|
It's budget time for Sedgwick County, and Commissioners and our staff have started department briefings on projected 2025 spending. Looking at the forecast, it appears the county will have a deficit next year. Certainly, Sedgwick County can handle a year or two with deficit spending, but it should not be the norm.
Many things are impacting the deficit, but increased employee compensation is one of the big drivers. The County is a service organization, and we must have talented, qualified, experienced, caring and dedicated staff members to fill all of our positions. We are competing for prospective employees with other governments, businesses and organizations. We still have openings in vital departments due to compensation challenges, and we are addressing that; however, there has been tremendous improvement over the past couple of years.
At the same time, we have numerous funding requests from non-profits and outside organizations provided through your property taxes. I will not support using our citizens' property taxes beyond our mission-critical needs within the County. In addition, there may be some cuts required to funding we have historically provided to outside organizations. We will be holding several public meetings before the final budget is adopted in late August. We want to year your thoughts. Stay tuned for dates and times.
Many exciting things are happening in Sedgwick County, which you will read about later in this newsletter. Our community is a vibrant place to live and work. I am proud to serve the citizens of this great county. As always, please contact me, if I can help with any issues you face.
| 
