Overland Park voters help tax pass

If voting to extend the quarter-cent sales tax for public safety during the Aug. 5 primary had been an Olympic event, Overland Park voters would have captured the gold. The folks in Prairie Village would have received the silver and voters in Roeland Park the bronze.

Although the measure passed countywide with more than 53 percent of the vote, 40,574 to 35,541, the biggest margin came in Overland Park, where 59 percent of voters cast their ballots in favor of the tax.

Prairie Village voters passed the measure by 56 percent and Roeland Park by 55. Leawood, Mission and Mission Hills voters approved it by 54 percent. Fairway, Merriam, Shawnee and Westwood voters carried it by 53 percent. Voters in Lake Quivira and Lenexa approved the renewal by 52 percent.

All other areas, including Olathe and points west and south, voted for the measure by 49 percent or less.

Overland Park voters came out strong in support of the sales tax extension for one reason, said former Overland Park mayor and current County Commissioner

"I think the primary factor was being very transparent," he said. "A lot of people certainly supported the public safety aspect of it; a lot of people recognized that the jail was being built and the real question was what option did you wish to pay for it with: property tax or sales tax.

"The majority came down on the side of the sales tax. (The vote) may not have been enthusiastically cast, but a lot of people decided to do that."

Chris Tathum

"At the end of the day, when all the numbers were counted, Overland Park had an 8 or 9 percent margin of voters supporting it," he said. "That’s not like all Overland Park voters were totally for it, they were just slightly more favorable to it than other parts of the county."

"Overland Park did well," County Chair

"But I was surprised at Olathe’s 49 percent. That’s more than they ever supported the school’s version of that tax. I was very surprised there."

Overland Park Mayor

"I think our citizens truly understand the importance of public safety, not only in their personal lives but also the role it plays in the value of their community, their homes and their schools. And they appreciate how it affects their quality of life," he said.

Overland Park Chamber of Commerce President

"I think Overland Park voters generally have been supportive of tax issues that they believe are conducive to a continuation of quality of life," she said. "And the public safety tax was all about quality of life."

In the Nov. 4 general election, county voters will be asked to approve a one-eighth-cent sales tax increase for three facilities comprising a Research and Education Triangle in Johnson County. Officials doubt that passage of the public sales tax extension will have an effect on the triangle tax.

"They are two totally separate issues, and you just can’t predict it in that way," Surbaugh said. "There are people who were against the public safety sales tax who are supporting the triangle tax because it is something new and novel and has the kind of innovation that might catch the charm of voters."

Eilert said the two initiatives cannot be compared other than they both are funded by sales taxes, both affect the quality of life for all Johnson Countians.

"But with a different emphasis," he said. "Rather than having some place to lock people up, with the research triangle, the emphasis is to provide more economic opportunities."