ORDINANCE NO. 250594
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Sponsor: Director of Parks and Recreation Department
Appropriating the sum of $1,500,000.00 from the Liberty Memorial Trust Fund for improvement and repair projects at the Liberty Memorial and the Memorial Museum; designating requisitioning authority; and recognizing this ordinance as having an accelerated effective date.
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WHEREAS, Committee Substitute for Ordinance No. 980413, As Amended, placed before the voters of Kansas City on August 4, 1998, a one-half cent sales tax to be used for the restoration of the Liberty Memorial and the establishment of Liberty Memorial Endowment Trust Fund (”Endowment”) to be used for the maintenance of the Liberty Memorial and the Memorial Museum, and this tax was approved by the voters and collected from April 1, 1999, through September 30, 2000; and
WHEREAS, by Committee Substitute for Ordinance No. 001246 the City Council established a policy for the investment of the Endowment and for using the Endowment for its intended purposes; and
WHEREAS, by Committee Substitute for Ordinance No. 030363 the City Council authorized the expenditure of up to 45% of the interest earned from the Endowment for routine maintenance and upkeep costs; and
WHEREAS, by Committee Substitute for Ordinance No. 050798 the City Council authorized a loan of $10 million from the principal of the Endowment for the expansion of the Liberty Memorial and the Memorial Museum; and
WHEREAS, by Second Committee Substitute for Ordinance No. 090677 and Ordinance No. 120013 the City Council modified the terms of Committee Substitute for Ordinance No. 030363 and authorized the expenditure of up to 90% of the interest earned from the Endowment for routine maintenance and upkeep costs for all future fiscal years beyond 2009; and
WHEREAS, on August 25, 2012, the City, acting through the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners, entered into an agreement with Liberty Memorial Association (“LMA”), a Missouri nonprofit corporation, for the management of the Memorial, the operation of the Museum, and the exhibition of the LMA’s Artifacts in the Museum; and
WHEREAS, this agreement also provides that the City will reimburse the LMA for actual expenditures for maintenance and upkeep costs from the Endowment which requires action by the City Council but only if the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners approves such maintenance and upkeep expenditure; and
WHEREAS, recently the LMA, using funding of $15 million from private donations and $15 million from the State of Missouri, has worked on a variety of maintenance projects, to include but not limited to: replacement and repair the limestone on the memorial, redesign and rebuild the south plaza, enhanced security across the complex, upgraded HVAC for the campus, restoration of the perimeter walls, rebuild of sidewalks and Walk of Honor, and other site repairs and maintenance on concrete, asphalt, landscaping, and irrigation; and
WHEREAS, LMA has requested $1.5 million for reimbursement of a portion of the restoration and maintenance projects, specifically for the mitigation of the underlying causes of damage, limestone replacement or repair, caulking and sealing throughout the exterior of the Memorial, and this work is considered capital and routine maintenance which is in accordance with the ballot language and City Council ordinances; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Ordinance No. 130075 the last time the LMA received reimbursement from the endowment was in 2013 for maintenance work that included roofing and capstone work to the Memorial and Exhibit Halls, condenser water upgrades, repair of facility leaks and waterproofing, replacement of existing audio/visual museum equipment, repair to the north fountains to working conditions, replacement of auditorium carpeting and building stone work repairs that cost $4,000,000.00; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners on June 17, 2025, passed Resolution No. 32890 determining that the expenditure of $1,500,000.00 is for capital maintenance and upkeep costs and that the Endowment can, and should fund this expenditure; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:
Section 1. That $1,500,000.00 is hereby appropriated from the Unappropriated Fund Balance of the Liberty Memorial Trust Fund to the following account:
26-6511-707427-B-70260101 Liberty Memorial Trust Fund $1,500,000.00
Section 2. That the Director of Parks and Recreation Department is hereby designated as requisitioning authority for Account No. 26-6511-707427-B-70260101.
Section 3. That this ordinance, appropriating money, is recognized as an ordinance with an accelerated effective date as provided by Section 503(a)(3)(C) of the City Charter and shall take effect in accordance with Section 503, City Charter.
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I hereby certify that there is a balance, otherwise unencumbered, to the credit of the appropriation to which the foregoing expenditure is to be charged, and a cash balance, otherwise unencumbered, in the treasury, to the credit of the fund from which payment is to be made, each sufficient to meet the obligation hereby incurred.
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Tammy L. Queen
Director of Finance
Approved as to form:
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Lana K. Torczon
Senior Associate City Attorney