Jackson County voters soundly rejected a proposed half-cent sales tax to fund medical research.
Unofficial returns showed that 84 percent of Tuesday’s voters opposed a plan to impose a half-cent, 20-year sales tax to fund research at two private hospitals and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
The tax would have raised an estimated $40 million every year. Proponents had said the money would be used to recruit top scientists and make the county a leader in efforts to translate medical research into uses for patient care.
Opponents argued that middle- and lower-income Jackson County residents shouldn’t have to provide research dollars to Children’s Mercy Hospital, St. Luke’s hospitals and Missouri-Kansas City’s four health professional schools.