9 May 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — In a City Council town hall meeting Monday, Mayor Brandon Whipple addressed concerns about potential budget cuts. Although department heads have been requested to create two budgets, the mayor says it’s part of a contingency plan.
Mayor Whipple says the city manager has tasked each department with creating two budgets: one being the budget they would prefer, the other as if a five percent cut were necessary. The mayor stressed the request is not an indicator any cuts are needed at this time.
“So right now we have more money in our council reserve, a.k.a. our rainy day fund, than we’ve ever had in the history of Wichita, over $20m, which means if COVID hit tomorrow, and I had to cut $15m out of our budget tomorrow, technically, we could write a check for it, however, that’s not what we want to do, we want to make sure that we’re conservative as we move forward,” Mayor Whipple said.
The final public hearing and adoption of the budget will take place on August 22. City Council will hold three more town halls to discuss budgetary priorities:
Monday, May 15, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. Evergreen Branch Library, 2601 N Arkansas
Wednesday, May 17, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. Rockwell Branch Library, 5939 E 9th St
Wednesday, May 24, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. Fire Station 21, 2110 N 135th St W