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Kansas City Streetcar Expansion Will Likely Be Up To Voters

City of Kansas City, Missouri

An ambitious expansion of the Kansas City streetcar system has gotten approval from a City Council Committee.

The plan is for a taxing district that covers a wide swath south of downtown.

A variety of possible extensions of the system branch east and south from the starter line.

Supporters are in a hurry to move the system past its current fledgling movement.

Council members were told the tax district would provide local funding as seed for federal grants, necessary for expansion.

Analyst Douglas Stone said the taxing district output would be same as that for property owners along the starter line up and down Main Street.

“The rates in this new district would be no higher than the rates in the downtown district and we made that commitment publicly up and down the street," said Stone.

Voters would need to approve the special taxing district. They would also need to give a nod to a one cent sales tax within that district. 

Legal work to set-up the proposals are expected to be laid before month’s end.

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