How Sedgwick County budget plan could affect your taxes, plus what could be added & cut
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Proposed $624.7M budget lowers mill levy to 27.881, down from 28.659 mills
- Budget adds 20 emergency positions, cuts $560K from arts and crime prevention funds
- County staff receive 3% raises; sheriff’s pay grows 5% under existing deal
Sedgwick County property owners may see a reduction in their property tax mill levy as part of the county’s proposed budget.
The $624.7 million recommended budget would lower the county mill to 27.881 mills from 28.659.
It’s too soon to say whether that would mean a decrease on tax bills; property taxes are figured using the mill levy and property valuations, which continue to climb.
The budget proposes some cuts, including reducing crime prevention funding by $400,000, reducing cultural funding by $160,000 and eliminating $80,000 to broadcast county meetings with the local PBS channel.
“This is not the completed budget. This is the recommended budget,” County Manager Tom Stolz said. “It’s what I call the 98% budget. The last 2% is for the people to decide how to maneuver and massage this particular document.”
The recommended budget adds 20 new positions to emergency communications as a result of recommendations made in a third-party report after the Brookhollow Apartment fire that killed 22-year-old Paoly Bedeski.
Two new elephant zookeepers at the Sedgwick County Zoo are included in the recommended budget. The zoo has welcomed three elephant calves this year.
County pay increase, staffing changes
A majority of Sedgwick County staff will see a 3% increase in salary, as well as a 1% step increase.
In recent years, the county has had to increase its pay to address significant staffing shortages. It now says staffing levels are normal.
“We’re kind of out of the catch up days,” County Commissioner Pete Meitzner said. “Which is nice… it eases the pressure to us.”
Sheriff’s employees will receive a 5% increase as part of an agreement the commission has already approved.
The sheriff’s department may see a bigger increase in future years. The city of Wichita’s police union contract is set to expire in 2026.
“If they go and lay a lot of money on their police candidates, potentially, I think we may have to react to that on this side,” Stolz said.
The emergency communications department, which was severely understaffed during the pandemic, will see 20 new positions.
The positions were created to split up call taking and dispatching, which was recommended in the third-party report.
Not all commissioners are sold on the new positions.
Commissioner Jim Howell challenged whether they are needed and whether other counties operate emergency communications in the same way.
“So what I’m wondering is, is this a need … this year?” Howell said, questioning the new $1.1 million line item.
Stolz said it would be hard to make a comparison, because Sedgwick County takes in calls for police and fire, which most other counties don’t do.
“This all falls on Sedgwick County 911 systems and to do comparatives, peer analysis, back and forth is virtually impossible,” Stolz said, “because nobody else is set up exactly like we are here and provide the types of services that we do here.”
The county will have two public hearings on the budget.
It’ll host its first hearing at 6 p.m. July 30. The commission is set to approve its budget right after its second and final hearing at a regular meeting on Aug. 20.
The county has also launched an online public forum for residents to comment on the budget.
This story was originally published July 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM.