Kansas City Council approves $2.5 billion budget for 2025-26
City leaders note the budget prioritizes housing and community development, public safety, public health, and infrastructure improvements while strengthening the city's fund balance to maintain Kansas City's strong economic standing and credit rating.
Shawnee man identified in fatal skiing accident in Colorado
The budget allocates $341.4 million toward infrastructure and accessibility—a $17.5 million increase from last year, according to the city.
This includes:
$71 million for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA), with an additional $6.8 million from a budget amendment to support KCATA and
$3 million for Vision Zero safety initiatives
$2.6 million for operation and maintenance of the Streetcar and its expansion
Enhanced funding for snow removal and sidewalk improvements
$5 million for Blue Ridge Streetscape and Southwest Boulevard projects
Lucas is also sponsoring an ordinance to ensure the maintenance of KCATA's services.
During a Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee meeting earlier this week, city council members complained that the KCATA hasn't been transparent with them on what routes they're planning to cut or what their deficit was.
'This $2.5 billion budget reflects our values as a community and addresses the priorities we've heard directly from our residents. By increasing our investment in housing to over $314 million, dedicating nearly $700 million to public safety, and advancing transformative infrastructure projects, we're not just maintaining services—we're enhancing them. This budget delivers on our promises to make Kansas City more accessible, more affordable, and more equitable for everyone who calls it home,' Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said in a news release Thursday.
The city said housing remains a top priority with $314.5 million allocated to support initiatives across the city, a $13.2 million increase from the previous year.
This funding will support:
Emergency rental assistance programs
Expanded emergency shelter services
The ZeroKC initiative to end homelessness
World Cup Legacy projects
The Housing Trust Fund
Additionally, $1 million will be direction toward implementing the city's small business strategic plan to prepare Kansas City to fully capitalize on hosting the 2026 World Cup, according to the city.
Nearly $700 million will go towards public safety, an increase of over $70 million from the previous year, according to the city, with over $340 million for the Kansas City Police Department and over $320 million for the Kansas City Fire Department.
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Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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3 hours ago
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Trump's redistricting push meets local GOP resistance in Indiana
Indiana Republicans are casting doubt on whether they will move forward with a plan to redraw its congressional district lines despite pressure from the White House. Several GOP state lawmakers have come out against the effort, expressing concern about the precedent it could set for the future and possible backlash against the party. With Republican supermajorities dominating both chambers of the state Legislature, stopping the effort would require a significant number of Republicans to oppose it and ignore the Trump administration's call for it. But Indiana is already appearing to be a rare exception to most other GOP-led states much more enthusiastic about redistricting. 'I have tremendous respect for President Trump and love what he's doing,' said state Sen. Jim Lucas (R), who is one of a few on record against redistricting. 'But for Hoosiers, Indiana Republicans, to abandon their principles and basically take away the rules, that sets such a dangerous precedent moving forward and for our children.' 'What kind of political structure are we leaving for our children in the future if we all of a sudden, just because we can, decide to redistrict midcycle?' he said. Republicans appear to hold the advantage nationally in the redistricting battle. Though California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is moving forward with his own effort to rewrite his state's lines, the GOP, for multiple structural and practical reasons, has more realistic opportunities to add seats ahead of 2026. Texas Republicans seem likely to approve a new map shortly, while GOP leaders in Florida, Ohio and Missouri have shown a clear interest in trying to add seats to pad the party's House majority in 2026. But Indiana has been a question mark, with several Republicans preemptively releasing statements against updating the state's map. Republicans currently occupy seven of the state's nine seats in the U.S. House. Redrawn lines would likely have the biggest impact on Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan, who represents the 1st Congressional District in the northwest and has already been named a national GOP target for 2026. 'It is no surprise that some believe redistricting is the only option to cling to power when they know the American people are rejecting the damage done by the House Republican Majority,' Mrvan said in a statement amid the speculation. But the political will may not be as strong in the Hoosier State as it appears to be in others. Along with Lucas, several other Republicans in the state Legislature said they don't support the redistricting effort, including state Reps. Danny Lopez and Craig Haggard, and state Sens. Jim Tomes and Spencer Deery. Lucas expressed concern that the move would damage the party's credibility, and he said he's received a lot of positive feedback from constituents in favor of standing on principle. 'There are some outliers … that think, 'Hey, we need to take the gloves off and do what the Democrats would be doing to us,' but I want to think we're better than that,' he said. 