Council members discuss 2026-27 budget at South Kansas City Alliance meeting

By Tony Madden 

Monday’s South Kansas City Alliance Meeting was well attended by both community members and elected officials, who discussed key expenditures in the 2026-27 budget and other community issues. Officials thanked the audience for voting in the April 7 election, which guaranteed five more years for Kansas City’s 1% earnings tax. 

Councilwoman Ryana Parks-Shaw, Darrell Curls, Andrea Bough and Johnathan Duncan were among the elected officials who spoke at the meeting. Jackson County Legislator Manny Abarca and Councilman Crispin Rea were also in attendance.

Bough, who represents the 6th District at Large, kicked off the meeting with a breakdown of the recently approved $2.6 million city budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year. Bough also emphasized that finalizing the city budget is a year-long process that needs public involvement. The best time to seek opportunities for input is in the fall, when the citywide business plan is discussed, she said. 

Bough also answered questions from the audience about increases and cuts to funding by department. She also explained the process of the city’s recently-adopted priority-based budget process. In this process, programs are graded based on their priority in the citywide business plan. For the 2026-27 budget, this resulted in about 2.5% budget cuts to most city departments, Bough and Duncan agreed. 

Duncan, who also represents the 6th District, elaborated on the city’s need for a Department of Community Safety with the construction of a new detention center. The Department of Community Safety will oversee custody operations within a broader framework that emphasizes rehabilitation, restorative justice and successful reentry, according to the city. 

Duncan added many of those who end up in custody have mental illnesses or substance abuse issues. He said the city needs to take a holistic approach to handle the root causes of these crimes.

“We need a community resource center to ensure that we are actually not just dumping these folks into jail for them to languish,” Duncan said. “Our public safety strategy is not just focused on belief in police and detention. It can’t be. We have to expand our definition of what public safety means,” he went on to say.

Duncan also addressed budgetary concerns from the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, which says it needs $100 million to maintain its current regular routes. The city budget allocates only $77 million to KCATA for 2026-27, which could result in elimination of bus stops in Hickman Mills and Martin City, he warned. 

Mayor Pro Tem and 5th District Councilwoman Parks-Shaw also spoke on the budget, primarily to explain the process of priority-based budgeting, which the city adopted last year. The process involves grading city programs and services on their priority levels in accordance with the citywide business plan, Parks-Shaw said. 

Parks-Shaw added the city has not yet perfected priority-based budgeting, noting the 2.5% cut to most city departments. The general idea is for community feedback to skew those numbers from a flat-rate, across the board cut, she said. 

“That is how your voice will be empowered,” she said.

The Mayor Pro Tem also invited the community to a Neighborhood Leadership Summit on April 25, where community stakeholders can learn more about how to make their voices heard with priority-based budgeting.

Councilman Curls, who represents the 5th District at Large, also offered notes on the budget. He noted that an earlier draft of the budget was set to cut funds for Neighborhood Empowerment Grants, but an ordinance he introduced saved them. The program offers 23 grants of $455,000 to neighborhood groups each year for beautification efforts, public safety improvements and infrastructure enhancements.

Curls also brought up the Robandee Shopping Center located at the intersection of Bannister and James A Reed Roads. He said the city is in the process of initiating a receivership, in which the owner would stay the same, but a third party would be in charge of redeveloping it. He said three or four parties are interested in becoming a receiver.