The Kansas City council last week decided to ask voters on the Nov. 4 general election ballot whether they support a sales tax increase to fund an $800 million starter light-rail system.
The 14-mile line would be funded with proceeds of a three-eighths percent increase in the sales tax for 25 years. The plan relies on about half of the funding coming from the federal government.
Over the last several years, the city has debated the light-rail issue but failed to reach agreement on one specific plan, arguing over the size of the system and its routes.
The council last year overturned a proposal from private businessman Clay Chastain that was endorsed by voters in 2006. The latest proposal comes from the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.
Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser this spring presented a larger $1.2 billion plan regional transit plan that relies on a sales tax increase for funding.
