Platte County voters recently renewed a 1/2-cent sales tax for parks and recreation. Over the next ten years the tax is expected to fund about 30 miles of new trail construction. Some key trails projects include extending the Missouri River Trail west to Parkville, extending the Southern Platte Pass (NW 64th Street) Trail east under I-29, and the first phases of the Line Creek Trail from Riverside to Smithville.
A dedicated funding source is essential for orderly development of a useful trails network. Besides Platte County’s sales tax, Clay County has a use tax on business transactions and Johnson County has a property tax. Jackson County, Wyandotte County, and the City of Kansas City, MO all struggle fund their trail networks, using a hodgepodge of unreliable grants and one-time allocations. A dedicated funding source is critical for KCMO’s new Trails KC master plan.
