KC streetcar budget better be accurate
Kansas City officials want U.S. taxpayers to kick in $25 million to help build a proposed $100 million downtown streetcar line. It’s a reasonable request — as long as the city responsibly makes its case for federal help.
The City Council today expects to approve a resolution that commits the city to apply for a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The money would come from a discretionary fund that invests in infrastructure projects around the nation.
Competition will be fierce, but Kansas City and this region in recent years have received tens of millions in federal grants for projects such as rebuilding the Troost Bridge.
Kansas City needs to stress the positive results that could come from a streetcar line, such as improved mass transit and a boost to downtown redevelopment.
Most important, the city must show it has reasonable cost figures available for the $100 million streetcar project. Transit projects tend to get more expensive as actual construction nears. City Council member Russ Johnson said this week the city is using “down to earth numbers” that accurately reflect total costs. Let’s hope he’s right.
Voters in a designated downtown Transportation Development District could decide later this year whether to boost property and sales taxes in the district.
If the vote is “no,” the project dies along with hopes of the $25 million federal grant.
If the vote is “yes,” the U.S. funds could be crucial for completing the project. However, if the project goes way over budget, it’s likely Kansas City taxpayers would be compelled to spend millions more than predicted.
That would be an outrageous outcome in a city where citizens already are paying for failed financial projections by City Hall on projects such as the Power & Light District.
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Kent Mueller
3 months agoI have a question. Where would the $75 million come from? The federal government? Well, the feds don’t have any money. We are experiencing trillion dollar deficits at the federal level. The federal debt has exploded. And please, don’t anyone say….but the money has already been appropriated. That is so tiresome. Every city and state has to stop looking to Washington to pay for the majority of local projects. Because in the end, Washington is us.