15-05-2025
Jackson County budget still undecided as officials' frustrations grow
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jackson County officials have yet to decide on the 2025 budget, leaving it up in the air, as it has been since January.
No decisions were made when legislators met Wednesday morning.
'So today, not much has changed. We've heard kind of a justification as to why things need to change quickly for the prosecutor leading into the summer, which we hear not just from the prosecutor, we hear from our outside agencies, we hear from contractors who haven't been paid,' said 1st District Legislator Manny Abarca.
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Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson shared the impact of not having a solidified budget.
She said it's impacting the preventive work of agencies funded through COMBAT, the Community-Backed Anti-Crime Tax.
'They're taking out loans, they're laying people off, they're limiting the amount of people that they serve,' Johnson said during Wednesday's meeting.
On December 31, 2024, the Jackson County Legislature approved this year's budget. However, it was vetoed by County Executive Frank White.
The legislature has not passed a new one since, and the county has been operating without an approved budget.
Legislator Manny Abarca says the disagreement has to do with budgets for the assessment department, the board of equalization, and the collections department.
'We're kind of stuck at the moment, trying to figure out how we move forward. We just had conversations about how we do amendments and how we make changes. But fundamentally, the County Executive disagrees on a lot of our approach here,' Abarca explained.
The Jackson County Legislature is expected to discuss the 2025 budget again on Thursday morning.
The agenda says, 'There may be an ordinance introduced regarding the 2025 budget.'
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