What is COMBAT?
Voters created COMBAT in 1989, a quarter-cent sales tax, the first of its kind in the country. In 2009, its mission grew from drug crime to all violence. Voters have renewed it four times since.
Today it funds law enforcement, courts, and nonprofit programs that keep people out of the system in the first place.
What COMBAT Funds
More than half goes to law enforcement, the courts, the Prosecutor's Office, Corrections, and the Drug Task Force.
The rest funds nonprofit programs in four areas:
Violence Prevention: stopping bullying, gang violence, and domestic abuse before it starts.
Substance Abuse Prevention: keeping kids and families away from drugs in the first place.
Treatment: helping people already struggling get clean and stay clean.
Law Enforcement in Schools: officers working with over 20,000 students a year.
2025 By the Numbers
97 programs. 409 locations. Nearly 100,000 people served.
21 KCPD positions funded. A 75% homicide clearance rate in 2025.
$8 million invested in the Drug Task Force returned $107.4 million in seizures last year. A 1,348% return.21.4 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl taken off Jackson County streets since 2022.
Almost half of every dollar comes from non-Jackson County residents shopping here, not just local taxpayers.
Who’s Watching the Money?
Nine commissioners oversee every dollar: police, legal, and public health professionals, appointed by the County Executive.
Every program applies.
Every application gets reviewed.
Every report is public.