The Kansas City Police Department’s request for a nearly 22% budget increase is “not feasible” while the city faces a $100 million shortfall, Mayor Quinton Lucas said Wednesday.
The Board of Police Commissioners last week approved a budget ask of more than $417 million, or about $50 million more than last year. The department said it needs the money for, among other things, personnel costs, legal settlements and hiring more officers in anticipation of the World Cup in Kansas City next summer.
City Manager Mario Vasquez recently ordered a freeze on budget funding requests, estimating a $100 million gap between expected revenues and expenditures in the next fiscal year. The city’s forecast for the next five years shows revenues staying steady while other costs are rising faster than expected, officials said…