'I have faith in our policy and our principles and our ideology.' The positions of state legislators could be influential in whether Gov. Mike Braun (R) calls a special session to address redistricting. He has said he is 'considering it seriously' but would look to the results of Texas's efforts and the feelings of Indiana state lawmakers. With Republicans controlling 70 out of 100 seats in the state House and 40 out of 50 seats in the state Senate, many more Republicans would need to be opposed to redrawing the map to have enough votes, along with all Democrats, to block any change. But more Republican opposition might come out, said Republican strategist Pete Seat, a former communications director for the state GOP. 'We take great pride in how we draw our maps, and there's a lot of thought and effort that goes into it, into maintaining communities of interest and drawing districts that are compact,' Seat said. 'There are some states that come at it — despite what they might say — from a political perspective and trying to draw lines that achieve a political endgame, whereas we try to draw what makes sense and what keeps people with similar interests together.' 'What I've been hearing from the moment this conversation started is a lack of desire to go forward with re-redistricting, as I like to call it, for that reason, and for the reason that it's a lot of political capital to spend on one additional seat,' he added. 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The meeting was scheduled weeks prior, before Vance's visit, to discuss various issues, but Republicans said they could imagine the redistricting issue coming up. In another sign of the pressure mounting on GOP holdouts, Indiana's entire Republican delegation in the U.S. House released statements Monday declaring their support for the redistricting effort, saying it's necessary to overcome gerrymandering in Democratic-led states, while Sen. Todd Young (R) has previously raised some doubts about the idea. Meanwhile, some voters have received robocalls urging them to back redistricting to support Trump. Seat said he believes the calls are having the opposite effect, strengthening opposition to redistricting. But the source familiar with the White House's conversations said they don't see this letting up. 'In the conversations I've had with the White House, I don't see this slowing down at any point,' they said. If legislators and the governor say the political will isn't present to do this, 'I don't think the White House is going to consider that to be an acceptable answer,' they said. Julia Mueller contributed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
7 hours ago
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Trump's redistricting push meets local GOP resistance in Indiana
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Republicans currently occupy seven of the state's nine seats in the U.S. House. Redrawn lines would likely have the biggest impact on Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan, who represents the 1st Congressional District in the northwest and has already been named a national GOP target for 2026. 'It is no surprise that some believe redistricting is the only option to cling to power when they know the American people are rejecting the damage done by the House Republican Majority,' Mrvan said in a statement amid the speculation. But the political will may not be as strong in the Hoosier State as it appears to be in others. Along with Lucas, several other Republicans in the state legislature said they don't support redistricting now, including state Reps. Danny Lopez and Craig Haggard, and state Sens. Jim Tomes and Spencer Deery. Lucas expressed concern that the move would damage the party's credibility, and he said he's received a lot of positive feedback from constituents in favor of standing on principle. 'There are some outliers… that think, 'hey, we need to take the gloves off and do what the Democrats would be doing to us,' but I want to think we're better than that,' he said. 'I have faith in our policy and our principles and our ideology.' The positions of state legislators could be influential in whether Gov. Mike Braun (R) calls a special session to address redistricting. He has said he is 'considering it seriously' but would look to the results of Texas's efforts and the feelings of Indiana state lawmakers. With Republicans controlling 70 out of 100 seats in the state House and 40 out of 50 seats in the state Senate, many more Republicans would need to be opposed to redrawing the map to have enough votes, along with all Democrats, to block any change. 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2 days ago
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🤯 Vasco thrash Santos at MorumBIS with a flood of goals
At MorumBIS, with over 50,000 fans in attendance, Vasco is HUMILIATING Santos this Sunday (17th), with a historic 6-0 thrashing in a match valid for the 20th round of the 2025 Brasileirão. In the first half, after Peixe started off better, the Gigante da Colina opened the scoring when Nuno Moreira crossed from the right, and Lucas Piton (18') appeared at the far post like a center forward to head the ball in. VAR was called to check if the ball had gone out of bounds at the start of the play, but the goal was confirmed. Santos was awarded a penalty for a foul by Paulo Henrique on Guilherme, but after VAR review, the striker was ruled offside in the play. But after halftime, the Vasco show began and the Santos nightmare started. In a span of 10 minutes, David (6') struck first-time in the box to extend the lead, Coutinho finished off a deadly counterattack, Rayan converted a penalty, Coutinho (16') played a one-two with DVD and chipped in for the fifth goal. Wasting no time, six minutes later, Tchê Tchê played a one-two with David and also entered the box alone to chip in and score the sixth. A large part of the Santos fans left MorumBIS en masse. Those who stayed, after chanting "olé" in favor of Vasco and shouting "shameless team," turned their backs to the field. The 6-0 (so far) is the biggest thrashing in the 98-year history of this matchup. Previously, each team had beaten the other 5-1. Vasco had not won in the Brasileirão since June 12, when they beat São Paulo 3-1 at MorumBIS itself. Santos, on the other hand, had NEVER lost by more than four goals as the home team in the Brasileirão. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here. 📸 Alexandre Schneider - 2025 Getty Images
