Thousands of low-income residents in Kansas City count on vouchers to make their rent affordable. Meanwhile, 285 residents find themselves without housing options amid a shortage of apartments willing to take on tenants who rely on subsidies.
Economics
Posted inEconomics, Health
With a casino on their phones, more Kansas City gamblers risk addiction
Takeaways: When Andrew Gallamore clocks out of work at his job in Bonner Springs, he clicks on his phone. Sometimes, to bet. His DraftKings app makes dropping $5 or $10 on a prop bet so easy. And once he’s back home in Missouri, having even a few dollars riding on how many yards a player […]
Posted inEconomics, State Government
A Kansas business tax credit can offset the cost of child care. But almost nobody uses it
Takeaways: The child care shortage in Kansas costs families dearly, yet a business tax credit to offset those costs goes mostly unused. The credit is designed to encourage small businesses to offset costs for their employees and get money shaved off their state tax bill as a reward. A business spending $5,000 a year contracting […]
Posted inEconomics, Local Government
The multi-million dollar cost behind eliminating free bus fares in Kansas City
Takeaways: The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority could soon stick riders with fares again — after spending millions on modern fare boxes. Facing a $12 million to $15 million gap in its budget, the agency has been talking about reintroducing bus fares, three years after becoming the first major U.S. city to make public transit free. […]
Posted inEconomics, Labor, Local Government, State Government
Uber-style rides seen as a tool for public transit in rural and urban Missouri
Takeaways: For about as long as passengers have stepped onto buses, public transportation in most of Missouri has meant fixed routes and schedules. The idea of on-demand, point-to-point service as a public amenity was unheard of. Today, those rides are being offered in Kansas City and St. Louis. Smaller Missouri cities are mulling whether microtransit […]
Posted inCivic Engagement, Economics, Local Government
No, Wyandotte County is not going bankrupt.
At a press conference in October, Unified Government Mayor Tyrone Garner issued a dire warning.
The government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, he said, was on a “pathway to financial ruin.”
Bankruptcy, he warned, sat just around the corner.
But the bond markets tell a different story.
Posted inEconomics, Environment, State Government
Kansas regulators give Evergy a smaller electrical rate hike than it asked for
Takeaways: Kansas regulators dialed back electric rate hikes that Evergy wanted to impose on its customers. Electric rates will now go up slightly for former Westar customers in the central part of Kansas and tick down for customers who used to get their kilowatts from Kansas City Power & Light. Evergy says, on average, its […]
Posted inEconomics, State Government
How much can local government tax weed? Legal fights brew over Missouri cannabis rules
Takeaways: A little sales tax on the buds or gummies you buy at the neighborhood cannabis dispensary is one thing. But another tax? And another? Various state and local sales taxes lumped onto your recreational marijuana purchase can add upwards of 20% to the cost of legalized Missouri weed. The state cannabis trade association, which […]
Posted inEconomics, Education
Judge approves Avila University’s petition to override donor restrictions
The move lets the university access $4.8 million within the current school year and about $1.6 million during the 2024-2025 school year, a total of $6.4 million.
Posted inEconomics, Local Government, State Government
Missouri counties want to freeze seniors’ property assessments, but aren’t sure they can
The freezing of property tax assessments for Missourians 62 and older looks, at best, fuzzy. The state adopted a law this year that lets counties give that property tax assessment freeze when homeowners become eligible for Social Security. And it allowed counties to throw in a yearly tax credit to give older residents even more […]