Bus tax will stay on April ballot
The ruling is in: the 15-year extension of the ATA bus tax will remain on the April ballot. Jackson County Judge John O'Malley found "no legal support for the notion that the actions the city took here were unlawful or unconstitutional." The Kansas City City Council repealed a voter-approved light rail petition initiative in November 2007 a year after the "Chastain Plan" diverted the 3/8-cent now being sought for extension.
Regardless, a revised city-backed plan is still in progress and has entered Phase II of the Alternatives Analysis. Chastain's light rail plan would have likely met with opposition from the FTA because it would have caused a reduction in traditional bus service (see the legal precedent here).
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