Wichita leaders hope to address looming budget shortfalls

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Wichita’s city manager proposed the 2025 budget to city council members Tuesday morning. City leaders can agree that by 2026, Wichita will face a budget shortfall.

Council members said that they could get ahead of the game by addressing the need within the 2025 budget.

With projected net losses of over $12 million in 2026 and %20 million in 2027, the City of Wichita’s next budget is urgently needed.

“The reality is we will be facing an unfortunate budget deficiency moving forward,” said Wichita Mayor Lily Wu.

Mayor Wu spoke out in a city council meeting on Tuesday morning. She said the answer is to look at what can be cut from programs that are not core services, like the police and fire departments. She recommended looking into the possibility of taking money from things like parks.

She said she is not in favor of raising the mill levy, another option that the council put forth.

“The revenue neutral is an increase in taxes, while the mill levy will remain the same according to the proposed budget, there’s an increase in captured value that we would have, so that is an increase in taxes,” said Mayor Wu.

City Council Member Brandon Johnson said the city’s mill levy had not been raised since he was around 6 years old. He said 75% of the city’s budget is paying people.

Johnson said he wants to avoid cutting programs that people care about within the community.

“Are we going to continue to applaud this council and future councils for keeping that mill levy the same while cutting all the services, or are we going to understand that people cost more,” he said.

Johnson believes cutting life-improvement programs will negatively impact people living in Wichita.

“I think cutting $12.4 million is going to be significantly detrimental. Do you want to cut down to only core services, or do you still want the things that we do, that people appreciate, the quality of life things, the park programs, the arts programs,” he said.

Three public meetings will be held before the city council votes on the budget, with an evening meeting on Aug. 8. The city can only make recommendations, and the council will make the final decisions.

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