City leaders continued their discussions Tuesday on Wichita's operating budget for next year.
The city faces financial challenges due to the current interest rate environment and inflation, which reduce the city's capacity to fund projects. Looming shortfalls in the budget are coming. By 2025, the city projects a $15.2M deficit and that number increases in the following years. Council member Becky Tuttle says hard decisions are ahead.
Next month, the city will hold another workshop and will engage the public at District Advisory board meetings and at a social media town hall. The goal is to gather feedback on what citizens think the city's spending priorities should be.
The proposed budget will be presented on July 11 and after several public hearings, it will be adopted on August 22.
The city says it will begin the engagement process much sooner on the 2025 budget, starting in December.
The council also heard an annual report for Century II.
Chris Whitney, General Manager, says the venue is busy. The performing arts and convention center held 282 event days in 2022. The venue updated its website and social media presence, improved Wi-Fi, and selected new ticket and food vendors.
The facility will receive $18 million in renovations over the next 10 years, which will include roof and HVAC replacement this year.
We learned at the end of the presentation that Whitney will be leaving her GM post soon but will remain in the local area.
