Learn more about what’s in the proposed budget and make a plan to go to one of the three public meetings.
Get ready for budget season, KCMO! Every February, the Office of Management and Budget releases a proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins May 1. Over the course of about a month, the City Council works with each department and others to shape the budget and determine funding for various priorities before the legal deadline at the end of March. The deadline for this year is Thursday, March 26. You can learn more about the proposed budget by clicking here.
The KCMO budget has a critical impact on multimodal priorities for the city, funding everything from staff and equipment to key projects. It represents one of the best opportunities to urge city leaders to support the needs of people who walk, roll, bike, and use public transportation.
The proposed budget for 2026 is no different. In particular, BikeWalkKC will be advocating for the following:
- Vision Zero - The proposed budget decreases funding for Vision Zero from $5.3 million to $4 million, cutting over 25%. Vision Zero funding is used for safety improvements across the city, and would likely focus on portions of the High Injury Network. In order to eliminate traffic deaths, we must continue investing enough in the solutions we know save lives year after year. We need your help to save Vision Zero funding!
- Bus Service - The proposed budget very slightly increases transit funding, but it’s unclear whether this will be sufficient given budget issues that have continued since last year. Overall, it is clear that a regional funding strategy is necessary to remove the funding burden from local municipalities that simply can’t shoulder the cost alone.
City leaders are planning three public meetings to discuss the proposed budget, and that’s where you can make the greatest impact:
Public Budget Meeting Schedule
- Monday, February 23rd | 6:00 – 8:30 p.m., Ruskin High School – 7000 E 111th St Kansas City, MO 64134
- Monday, March 2nd | 6:00 – 8:30 p.m., Guadalupe Community Center – 1015 Avenida Cesar E Chavez Kansas City, MO 64108
- Saturday, March 7th | 9:00 a.m. – Noon, Winnetonka High School – 5815 NE 48th St Kansas City, MO 64119
Kansas City’s Office of Language Access (OLA) will provide interpreters for ASL, Spanish, Swahili, and Chinese. Residents requesting interpretation services in these or other languages should contact OLA at (816) 513-1067 or OLA@kcmo.org.
If you’re unable to attend one of the public meetings, take this survey to provide your opinions.
There’s a number of multimodal elements in the proposed budget. To ensure they get funded, we need YOU to show up and speak out for safer streets. If you want to speak but don’t know what to say, email Avery Jones, our Community Organizer for support: avery.jones@bikewalkkc.org.
Support our advocacy work. We rely on our generous donors to help us fund this work. If you share our vision for a more connected and accessible community, please make a donation today.