Public commenters tell commissioners proposed public-safety sales tax would not address homelessness

Several public commenters at the Aug. 7 Johnson County Board of County Commissioners meeting urged the board to consider affordability and homelessness concerns before asking voters to extend or renew a public-safety sales tax.

Residents also raised questions about how proposed tax revenues would be programmed in the budget and about the cost of holding a special election for the proposal.

Why it matters: Commenters said a public-safety sales tax, as described to them, would not provide funding for affordable housing or services for people experiencing homelessness, and that voters deserve clear information on how new revenue would be allocated.

Public commenter Gaylene Van Horn summarized a prior staff comment that "for public safety tax renewal to use that as an example we anticipate it would collect 35,000,000 per year," and asked how those revenues would be programmed into the county budget. Van Horn said a deputy county manager explained the revenues "would be programmed as part of our budget process." Van Horn told commissioners: "Constituents deserve fiscal discipline, responsible governments, and policies that prioritize residents and taxpayers, not political theater and runaway spending." (The transcript records Van Horn paraphrasing a staff estimate.)

Phil Bauer, another public commenter, questioned the county's planned special election to approve a proposed half-billion-dollar sales tax, saying the county estimated the stand-alone special election would cost about $950,000 and suggesting the county instead place the measure on the August primary ballot. "Instead, if you insist on pursuing this half a billion dollar sales tax, conduct the vote in the August primary where it's simply another item on the ballot," Bauer said.

Donald Stopp said the proposed public-safety sales tax "will not address two critical issues, affordable housing in Johnson County and help for the homeless," and said he would inform voters that the tax would not address those matters.

Several commenters urged the board to be explicit about how new tax revenues would free up funds for other departments and whether the revenues would be used for ongoing operations or one-time projects. Van Horn quoted staff describing the programming of revenues through the budget process: "we would be next year at the same time programming for 2027 budget having those resources that allow us to put together and present to the board's manager budget. That would be balancing the needs throughout the entire organization." Van Horn urged fiscal discipline and transparency in how revenues would be used.

No board action on the public-safety sales tax was taken at the Aug. 7 meeting; the comments were part of the public-comment portion of the agenda. Commenters recommended additional public information and budget scenarios showing both with- and without-tax revenue assumptions.

Notes: Quotes in this article are from public commenters and are attributed as such; they reflect commenter statements and paraphrases of staff remarks recorded in the public comment period.