PV council sends sales tax for parks issue down to Parks and Rec committee

The PV council is discussing whether to put a .5 percent sales tax increase before voters to help fund parks improvement project like the one recently completed at Weltner Park.

The Prairie Village city council on Monday voted to postpone a decision on whether to ask citizens whether they’d support a .5 percent sales tax increase to fund parks improvements and maintenance.

After the last council meeting, city staff  drafted sample language for a ballot measure to put the sales tax increase before Prairie Village voters. But the issue sparked enough questions about what purposes new tax revenue could be used for that the council sent the issue to the Parks and Recreation committee, which is now charged with producing a detailed description of what projects such funds could be used for should the measure be approved by voters.

The council approved the motion to send the issue to the Parks and Recreation committee  by a 9-2 vote, with council member Andrew Wang and Michael Kelly voting against. Councilwoman Ruth Hopkins abstained.

Prior to the decision to kick the issue back to the committee level, several council member voiced pointed objections to the idea of putting the sales tax before the voters.

Kelly was among the most vocal, questioning why the council would look at putting a sales tax increase before voters at a time when there is considerable uncertainty about whether legislators in Topeka might move to raise the state sales tax. Kelly also brought up the fact that Prairie Village has a committee exploring the feasibility  of a new community center as well, and asked if it would be a good move to put a ballot measure on parks to residents before the city knew whether it wanted to pursue a community center, which would necessitate a tax increase as well.

Hopkins voiced similar objections, noting that the council would likely be looking at raising the mill levy over the next budget sessions to fund road maintenance work. She worried that residents might vote in favor of the sales tax increase for parks without understanding that the city is facing financial pressures to pay for infrastructure needs.

“My biggest fear is that voters don’t understand that in back of our mind, we’re planning on raising mill levy to pay for streets,” she said.

But other council members reiterated their support for putting the issue in front of voters

“In full support of taking this to the public and letting democracy determine how we spend our money,” said councilwoman Laura Wassmer.