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Public Works Committee recommends voters consider stormwater sales tax in 2026
Summary
City engineers presented a multi-year stormwater plan and the committee voted to forward a recommendation that council place a revenue measure before voters in 2026 to fund expanded stormwater maintenance, capital work and regulatory compliance.
The Lee's Summit Public Works Committee voted Sept. 8 to forward to full council a recommendation that the city present a ballot measure in 2026 to create a dedicated revenue source for expanded stormwater services.
The proposal: George Binger, city engineer, told the committee the city lacks a preventive maintenance program for stormwater and is managing more than 110 miles of aging corrugated metal pipe. "We have sinkholes, flooding, erosion and ... over a 110 miles of corrugated metal pipe that is just kind of waiting for us," Binger said. He presented a preferred funding approach that would add two maintenance crews, planning and engineering staff and a public educator. Staff estimated an annual program cost of about $6.1 million in current dollars.
Why it matters: Binger said increased funding is needed to reduce sinkhole response times, expand preventive maintenance, improve water quality compliance and support capital stormwater projects. He presented a revenue recommendation favoring a sales-tax mechanism commonly used in Missouri.
Scope and cost signals: Binger said a quarter-cent sales tax is being used as the planning assumption. "This is where we talked about adding two crews to our current staff ... going flood risk, master planning and preventive maintenance," he said. Staff noted that a household estimate would roughly align with prior analyses that put the range of comparable user fees in the $105–$125 per household annual-equivalent range, depending on final structure and exemptions.
Committee action: Council Member Lisa Carlisle moved "to forward to the full council a recommendation of adding the stormwater language to a ballot in 2026." The motion passed on a 4–0 roll call (Chair Pryor, Council Members Rader, Carlisle and Hodges voting aye).
Next steps: Staff said the motion recommends council consider placing an item on an April, August or November 2026 ballot (council will choose the date) and that staff will prepare additional materials, including a list of other measures proposed for that ballot window to help council decide timing and to reduce the chance of standalone election costs. Binger said staff will return with refined program descriptions and budget detail before council finalizes any ballot language.
No legal or final budget action occurred at the committee; the committee forwarded a recommendation for council consideration.
