St. Louis Mayor Delivers State Of The City Address

From the City of Kansas City:

February 10, 2021

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas today delivered his second State of the City Address to the Kansas City Council and to Kansas Citians virtually due to COVID-19 at Winnetonka High School, where he previewed the Kansas City Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Budget, Kansas City’s continued COVID-19 vaccination and recovery efforts, and priorities for the year ahead.

The FY21-22 Budget will be formally presented to the City Council tomorrow, February 11, during Business Session at 1 p.m., followed by several public budget hearings to provide Kansas Citians an opportunity to weigh in on how their taxpayer dollars are being spent.

Regarding Kansas City’s budget, Mayor Lucas said:

“Like many American cities, the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant revenue reductions for Kansas City.

“Such a challenging year has left the City to make difficult decisions as we plan for the next fiscal year. We have a leaner budget, but we also have a better plan to remove snow off the roads more quickly; to fill more potholes—10,000 of which we filled last year; to avoid utility companies tearing up newly-repaved streets; to ensure buses remain fare-free; and to efficiently deliver basic city services to all residents. And we plan to increase by over $10 million our investment in road resurfacing and repavement to avoid the all-too-familiar concerns in Kansas City with crumbling roads, bridges, and infrastructure.

“Despite our positive changes and plans, we confront the reality of a revenue shortfall of more than $70 million as compared to last year’s budget. The budget to be introduced moves the $70 million forecast shortfall down to only $15 million.

“As a child of a long-time government employee, I know that taking care of the people who keep this city running each day is one of the most important things we can do. That’s why it was essential to me that no City employees will be laid off due to budgetary concerns. No public works staff, no parks and recreation staff, no fire fighters or EMS, and no one in the Kansas City Police Department—despite what you’ve perhaps previously heard. No officer will need to lose their jobs due to budget cuts, and no stations need be closed. Instead we will right-size budgets in all our departments, eliminating wasteful spending, leaving most currently vacant positions unfilled.

“Every day, 7,000 people go to work for this great city and we will not leave them behind, even at this challenging time.”

Read full remarks as prepared for delivery.

This press release was produced by the City of Kansas City. The views expressed here are the author’s own.