Beatty says sales-tax distribution penalizes mill-levy reductions; county seeks formula review
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Summary
Commissioner Ryan Beatty said Sedgwick County's 1% sales tax is split with 20 cities under a formula that ties shares to population and property tax levies; he said the formula can reduce the county's share when mill levies are lowered and asked the state to explore a new distribution method.
Commissioner Ryan Beatty told District 4 residents that Sedgwick County's 1% sales tax is distributed between the county and 20 cities under a formula that factors population and local property tax levies.
"Currently the county has a 1% sales tax that is split between the county and our 20 cities based on a distribution formula," Beatty said, describing how the formula works and its intent to account for population and property tax levies.
Beatty said an unintended consequence of the current formula is that if the county or a city lowers its mill levy, that jurisdiction can receive a smaller share of sales tax revenue. "That just seems counterproductive," he said, and argued the county should not be "punished with sales tax revenues diminishing for simply lowering our property tax dependence."
He said Sedgwick County will ask the state to explore revisions to the funding formula as part of the county's legislative platform for the 2026 session. Beatty did not provide draft language or identify a specific statute or bill number in the update.