Wyandotte County voters will decide in November whether to approve a new ¼-cent sales tax that could provide something the county has long lacked: a permanent, year-round emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness.
The proposed tax would last 10 years and is expected to initially generate about $12 million a year. County officials estimate it could bring in nearly $140 million over the decade as sales tax collections grow.
But the ballot question is broader than homelessness.
The money would be dedicated to health-related services, including indigent care, behavioral health, substance-use treatment, preventive health care and the county health department. County commissioners would ultimately decide how the money is divided among those needs.
Still, county officials have made clear that creating a permanent emergency shelter would be a major priority.
County Has Money to Build Shelter, But Not Operate It
Wyandotte County currently does not have a year-round emergency shelter. Instead, it operates a temporary shelter during some of the coldest winter weather.
The county has already assembled $4 million that could be used to acquire or develop a permanent shelter — $2 million connected to Cerner Corp.’s departure from its Village West campus and another $2 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding.
The missing piece is money to operate a shelter year after year.
Interim County Administrator Alan Howze said revenue from the proposed sales tax could fill that gap while also supporting organizations that provide mental health, substance-use and other services to people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
A permanent location has not been selected. The Wilhelmina Gill Multi-Service Center at 645 Nebraska Ave., which currently serves as the county’s temporary cold-weather shelter, is not expected to become the permanent facility.
Supporters Point to Growing Health and Social Needs
Supporters say the tax could provide a more dependable source of money for health and social services at a time when other funding is uncertain.
Nikki Richardson, executive director of Justice for Wyandotte, said unmet health and social needs often contribute to homelessness, involvement with the justice system and other community problems.
She also argues that a sales tax allows some of the money spent by visitors in the heavily developed western part of the county — particularly around Village West and the Legends — to support services throughout Wyandotte County.
A county survey conducted earlier this year found residents were divided about special sales taxes overall. Thirty-nine percent said they were supportive or very supportive, 34% were opposed and 27% were neutral. Among possible uses, homeless services and affordable housing received the strongest support.
Opponents Question the Tax and the Lack of a Detailed Plan
The commission voted 6-3 on Aug. 20 to place the countywide health tax on the Nov. 3 ballot. Commissioners William Burns Jr., Chuck Stites and Andrew Kump voted against it.
One concern is that sales taxes hit lower-income families harder because they spend a greater percentage of their income on taxable purchases.
Kump raised that issue during the commission discussion.
Commissioner Jermaine Howard, who supported putting the tax before voters, acknowledged that concern but argued that many of the people paying more would also benefit from the services the tax supports and that visitors to Wyandotte would also help pay sales taxes that support county services. .
Others questioned asking residents to approve a new tax without a more detailed spending plan.
Eva Garcia-Meza, a board member of We the People of Wyandotte County, said she agrees the county needs more health and social services but wants clearer guarantees about how the money would be used.
Some residents also questioned the timing of the tax request after the Unified Government approved incentives connected to the Kansas City Chiefs’ planned development in Wyandotte County.
County officials say the proposed special-purpose health sales tax would not be used to pay the STAR bond debt associated with that development.
Camping Ordinance Ads Context
The push for more money to address homelessness also comes less than a year after Wyandotte County leaders faced strong community backlash over how they were dealing with people already living on the streets.
In November 2025, the Unified Government Commission voted 6-2 to approve an “unsafe camping” ordinance restricting where people could sleep or establish encampments on public and private property. The ordinance requires notice in many circumstances before a camp is cleared, but violations can eventually result in community service, fines or jail time. Commissioners Melissa Bynum and Andrew Davis voted against it.
The measure passed despite significant public opposition. Protesters packed the commission meeting, repeatedly interrupted proceedings and argued that the county was penalizing people for sleeping outside while Wyandotte County still lacked a permanent homeless shelter.
That opposition did not disappear with the vote.
At a packed Nehemiah Action Assembly in late April, hundreds of residents gathered at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, where Churches United for Justice pressed the county’s newly elected leadership for commitments on homelessness and affordable housing. Mayor Christal Watson and Commissioners Evelyn Hill, Melissa Bynum and Andrew Davis publicly committed to reversing the unsafe-camping ordinance. Commissioner Phil Lopez declined to make that commitment, saying there was “a lot more to the story.”
At the same gathering, however, Watson and all four commissioners agreed to work toward securing a permanent, low-barrier homeless shelter site by the end of 2026 and to support the Built for Zero strategy, which uses coordinated case management, a real-time list of people experiencing homelessness and rapid rehousing to move people into permanent housing.
That history makes the homelessness portion of the proposed sales tax particularly significant. The county is asking voters for additional money at the same time its leaders are reconsidering an approach to homelessness that generated considerable community opposition and acknowledging the need for more shelter and housing resources.
A Second Sales Tax Is Also on the Ballot
The health tax is not the only sales tax voters will see.
Kansas City, Kansas, voters will also decide on a separate ⅜-cent sales tax for parks and infrastructure.
Unlike the health tax, which would apply throughout Wyandotte County, the parks and infrastructure tax would apply only within Kansas City, Kansas. Ballot language requires the money to be divided evenly between park improvements and infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges and sidewalks.
That measure also divided commissioners. It was approved for the ballot on a 6-4 vote.
The two proposals mean Kansas City, Kansas, residents will face two separate tax questions in November: one focused broadly on health and social services throughout Wyandotte County, including the possibility of finally operating a permanent homeless shelter, and another focused on improving parks and infrastructure within the city.
For voters, the central question on the health tax is whether the need for a stable source of funding for those services outweighs concerns about increasing the sales-tax burden — and whether county officials have provided enough detail about how the money would ultimately be spent.
What Would KCK Residents Pay?
Kansas City, Kansas, currently has a standard combined sales tax rate of 9.125% on most taxable purchases:
6.500% — State of Kansas
1.000% — Wyandotte County
1.000% — Kansas City, Kansas
0.250% — Emergency medical services
0.375% — Public safety and neighborhood infrastructure
CURRENT TOTAL: 9.125%
If voters approve the new ¼-cent countywide health tax:
9.375%
If KCK voters approve the health tax AND the separate ⅜-cent KCK parks and infrastructure tax:
9.750%
That means on a $100 taxable purchase, the sales tax would rise from about $9.13 today to $9.75 if both measures pass — an increase of about 63 cents.
Residents elsewhere in Wyandotte County would not pay the new KCK parks and infrastructure tax. They would see only the ¼-cent increase if the countywide health tax passes.
Support: Suzanne King, a health reporter with the Beacon Kansas City was an original source of content for this story.
