The Wichita City Council received more public comments about its 2023 proposed operating budget and 10-year capital improvement plan.
Ted Bush, President of the Wichita Local 135 Firefighter union, says Wichita has fallen behind when it comes to compensation for its firefighters.
Bush said a firefighter in Kansas City, Kansas with 5 years of experience makes a little over $80 thousand per year, compared to just $53 thousand per year for the same amount of experience in Wichita.
The proposed 2023 budget totals over $624 million, an increase of $24 million from this year. The CIP is nearly $2.4 billion over 10 years. The city's mill levy will stay at 32.758 mills, for the 29th year in a row.
The last public hearing and adoption of the budget is scheduled for next Tuesday, August 23.