By Chance Swaim
The Wichita Eagle
SEDGWICK COUNTY, Kan. 鈥� The Sedgwick County Commission voted to lower its mill levy for the fourth year in a row Wednesday while raising property tax revenue by $11.2 million.
Commissioner Jim Howell, who proposed several changes to the budget that his colleagues did not support, was the lone dissenting vote.
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Overall property tax collections are budgeted to rise despite the rate cut because of growing residential property valuations.
The county mill levy will drop to about 26.842 mills from 27.553 mills 鈥� representing about $16.35 in savings for the owner of a $200,000 house, if their home valuation did not change. This year, 88% of Sedgwick County residential properties went up in value, with a median increase of 9.3%.
The budget adopted Wednesday totals $624 million and includes a boost to the county鈥檚 contingency reserves by $11.4 million, an additional $8.4 million for the sheriff鈥檚 office and about $4.9 million in increased costs of employee benefits, among other things.
Emergency Medical Services will also receive a major increase in funding by $4.6 million 鈥� or 18.5%. The additional money will pay for three new ambulances, three operational support vehicles and 15 full-time positions: 10 EMTs and 5 paramedics.
鈥淟ike all budgets, there鈥檚 good news and bad news,鈥� County Manager Tom Stolz said. 鈥淎nd without going through everything . . . the good news of this budget is we have a large commit to EMS.鈥�
The bad news is that the county did not receive a grant to replace two floating docks at Sedgwick County Park and had to cancel the funding for the project, Stolz said. The commission also moved $740,000 from the Northwest Expressway budget to help pay for three infrastructure projects: a road shoulder project on Ridge from 69th to 85th North, improvements to Pawnee from 135th to 151st West and bridge repairs on 53rd North between Hoover and West.
The commission also directed the public works director to come up with an intersection safety program by Dec. 1, 2026 .
Commissioner Ryan Baty moved to transfer $2 million from the county鈥檚 general fund to pay for Intrust Bank Arena鈥檚 reserve fund. Baty鈥檚 motion included language saying the county would use revenue sources other than property taxes to fund the transfer, although the general fund includes property taxes.
鈥淚 think we need to signal there鈥檚 stability in the fund,鈥� Baty said. 鈥淚 think we need to signal to the NCAA tournament ... and I think we need to signal to the community that we are serious about funding alternatives, finding alternative sources of revenue 鈥� that we don鈥檛 think property taxes is the appropriate use for cultural assets.鈥�
漏 2026 The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.).
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