Sedgwick County Republicans vote to oppose Wichita’s proposed 1% sales tax

The Sedgwick County Republican Party unanimously approved a resolution Thursday urging Wichitans to vote against a 1% city sales tax.

The resolution, approved by precinct committee people, cited the rushed vote to put the sales tax question on the ballot and the increased spending from the sales tax as reasons voters shouldn’t support it.

“...the Kansas Republican Party platform affirms that local governments must recognize that prosperity is best achieved when economic resources remain in the hands of the people, and that government should first constrain spending before increasing taxes,” part of the resolution read.

Thursday’s party meeting was originally scheduled to be a presentation by Wichita Forward about the sales tax, but party chair John Whitmer said the group and several of its members could not attend because of scheduling conflicts.

“Well, let’s send them a message,” one precinct committee person could be heard shouting after that announcement.

The resolution originally presented to precinct committee people was thirteen paragraphs long. It ended up being condensed to about half that at seven paragraphs by the end of the meeting.

The resolution also acknowledged the regressive nature of sales taxes, which economists say disproportionally affect lower-income residents.

“...a sales tax is inflation-sensitive and inherently regressive disproportionately burdening lower-income residents as well as renters, who comprise approximately 41.6 percent of Wichita households — many of whom would receive no direct property-tax benefit,” it reads.

Whitmer, who’s also a conservative talk radio host, acknowledged that there may be some parts of the sales tax that people in the party may support, but overall disagreed with it.

“I equate it to this; you know the little white speck on the top of bird poop? It’s still bird poop,” Whitmer said, “but sometimes you have to vote for the whole thing, and you swallow the bad with the good. That’s why they bundle things together.”

The Sedgwick County Democratic Party has yet to oppose or endorse the proposed citywide sales tax.

The Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce recently endorsed the sales tax.

This story was originally published February 12, 2026 at 9:04 PM.