund has to be replenished.

The city used federal grant funding through the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 for the first major contribution to the fund. 

Then, the city introduced a requirement that developers, if they were not going to directly provide affordable housing in an apartment project, would be required to make a small contribution to the trust fund.

In 2022, 71% of Kansas City voters approved a $50 million contribution to the housing trust fund.

As of April 1, 2026, more than $60 million had helped fund 3,316 affordable housing units, 365 of which had been completed. That’s roughly $18,000 per unit.

What does a “yes” vote do?

A “yes” vote would give Kansas City permission to borrow $100 million to replenish the Housing Trust Fund for the next batch of projects. 

The city estimates that it will use that money in $20 million batches, across five rounds of funding. After that point, the fund would likely need to be replenished once again.

What does a “no” vote do?

A “no” vote would leave the Housing Trust Fund depleted and deny the city permission to issue $100 million in bonds.

This would reduce the city’s debt load gradually over several years, by roughly $20 million per year. Assuming that voters do not vote “yes” on any other bond issues in place of the Housing Trust Fund, the city could gradually reduce the property tax mill levy each year for five years as the debt rolls off because that revenue would not be needed for debt repayment.

Will a “yes” vote increase my taxes?

No. A “yes” vote will hold your tax rate steady with no increase or decrease.

Governments like Kansas City keep a rolling amount of debt that they’re constantly borrowing and paying off.

That’s called a “debt capacity.”

Let’s say that you’re paying $1,000 per month to pay off your loans. That $1,000 is your “debt capacity” because it’s the amount of money you can afford to spend on debt given your income level.

Now, let’s say that after 10 years, your loans are paid off. That gives you extra money that you’re no longer spending on debt. 

So what do you do with it? Do you pocket the money, or do you take out a loan for something else?

The city has just finished paying off some debt, which has freed up $200 million of its debt capacity. 

So it has a few options. It could reduce the tax rate and collect less money from taxpayers. Or, it could take out a new loan with that extra cash.

But if the city wants to take out a new loan, it has to first ask voters for permission. That’s what Kansas City is doing here. The city is asking voters for permission to take out a new loan, instead of giving the extra money back to taxpayers.

What happened to the last $50 million in this fund?

The Housing Trust Fund money has been largely spent on dozens of awards to housing developers.

For example, $13.7 million went to the Parade Park Homes redevelopment, near 18th & Vine, that includes 240 affordable housing units. That award paid for just 1% of the total costs for that project.

Another $2.8 million went to a downtown project at Ninth and Central streets, creating 77 affordable housing units. 

According to the city’s housing dashboard, a total of $61.3 million has been awarded to 49 projects. The vast majority of housing units receiving funding — about 91% — have been either new or preserved affordable housing. Another 5% were transitional or temporary housing, and about 3% were homeowner assistance.

Most affordable housing projects have been located in Kansas City’s 3rd Council District. That district covers, generally, portions of the city that are east of Troost Avenue between Independence Avenue and 55th Street, with some variation.

But some members of the City Council have asked to spread affordable housing across other areas of the city, including the Northland, Brookside and the Country Club Plaza.

Who would decide how this money gets spent?

The Housing Trust Fund is overseen by a nine-member board appointed by Mayor Quinton Lucas.

That board is responsible for reviewing applications for funding and recommends them to receive grants or loans.

Those recommendations then go to the City Council for final approval.

The city’s housing data dashboard has a map of all projects that have received grants or loans over the past five rounds of funding. (Click on full screen mode in the bottom right corner, then choose “housing trust fund” in the drop-down menu on the bottom left to see the map.)

Type of Story: Explainer

Provides context or background, definition and detail on a specific topic.

Josh Merchant is The Beacon's local government reporter in Kansas City. After graduating from Seattle University, Josh earned a master’s degree in investigative journalism from Columbia Journalism School...