We learned Wednesday what Sedgwick County's proposed budget for 2023 will look like.
The Board of County Commissioners approved the publication of the proposed budget: $497,530,461 million, around an $11 million increase from 2022. A mill levy of 29.370 will collect $173,381,324 million in property tax.
The county will make employee compensation adjustments in 2023, citing workforce shortages. The adjustments will affect EMS and County fire employees, COMCARE, Corrections staff and Election workers. County leaders say it’s a 7% adjustment overall to their pay scale.
The county will also highlight behavioral health in 2023. They will add $1 million to a mental health contingency, $300 thousand for contracted mental health services for juveniles and $33 thousand for funding the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Coalition.
The final vote to publish the budget was 4-1, with Commissioner Jim Howell providing the lone no vote. He encouraged the commission and county staff to find efficiencies in the budget. He says because of high inflation, everyone has had to find ways to survive with less money and the county should do the same.
You can find a copy of the budget at the county's website. Residents can provide feedback in an online public forum until 5 p.m. August 23.
The first public hearing will be held August 3 at 6 p.m. The second hearing and budget adoption is planned for the commission's 9 a.m. meeting on August 24.