The Hall Family Foundation is pledging $75 million to build a research building at Children’s Mercy Hospital, but only if Jackson County voters pass a half-cent medical research sales tax.
At the hospital Wednesday, foundation president Bill Hall said the tax offers Kansas City a big opportunity.
"We recognize it is asking a great deal of the voters of Jackson County," he said. "However, we believe this is a moment we must seize. The tax is transformational."
If Jackson County voters approve the tax in November, the four-story building would be built on the site of a parking garage at Children’s Mercy. The Institute for Translational Medicine would take up the first two floors.
The sales tax would raise an estimated $40 million a year for medical research. The money would be split between the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Children’s Mercy, and St. Luke’s Hospital.
A few TV ads ads have appeared opposing the tax, and the local chapter of the League of Women Voters has come out against the tax, saying the tax is regressive and that medical researchers have other funding options.
