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Sedgwick County staff propose changing shared 1% sales-tax formula to assessed-value basis
Summary
County finance staff recommended lawmakers change the formula that divides the countywide 1% sales tax among Sedgwick County and the county's 20 cities from a property-tax-levy basis to an assessed-value basis; models show a modest shift of shares, with Wichita’s share dropping from 39.3% to 38.2%.
County finance staff on the Sedgwick County agenda-review briefing recommended a statutory change to how the countywide 1% sales tax is divided among Sedgwick County and the county's 20 cities.
Under current state law, half of the shared 1% sales-tax pool is distributed by population and the other half is distributed based on property-tax levy dollars; staff proposed switching the levy-based portion to an assessed-value basis to better reflect growth and standardize the formula that determines each jurisdiction’s share.
Lindsay (county finance staff) told the commission the change would shift allocations modestly: Wichita’s share, for example, would fall from around 39.3% to about 38.2% in the county’s model. Staff said the proposal is designed to reduce perverse incentives that occur when government choices about levies affect shared sales-tax distributions.
Staff also said Sedgwick County has seen an estimated $700,000 reduction in shared sales-tax receipts in recent years tied to levy- and assessment-related changes that other local governments have made. The proposed assessed-value approach would benefit Sedgwick County and two smaller cities in the county while reducing shares for most other cities by small amounts in staff analysis.
The change would not affect local-option sales taxes that individual cities levy; it applies only to the portion of the 1% tax the state redistributes among the county and cities.
County staff said they would advance the assessed-value proposal to the county’s legislative team for drafting and introduction this legislative session. No formal action was taken during the agenda review; commissioners were invited to comment before staff proceeds.
