KC funds jail operations, increases officer pay
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Kansas City leaders moved Thursday to prioritize a permanent city jail and boost pay for correctional officers as they try to rebuild the city's detention system.
Why it matters: Kansas City has spent years contracting with county jails, sending people in custody more than an hour away. Staffing and opening a permanent facility would be a major change.
🚔 Jail jumps the line
The Council voted 9-2 to establish funding priorities that put the jail at the top of the list for the tax voters renewed in April 2025. Next are a community resource center and a new or rehabbed KCPD Central Patrol station.
- The city manager will plan for up to $21 million a year in debt payments for those projects.
- The city approved $22 million last fall for a modular jail.
The other side: Councilmember Nathan Willett voted no. He said price tags keep growing, and he questioned whether the city can afford to run the jail.
What they're saying: The plan "aligns really clearly with what we asked the voters," Mayor Quinton Lucas said.
💵 Raises for jail staff
The Council unanimously passed an ordinance raising the minimum hourly pay for correctional officers from under $20 to $25.40 and for senior correctional officers to $27.35, retroactive to Oct. 18.
- The raises are meant to help staff the Municipal Detention Center, according to the city's docket memo. The city worked them out with the union, AFSCME Local 500.
- Council members acknowledged hiring difficulties and said that the change will cost over $500,000 more per year from the general fund.
🥶 More beds for cold nights
The Council passed an ordinance that moves about $485,000 in cannabis tax money from neighborhood cleanup, which the city expects to go unspent, to cold-weather shelters.
- With the gap covered, the city will fund about 500 low-barrier beds this winter, up from about 370 without it.
- The money fills a shortfall after leftover cannabis tax money for homelessness never came in.
👀 What's next: The ordinance that would hand the Plaza's sidewalks to its owner, Gillon Property Group, was held for the eighth time since May. It returns Nov. 5.
- The Plaza's tax increment financing plan goes back to the Finance Committee Nov. 3.