Wichita City Council members are looking over a recommended budget for 2024 that will total more than $714,6 million. City Manager Robert Layton presented his budget recommendations to the council this week.
The budget keeps the city’s property tax rate at the same number of 32.762 mills. It will include funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to help with several initiatives, including workforce training, affordable housing programs and small business assistance.
The budget will include the retention of 42 firefighter positions when grant funding expires, and the city’s Capital Improvement Program will have funding for new fire stations and equipment to improve fire and medical response coverage across the city. There will also be funding for an enhanced body camera program for police officers, and leadership positions will be added to the police department as recommended by the recent study conducted by the Jensen Hughes consulting firm.
The budget will also provide additional funding for library services, including expanded service hours for the Angelou and Walters branches.
Layton said an inflation rate of 8 percent has affected city operations, and it added $15 million to the costs in this year’s budget. He said the 2024 budget has measured funding increases to avoid disruptions in city services. Layton said there has been robust growth in property tax revenues and sales tax revenues continue to be healthy and interest earnings have been better than earlier projections. He said the city will have surplus funds from 2023 and 24, and he is recommending moving that surplus into reserve funds for use to deal with projected deficits for the 2025, 26 and 27 budget years.
The City Council is planning an evening public hearing on July 27th, and there will be hearings during the regular council meetings on August 15th and August 22nd, and final adoption of the budget is scheduled for the August 22nd meeting.
The recommended budget is available on the city’s web page at wichita.gov
