In anticipation of a coming budget deficit, some City Council members want budget cuts while others want to increase taxes. How does that affect the 2025 budget?
Wichita faces a looming budget shortfall, forcing the City Council to pick between raising taxes or cutting back services.
“The city is facing challenges,” District 4 Council Member Dalton Glasscock said. “We’re thoughtfully weighing how we can still provide excellent service for our citizens.”
City Manager Robert Layton suggested several cost-cutting measures for the 2025 budget. They include trimming expenses in the city Finance Department, evaluating the need for city-owned vehicles, eliminating long-vacant city positions and reworking benefits by finding new providers or pulling some back.
In addition, the library and public works budgets are losing ground to inflation.
A city survey conducted last year revealed that residents prioritize crime prevention, fire services and street repair as the most important city services.
District 1 City Council Member Brandon Johnson said he wants to learn more from Wichitans.
“Are we investing in the things people want to see?” Johnson said. “That’s what we want to hear about.”
The City Council is looking over the city manager’s proposed budget and can make tweaks before it’s scheduled to vote on the budget Aug. 20. But first it will hear from Wichitans on Aug. 8.
What’s getting the most money in Wichita’s city budget?
The city’s public works and utilities, finance and police departments receive the most money in the current city budget.
The proposed 2025-2026 budget keeps these priorities mostly the same. Public works and utilities would each receive a slight budget cut, while the police and finance departments get small boosts. The Wichita Police Department will get a little under $10 million more compared to the previous budget, about an 8% increase.
The Finance Department’s budget increase is just $2 million this year, a significant drop from last year’s $7 million increase. The smaller growth is due to the department trimming expenses.
Which departments have seen the most growth?
The City Council has emphasized crime prevention. That includes providing more support to the Police Department and increasing budgets for social services intended to prevent crime.
“Those who think it’s just the Wichita Police Department,” Johnson said, “it’s not. It’s more.”
The budgets for housing and community services and the fire and police departments have grown the most since 2020.
The Housing and Community Services Department has nearly doubled its budget with state and federal grants, going from $23 million in 2020 to $40 million in the proposed budget. Much of that money is earmarked to rehabilitate homes owned by the Wichita Housing Authority before they are sold and contracts to maintain housing services in the city.
The Police Department’s budget has increased 40% since 2020 to $132 million in the proposed budget, with salary increases and new hires accounting for much of that increase. The Fire Department went from $51 million to $76 million, or nearly 50%, in the same time.
The city manager’s budget has also spiked because it’s taking over the arts and culture department and the Century II fund. The city manager’s budget has tripled to $18 million as the office has taken on the new roles.
What budgets are being cut?
The 2025 budget doesn’t make any significant cuts to city departments, but the library, transportation, public works and airport departments have seen little growth over the past five years.
Most of those departments haven’t seen enough of a budget increase to keep up with inflation.
The library department’s proposed budget for 2025 is smaller because the city will save some operating costs while the Westlink branch gets renovated.
The Wichita Area Metropolitan Building and Construction Department, responsible for building code enforcement and jointly run with the county, has undergone the largest funding cuts from the city over the last five years. From 2020 to 2025, its budget decreased 10% or by $500,000. The county has picked up a larger share of the cost.
Wichita’s coming budget problem
Wichita will face a multimillion-dollar budget deficit in 2026. Falling interest rates are expected to slow the earnings the city gains from holding money in the bank. The city also plans to spend more on wages and benefits to attract and retain workers.
Layton told the City Council that the general fund is projected to be $3 million in the red in 2026 and $9 million in 2027 unless taxes go up or services get cut back.
To avoid that scenario, the City Council could raise Wichita’s property tax rate.
A higher property tax rate “helps us maintain service levels and not make the drastic cuts,” Johnson said.
Wichita is required by the state to not exceed its tax collections from the previous year without notice. The proposed budget exceeds that rate — because rising property values boost tax revenues.
Johnson favors keeping the current tax rate and using the extra money to offset upcoming deficits.
Glasscock said he’d protect some services, such as public safety, but would like to consolidate more services with Sedgwick County to save money, instead of raising taxes.
“I’m interested in how we can think innovatively,” Glasscock said. “How we’ll work on more consolidation with our county partners, if there’s cost savings there.”
Wichitans can voice their concerns about the proposed budget, the deficit and how to manage the costs at the upcoming budget hearing on Aug. 8.
This article was republished here with the permission of: The Beacon