KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Supporters of Kansas City’s year-old streetcar system want to expand the line from Union Station to UMKC. People living near the proposed line would help pay for it via what’s called a Transportation Development District, or TDD. That needs approval from voters, but the process is complicated and the burden is on the voters to figure it out. FOX 4 put together this guide to help.
Do You Live In The TDD?
Most Kansas Citians don’t. Check out this map:
The rough boundaries are between the Missouri River and UMKC, and State Line Road and Campbell Street. People living here would eventually pay a special property assessment and new sales tax. How much will those be? That will be determined later.
Only the roughly 30,000 people living in this area are eligible to vote.
How To Apply For A Ballot
The TDD election is through the mail. In order to vote, voters must apply for a ballot.
Applications are due by 5pm Tuesday, May 23rd.
Get the application either online or in person at the Jackson County Courthouse downtown. Find the online application at 16thcircuit.org/streetcar. The link is on the right. Here’s a direct link, too.
Print and complete the application. Before returning it to the courthouse, include proof that you are registered to vote. Note: In order to vote, the address on your voter registration should be within the proposed TDD.
What can you include to show you’re registered?
Easy: A copy of your voter registration card.
Slightly Harder: A printed copy of the voter status page at kceb.org. Click the “Check Your Voter Status” button, enter your name and date of birth, then print off the resulting page.
Hardest: Get a written statement from the KC election board proving you are registered.
Complete the application, stuff it in an envelope with your proof of registration, and mail it to:
Jackson County Circuit Court Administrator
Attn: TDD Ballot Application
415 East 12th St
Third Floor, Room 303
Kansas City, MO 64106
Feeling faxy? Try 816-881-1461. You can also hand deliver it to the courthouse.
Not registered to vote in KC? Click here to find out how.
Remember: applications are due by 5pm, Tuesday May 23rd.
What’s Next?
If you apply on time and live in the right area, the county will mail you a ballot on Tuesday, June 20th. Before you send it back, you need to get it notarized. Completed ballots are due by August 1st.
If the TDD is approved, there will be two more elections. One to appoint TDD board members, another to approve the property assessment and sales tax. Those elections would occur late 2017 or early 2018.
Just in case your head isn’t fried yet, there will be two questions related to the streetcar on a city-wide ballot this August. Both were brought by citizen petitions. One asks for two sales taxes to build the streetcar line past UMKC. The other would require any streetcar expansion to be voted on city-wide.
