The boundaries of the TDD as proposed by the streetcar expansion project.
A Jackson County Judge ruled today that citizens can vote on expanding the Kansas City streetcar system.
Judge Marco Roldan said the proposed transportation district was legal and proper and could move forward.
Officials have said that there would be a vote in August on whether to create the district. If that passes, there will be another in November on the one-cent sales tax and special higher property tax assessments on property within a third of a mile of the streetcar lines.
The taxing district would run roughly from the Missouri River to Gregory and from state line to Highway 435.
The extensions would run from Union Station to 51st on Main Street and on Independence Avenue to Benton and on Linwood to Prospect.
People who live in the taxing district will vote on whether to create it and whether to approve the higher taxes.
Mayor Sly James issued a statement today on expanding the two-mile downtown streetcar system expected to begin in late 2015.
It says: “It only makes sense that we expand the economic development already seen around the downtown starterline to other parts of our city. So far, over 30 new or renovation projects worth three-quarters of a billion dollars are already in the process or planning phases and more is on the way in the downtown corridor.”
He added, “It’s my hope that Kansas Citians will agree that the investment is worth the pay off….Today’s decision means we can move this conversation, and the future of transportation in Kansas City, forward.”
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