Budget director traces decade of flat budgets and warns state decisions shifted costs to local taxpayers

Lindsay (staff presenter) gave a detailed briefing to the commission on Sedgwick County’s budget history since the Great Recession, linking long-term local budgeting choices, state policy changes and recent compensation adjustments.

Lindsay described a pattern of strategic reductions, flat budgets and targeted restorations that began after the 2008–09 recession. She said the county suspended performance pay early in the decade, implemented recurring reductions and reduced FTE counts substantially between 2010 and 2013. The county later used targeted steps and midyear adjustments, CARES Act funding and ARPA dollars to respond to COVID-19 and stabilize services; ARPA funds were also used for premium pay and to help address court backlogs and public-health needs.

Lindsay summarized major fiscal drivers: inflation since 2008 is about 42 percent, but the county’s property-tax-supported funds’ expenses rose about 35 percent in the same period; adopted FTEs in those funds were largely flat, and overtime costs rose about 49 percent. She flagged several state actions that reduced county revenue or shifted costs to residential taxpayers, including a phase-out of the mortgage registration fee, a commercial personal-property exemption (machine, equipment and manufactured fixtures), and reductions in city–county revenue sharing and state aid for mandated programs.

She said the county has absorbed substantial increased costs for state-mandated programs: expenditures for 16 state-related programs grew by roughly 33 percent (about $63 million more spent since 2008) while state aid for those programs decreased roughly $8 million in the period cited. Lindsay said the county’s levy has increased by about 48 percent since 2008 and that nearly all levy increases have been used to fund these mandated programs. She also provided a figure the presentation labeled as total fiscal impact from multiple state actions since 2008—$605 million—as part of the historical context.

Lindsay said recent multi-year pay and classification adjustments have improved retention; voluntary turnover fell after compensation changes and targeted pay plans for law enforcement, corrections and EMS were implemented. She also noted the county recently received a AAA credit rating with a stable outlook ahead of planned debt issuance and described that as affirming the county’s financial management.

Commissioners asked for clarifications and asked staff to prepare publicly usable summary language. Commissioner questions focused on the definition of “flat budgets,” the mechanics of the property-tax lid and revenue-neutral-rate rules and what options the commission will have in the 2026 budget (including scenarios that cap growth at 0–3 percent). Lindsay said staff would prepare simplified public-facing materials and multiple budget scenarios for the commission retreat.

Lindsay concluded by urging the commission to frame the county’s record of financial management in public discussion. “I will make the case to you all that you're not the problem,” she said, arguing that state policy changes, not local management, account for much of the fiscal pressure described in the presentation.

Next steps: staff will provide simplified summary materials, scenario analyses for the budget retreat and a breakdown of mandated vs. discretionary program costs to support upcoming budget decisions.