Wichita City Council delays decision on funding plan for performing arts center
The Wichita City Council voted Tuesday to delay a decision on how to spend sales tax money on a downtown performing arts center.
The proposal under consideration would tie public spending on a performing arts center to private fundraising in a way that ensures the city is not on the hook for the project without matching funds from the private sector.
Specifically, the resolution would require matching funds before any of the $75 million in sales tax funds could be spent. The resolution is meant to spell out the council’s intentions. But it would be subject to change at any time and is separate from the sales tax ballot question, which, if passed, binds the city to collect and spend up to $75 million in sales tax on a performing arts center.
Mayor Lily Wu moved to defer the item until Jan. 27 because she has concerns that the resolution lacks clarity after City Manager Robert Layton said the ballot question would allow the city to spend money on the design and planning of the performing arts center with matching funds, rather than requiring the private sector to raise enough money to cover half of the costs before starting on the front-end work.
“I don’t think that city dollars, or taxpayer dollars, should come in, paying one-to-one, until there has been a certain threshold that has been met,” Wu said. “So if it’s say, $50 million, then public dollars would kick in. However, I don’t believe that public dollars should be matching as you go along. Absolutely not.”
The measure would take effect only if Wichita voters approve a March 3 ballot question that would add a 1% city sales tax on all retail purchases in the city for 7 years. It would authorize up to $850 million in spending, including $75 million on a new downtown public performing arts center.
Other expenses would include public safety infrastructure and equipment, an expanded convention center, and homeless and housing services. $150 million would be set aside for property tax relief.
There’s no plan in the resolution for what to do with the public money if private donations fail to materialize.
Sharon Dickgrafe, deputy city attorney, said the City Council can steer sales tax money to the other projects first then end the sales tax collections early if the city decides not to build a performing arts center if the private money doesn’t come through.
“I think the question is, what can the performing arts center be built for,” Dickgrafe said. “And if there isn’t a matching fund, then we don’t build a performing arts center.”
A public-private partnership agreement for the new performing arts facility would further explain the expectations, Dickgrafe said.
Wichita already has a public performing arts center at Century II, which would receive $25 million in funding through the Wichita Forward sales tax.
It’s unclear who is responsible for soliciting donations for the building. It is not in the city’s capital improvement plan budget but is near the top of Wichita Forward’s priorities for the city that the group said it identified through survey data it has refused to release.