KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri voters approved Amendment 4, changing the required funding levels for the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department.
The measure passed with 51.2% of the vote, or 549,116 votes, while 48.8%, or 523,796, voted no.
RELATED | Amendment 4 explained: What Missourians are voting on, why it’s happening again
Amendment 4 raises the minimum amount of funding that the city of Kansas City, Missouri, must allocate for KCPD from 20% of its general revenue to 25%.
Despite voters from across the state weighing in on the issue, it only impacts KCMO’s police department.
Voters had already approved the measure in 2022, but in April, the Missouri Supreme Court threw out the results and ordered the question be placed on Tuesday's ballot.
The court concluded the fiscal note included in the ballot language wasn’t accurate.
Data provided by Kansas City shows how much of the general fund the city has dedicated to the police department over the past six budgets:
- Fiscal Year 2019-2020: 26.3%
- FY 2020-2021: 25.8%
- FY 2021-2022: 25.9%
- FY 2022-2023: 24%
- FY 2023-2024: 25%
- FY 2024-2025: 25%
Beyond funding from the general revenue budget, KCPD receives funding from the city’s pension fund, health levy fund, public safety sales tax fund, grants and other sources.
In 2024-2025, 25% of general revenue was $229,620,197.
But with all the other funding sources, KCPD’s entire budget totaled $318,701,913.
KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas issued a statement after the results were in.
"Without money, without ads, and with only the facts and common sense, local control of local issues has played to a too-close-to-call election tonight in Missouri. Misleading voters, as the Missouri Supreme Court described it, got the vote passed by 500,000 votes the first time it was on the ballot," Lucas said. "Telling the truth narrowed it to a virtual tie.
"I thank Missouri voters for their good judgment and look forward to presenting them with a future ballot issue that stands for local control in all of our communities."
Below is the question Missouri voters decided on Tuesday night:
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to authorize laws, passed before December 31st, 2026, that increase minimum funding for a police force established by a state board of police commissioners to ensure such police force has additional resources to serve its communities?
This would authorize a law passed in 2022 increasing required funding by the City of Kansas City for police department requests from 20% of general revenue to 25%, an increase of $38,743,646, though the City previously provided that level of funding voluntarily. No other state or local governmental entities estimate costs or savings.
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