By Laura Spencer
Kansas City, MO – The Kansas City Council's Finance and Audit committee Wednesday approved a measure asking voters in August to consider raising the museum property tax to 10 cents. The city currently has a 2 cent museum levy with funds going to the Kansas City Museum at Corinthian Hall.
City Councilwoman Deb Hermann proposed boosting the levy to 10 cents and including more museums. During the committee meeting, Hermann detailed the proposed breakdown: "Three for Kansas City Museum, 3 for Union Station, 1 for Liberty Memorial Museum, 1 for (American) Jazz Museum."
The remainder of the funds would go to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and Buck O'Neil Center, Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center, Black Archives of Mid-America, Shoal Creek Living History Center, and the Airline History Museum. The museum tax currently generates about 650 thousand dollars a year for each cent. The full council is expected to take up the issue Thursday, the last day to draft a measure for the August ballot.