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Kansas City, Mo., voters passed the public safety sales tax renewal last week.
That means a city jail will be built and the city will have a place to hold municipal criminal offenders.
Some of the sales tax money is also going to first responders.
"I think for the first time in a lot of years, we are going to have some certainty around our public safety," Interim City Manager Kimiko Black Gilmore said.
Each time you buy something in Kansas City, Mo., a quarter-cent of the sales tax goes back to public safety. With the growth in Kansas City's economy, that will add up to about $25.3 million per year.
"Now that is has passed, we are all still celebrating," Black Gilmore said. "I did a little happy dance this morning."
Kansas City leaders like Black Gilmore plan for the new Kansas City Community Corrections and Rehabilitation Center to have 250 beds, mental health and medical services and classrooms for inmates.
"We are not just doing a jail," Black Gilmore said. "We are doing a restorative justice center."
The new facility is expected to cost about $250 million to build.
The interim city manager explained this is the first step to accountability and decreasing crime in Kansas City.
"I know there are folks out there that don't want a jail at all," Black Gilmore said. "I respect that, but it's just not realistic. We need restorative justice."
Kansas City sent out request for proposals (RFP) for the design process on the detention center.
Black Gilmore explained the selection process should begin within the next few weeks. Design renderings would be available to the public for feedback.
"I am confident that this will be the catalyst for some positive movement with the people that are living in this community that somehow find themselves in the criminal justice system," Black Gilmore said.
The tax is expected to bring in $480 million in 20 years, which means about $230 million can be used by the Kansas City Police Department and Kansas City Fire Department (KCFD).
"I think it takes us a step forward in continuing to modernize our fire department and modernizing fire services in general," KCFD Deputy Chief Konsta Myrick said.
Deputy Chief Myrick said replacing old ambulances, fire trucks and fire ladders are at the top of the list.
Ambulances cost abut $315,000, pumper trucks cost about $750,000 and ladder trucks cost about $1.5 million.
If we don't have the appropriate equipment for responding, then we can't get to a citizen's home to help them if they need," Deputy Chief Myrick said.
KCFD also could get a new headquarters building of their own at East 63rd Street and Prospect Avenue. The department leases offices now in a building at 635 Woodland Avenue.
"We're definitely hopeful of that," Deputy Chief Myrick said. "I think it would be a great benefit for that community and it would also allow us to be more efficient with our operations in our different divisions and bureaus."
The public safety sales tax will be paying for construction of the detention center. Money for the day-to-day operations of the detention center will come out of the city budget.
