Sedgwick County shifts economic development funding

Sedgwick County commissioners say it was a mistake to set aside $250,000 in the 2016 budget for the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition after the county terminated the group’s funding agreement in May.

Instead, a majority of commissioners want to keep that money for economic development without specifying where it will go.

“I don’t even think it was the intent to put $250,000 for GWEDC in the recommended budget,” Chairman Richard Ranzau said.

“I had requested this would not be allocated for GWEDC,” commissioner Jim Howell said.

The budget passed 3-2 on Aug. 12 with the earmark for the organization included, says County Budget Director Lindsay Poe Rosseau.

“There should not have been any earmark designated for GWEDC,” Rosseau said.

The county finalizes its budget by Nov. 1 after all property values are officially certified. Acting county manager Ron Holt said the county needed to clear up the confusion about the earmark before the budget book is published shortly after that.

“Once you list it in the budget book, there’s kind of an expectation that that’s where that money is going,” Holt said.

A county commission vote is needed to allocate the funding, county counselor Eric Yost said.

“We would have to enter into a funding agreement with them for them to get any money,” Yost said. “And to get that funding agreement approved, it would still take another vote.”

GWEDC received $300,000 from the county in the 2015 budget. The coalition markets the south-central Kansas region to businesses.

A majority of commissioners voted in May to end the county’s agreement with the coalition after the city of Wichita refused to move the cancellation deadline from June to September. The city was also a partner in that contract.

Commissioners Tim Norton and Dave Unruh voted against canceling the agreement. They say the county should contribute to the coalition.

“It’s hard to be a partner and a player if you don’t want to put any money into it and fully engage,” Norton said.

The county should fund the coalition sooner rather than later to continue to play a part in local economic development, he said. “If we just keep dragging our feet into next year, that will denigrate our relationship.”

It’s up to the GWEDC to ask the county to restore some funding, Holt said.

“The ball is in their court to make a request for what they want from the county,” Holt said.

The coalition’s chairman, Gary Schmitt, says it is reviewing its 2016 budget now.

“Once we’ve determined what that budget is, we’ll determine if there will be an ask and what that ask will be from the county,” he said.

The GWEDC wasn’t the only local development group to lose funding for 2016.

The county cut memberships with the South Central Kansas Economic Development District and the Regional Area Economic Partnership.

The approved budget did allocate an additional $60,000 for unspecified economic development purposes.

Combined with the $250,000 that would have gone to GWEDC, the commissioners can earmark about $310,000 to economic development groups. The money won’t go to the groups unless commissioners approve it, Rosseau said.

“Earmarks aren’t contracts,” Rosseau said. “Without a funding agreement, they’re not binding.”

“We want to make sure to be able to tell citizens where their money is going.”

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 6:49 PM with the headline "Sedgwick County shifts economic development funding."