The Wichita City Council has approved their 2027 operating budget and 10-year Capital improvement program.
In all, the budget totals $825 million, with around 67 percent of it allocated toward public safety, like police and fire.
Prior to budget adoption, the council approved exceeding the revenue neutral rate. Zach, a constituent from District 1, argued that capping property valuation growth to just inflation and new construction would help bring discipline to the budget, while helping homeowners.
The council did approve a one-time allocation of $100 thousand to develop a property tax relief pilot program.
The council also approved several other budget amendments. The savings will reduce the amount of money, originally $3 million from the city's stabilization fund, used to balance the budget. It includes a $500 thousand reduction for unallocated administrative costs. They also approved reallocating $150 thousand from the proposed police dash cams to the library budget, to help with staffing issues.
