Which new tax or renewal tax — or is that a new renewal tax — on Jackson County’s ballot is right for you?

Question 2 on the Jackson County ballot has a lot going for it. Backed by a star-studded team of community leaders, it seeks an eighth-cent increase in the sales tax to create a fund dedicated to helping children and youths at risk of abuse, neglect, homelessness and mental illness.

The ballot question is the result of two years of work by a coalition of people who run shelters, work with foster kids and care for battered children and parents. State legislation enables counties to authorize the use of a sales tax to create a fund to serve at-risk children and youth. The Jackson County Legislature put Question 2 on the ballot after the coalition gathered 16,000 signatures from registered voters. It comes with a careful plan for guarding and spending the funds.

What’s not to like? Well, maybe the campaign’s slogan: Renew With Question 2. It’s plastered on mailings, campaign signs and billboards. The coalition’s website is RenewWith2.org.

On signs and mailings, the coalition does manage to slip in the phrase “hope for children.” As in: “renew hope for children with Question 2.” But the hope-for-children part is in smaller print than the rest of the appeal (see below) — which makes it look like voters are being asked to renew a sales tax with Question 2.

In fact, this would be a new tax, on top of the 1.125-percent tax the county already levies, which is in addition to the Missouri sales-tax rate of 4.225 percent, not to mention sales taxes charged by various cities.

“Our theme is renewing hope for children. That’s what our polling showed would be most effective,” says Todd Patterson, a consultant working for the campaign. Plus, “renew with 2” has a catchier ring than something like “putting kids first.”

The coalition has taken pains to make clear in all of its campaign literature that the new sales tax would be used to “establish” or “create” a children’s services fund, Patterson points out.

Crystal Williams, chairwoman of the Jackson County Legislature, says she doesn’t think the wording implies a sales-tax renewal. “That hadn’t occurred to me,” she tells me. “I’ve got a sign out in my yard, and it says, ‘Renew hope.’”

But the phrasing has definitely caught the eye of supporters of Question 1 on the Jackson County ballot. This measure asks voters to renew a quarter-cent sales tax to support the program known as COMBAT, which assists law-enforcement agencies and anti-crime programs.

Seemingly worried about the competition, Question 1 supporters have mounted a whisper campaign about the “Renew with 2” advertising.

But one could just as easily point to the COMBAT renewal campaign for taking a few liberties. “Stop the Violence!” its signs and billboards exhort. Really? Voters first approved the anti-crime tax in 1989, and violence continues to plague Jackson County and Kansas City. To infer than a nine-year tax renewal will turn the tide is a stretch.

Taken together, the two Jackson County questions ask voters to add yet more to their retail purchases to promote the greater good — public safety with Question 1, and well-being for children with Question 2. Both requests have their merits. But both are destined to foster dependency, as government and nonprofit programs quickly become hooked on the flow of money. One’s a new tax, and one’s a renewal. But once in place, we’re talking forever.