Final Word is an opinion column.
I love cops. I love firefighters. Unfortunately, I don’t love the City of Columbia’s proposed one percent citywide sales tax that is projected to raise as much as $38 million annually to help fund public safety improvements.
Under normal circumstances, I’d be the first in line promoting this initiative. I was the campaign co-chair for Proposition L when it passed in 2002, the last time local voters approved a specific measure to fund law enforcement. However, the out-of-control spending by city leaders and elected officials are the very reason we can’t afford to pay a decent wage to our police officers and firefighters. Until we fix city hall, there’s no sense in throwing money at a problem that current city leaders are incapable of fixing.
The really unfair component of the current scenario is the underfunded pensions for our police officers and firefighters. This problem was first detected in 2010 by the then-newly elected mayor Robert McDavid. City officials created a plan to correct the issue at that time, but then later broke their promise and now the pensions are underfunded by $156 million. It’s unimaginable to me that we tolerated a string of city managers to break this important covenant with our first responders.
City leaders tell us that we have a revenue problem, but they fail to acknowledge that we have an even larger spending problem. In 2026, the city is projected to spend $2.7 million more than it plans to take in. This will be the third consecutive year they’ve dipped into reserves to fund city services. If you were the CEO of a local business or the head of your own household, you would have already taken measures to cut spending and stop the bleeding. Columbia’s government doesn’t think like that because they’re spending someone else’s money.
When challenged on their reckless spending habits, city officials arrogantly respond by asking, “what would you cut?” Most citizens are so overwhelmed by the 500+ page document with a $600 million budget, they have no response at the ready. However, those of us paying attention to the antics at city hall do.
In the current fiscal year, the city will spend $868,854 through the Office of Sustainability to make sure Columbia complies with its self-imposed Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. The city will spend $1.7 million on social services including more than $1 million for homelessness services. The unproven, experimental Office of Violence Prevention will spend more than $500,000 on something best described as “window dressing” to fool citizens into believing that we have a solution to Columbia’s crime problem. The city will also spend $592,805 for its Office of Cultural Affairs. Another $3 million will add wind and solar power to the city’s electric portfolio. And there’s no telling how much money the city will spend in 2026 on legal fees due to its refusal to comply with federal laws.
If I were a cop or firefighter in Columbia, I’d be asking city officials why all of the above is apparently more important than funding their pensions. I’d also ask why the city was okay with adding 151 new positions since 2023 without getting the approval of voters. Why are they just now seeking voter approval when it comes to adding cops and firefighters? It’s pretty clear city leaders are using our first responders as pawns in this money grab while allowing out-of-control spending for nonessential frivolities that go unchecked.
Inquiring minds should also have a bit of curiosity about the financial windfalls that came to the City of Columbia with the passage of the Wayfair internet sales tax and the revenues coming in from the legalization of marijuana. Where did that money go? Crickets.
Voters on Aug. 4 will likely be forced to choose between this sales tax and a request from Boone County’s Sheriff Dwayne Carey to pass a similar tax to fund a new county jail. Carey, who has been Boone County’s most trusted elected official for the last two decades, needs to fund a jail that can hold up to 570 inmates, costing as much as $80 million and built in phases. Will voters go for both, or will they decide instead to place a safe bet on leadership that actually delivers on its promises? City officials have a few months to make their case to the voters. A little bit of transparency might go a long way with voters this time around. City officials should give it a try.
