The question facing Wichita voters on March 3 is set: Should the city impose a 1% citywide sales tax?
Precisely how that money would be collected, divided and spent, however, is something that City Council members are still sorting out — just weeks ahead of the special election.
The council’s decision in mid-December to unanimously approve a pitch by nonprofit group Wichita Forward limited some of the council’s options.
Wichita Forward — a group started by Aaron Bastian of Fidelity Bank, Ben Hutton of Hutton Construction and Jon Rolph of Thrive Restaurant Group — laid out a set of specific funding categories for any sales tax dollars collected.
The group estimates that a 1% sales tax would bring in about $850 million dollars over seven years.
Wichita Forward’s plan would direct up to $250 million to Century II and a convention center expansion, $225 million to public safety facilities and equipment, $150 million to a restricted fund for homeless and housing services, $150 million for property tax cuts and $75 million for the construction of a new downtown performing arts center.
For weeks, residents have filled city council chambers asking city leaders for additional details around the plans for Century II, a performing arts center and the homeless fund, specifically.
Some council members say the details are there.
Vice Mayor Dalton Glasscock said this week that Wichita Forward’s ballot question already comes with “more guardrails than really any sales tax in our community has, historically.”
Other council members, including Mayor Lily Wu, asked staff to help add additional details ahead of the special election.
The city’s answer came during a five-hour review of a staff-drafted set of guardrails.
The staff plan
City Manager Dennis Marstall said the mechanics of where sales tax dollars go is important to nail down.
“There are three different times where it will become important how we take the first dollar in,” Marstall said.
He said those three moments are when “we apportion it for the five initiatives,” when invested money generates interest and where the interest goes, and what to do with the sales tax if there is a shortfall.
Sales tax revenues could change if city officials are successful in pushing the state Legislature to exempt Wichita grocery sales from the additional tax.
City Finance Director Mark Manning said the city doesn’t have precise data, but he estimates that exempting groceries would reduce tax revenues by $81 million.
The 17-page staff plan lays out a general approach to the sales tax dollars, whether or not they hit the $850 million projection. The plan is a series of ordinances that set general rules and category specific rules for the tax.
A proposed ordinance would guarantee that the sales tax could not be extended without another ballot measure. Each dollar brought in by a sales tax would be divided among all the funding areas and invested like other city dollars. Any interest would also be split among the categories. All sales-tax-funded projects would be started on a “pay-as-you-go” basis, meaning the city wouldn’t take out any debt or advances to start projects.
The Council would decide when to fund specific projects — such as building a new fire station or expanding the convention center — when it develops the city’s annual capital improvement plan. Any changes would require council approval.
A 15-person citizen oversight committee, which is required by the ballot language, would review and publicly report on projects and spending but would not be in charge of directing spending one way or another.
Proposed ordinances for specific funding categories are more restrictive.
Tax revenues directed to public safety couldn’t be used for new positions or pay raises.
Sales tax dollars for Century II couldn’t be used to take away any funding already planned for Century II projects. Interest from the investment of any property tax relief dollars would have to be used specifically for property tax cuts.
No sales tax dollars would be used on a new performing arts center until Wichita Forward, or another group, raises or pledges $50 million dollars to match city investment in the project. Private dollars would be used first to cover the design and development of a performing arts center.
The rules around the housing and homelessness category are the most extensive. In the staff’s plan, the $150 million set aside for that category would go into a new fund. The fund would be invested to create an endowment for housing in Wichita, overseen by the housing and community services director Sally Stang.
The director, with input from the Affordable Housing Review Board, would decide how to fund programs that support renters, homebuyers and people without housing. The city’s shelter and multi-agency center, Second Light, would receive nearly $700,000 in 2026 and $2.76 million in 2027 for operations. Another $1 million would be guaranteed to “wrap around” housing programs in 2027.
Mayor Wu’s plan
Wu’s plan, which she presented for the first time Monday, prioritizes housing and public safety projects and would guarantee property tax relief.
“I think that prioritization is important, especially when we keep talking about homeless services at the city's only low-barrier shelter,” Wu said.
The mayor’s proposal would direct the first $300 million collected from a sales tax to housing and homeless, property tax relief and public safety funds. Each fund would receive $100 million. Once that mark was reached, subsequent sales tax would be divided among all five initiatives.
A $150 million endowment would be created for the housing fund. Wu said she believes the ballot language would allow the city to use only interest from that fund for housing initiatives.
She also proposes directing $2.7 million to Second Light in 2026. After that, Wu’s plan would increase funding to Second Light by 3% every year, pulling from the endowment earnings.
Her plan for public safety would focus on tackling deferred maintenance instead of new construction, a major part of the staff proposal for this category.
The mayor also pushed staff to spell out an exact amount of property tax relief that would occur on an annual basis. She proposed an annual 4 mill reduction and said “clarity is kindness.”
Sharon Dickgrafe, Wichita’s chief deputy city attorney, warned the council that setting a specific mill reduction could end up putting the city on the wrong side of a property tax cap bill being considered as a Kansas constitutional amendment.
“I know the voters want concrete guidelines, but a budget is a flexible thing,” Dickgrafe said. “There’s a sales tax variable and there could be a property tax cap that would severely hinder the city’s finances in the next five years.
“I think we need to be careful,” she added.
The mayor said a specific reduction amount was key to her support of the sales tax proposals.
“Without that, I will not be in favor of a lot of these things moving forward if I don’t for sure know that 4 mills out of property tax will be taken off,” she said.
The mayor’s plan would require $50 million in private funds be spent for a new performing arts center before public sales tax dollars could go to that project.
She also added a clause that would require Wichita Forward to raise $25 million in three years and $50 million within five years. If that money isn’t raised, the performing arts initiative would “dissolve” and the sales tax would end early.
Wu pushed Matt Burchett, a member of the Wichita Forward board, to commit that the nonprofit would fulfill a one-to-one match for the center.
“I mean obviously we can’t make promises that — we don’t have that money at hand right now,” Burchett said. “But we will lead the effort to try and attempt to meet the ballot language that you’re proposing.”
For Wichita Forward’s part, the nonprofit’s messaging has been brief on the proposed guardrails.
“Wichita Forward appreciates a chance to continue the conversation to help clarify and refine the proposal so it works for all Wichitans,” Burchett said. “Our hope is that this workshop contributes to a greater clarity and specificity as we work to address some of the city’s most critical needs.”
City leaders said the sales tax rules will remain in flux for at least two more weeks. City Council members plan to get feedback from the public on the proposals during a town hall meeting February 10.
