Jackson County schedules Dec. 8 budget hearing in Kansas City; county executive reports courthouse closed for snow

The Jackson County Legislature voted on Dec. 1 to hold a public hearing on the county’s 2026 tentative budget on Dec. 8 at 3 p.m. in Kansas City and to add a Dec. 15 meeting, also at 3 p.m. in Kansas City, to vote on the budget.

The scheduling decisions came during the legislature’s regular session after County Executive Levoda told members that the courthouse had been closed at 2:00 p.m. because of snow and that only essential staff remained on site. “We have closed the courthouse down today at 02:00,” Levoda said, describing pretreatment and plowing operations that began earlier in the day.

Levoda said county crews pretreated roads Saturday and began plowing about 9 a.m. the morning of the meeting. “We expect that the day shift crew will be able to accommodate clearing most roads and the night shift crew will provide service to any missed areas and cleanup,” he said, adding that crews prioritize arterial and emergency routes, bus routes and high‑traffic corridors.

Lawmakers moved to change the location of the Dec. 8 hearing to Kansas City and to add the Dec. 15 meeting to allow a separate budget vote. Both motions were seconded and approved by roll call votes recorded in the transcript as six yes and three absent.

Levoda also gave a brief timeline for the budget: the legislature received an unofficial budget electronically and in print the prior week, staff are addressing feedback from departments, and an official printed and electronic version of the budget is expected to be provided by the end of the week. He said he planned to follow up with prosecutors, judiciary and department leaders to answer questions ahead of the Dec. 8 hearing.

The legislature’s next regularly scheduled meeting was confirmed for Dec. 8 at 3 p.m. in the Downtown Legislative Courthouse, with the special Dec. 15 meeting in Kansas City set aside for the budget vote.