A bi-partisan group of Wichitans who took upon themselves the task of finding ways for city government to operate more efficiently has scored at least a couple of victories. Whether their other recommendations are implemented remains to be seen.
The group calls itself the Wichita Organization for Government Efficiency Exchange, or The Exchange. It came into being after District 4 City Council Member Dalton Glasscock asked for more citizen input into the city’s budget process.
The Exchange members include retired bank examiner Celeste Racette, who previously led the successful drive to save Century II; Henry Helgerson, whose service in the Kansas Legislature goes back to the 1980s; Deb and Pat Lucia, who are retired engineers; Carl Maughan, an attorney and former state representative; Marcia Brungardt, a CPA who specializes in tax matters for the Slawson Companies; John Whitmer, a former state representative and conservative talk show host; and Michael Austin, an economics professor at Washburn University in Topeka.
The Exchange’s avowed goal is to help the city find savings that could close projected budget deficits without cutting city services or raising taxes. Members spent months going over city records and requesting information from the city.
The Exchange presented its report to the City Council on Aug. 7. The report notes that city tax revenue grew faster than spending between 2013 and 2023, but that the city now projects budget deficits in 2026, 2027 and 2028. “Unchecked, this trend risks critical reductions in services such as animal control and library operations,” the report states.
The report opens with a comparison between Wichita and four “peer cities” in our region — Tulsa, Omaha, Sioux Falls and Springfield, Mo. — regarding their spending in broad categories such as public safety, general administration and public works. According to the report, if Wichita was to match the lowest-spending peer city in every category, it could reduce its budget by nearly $75 million per year. The report acknowledges that differences between the cities and their ways of accounting for various spending make “apple-to-apple” comparisons impossible.
“These figures don’t advocate cutting services but instead invite city leaders to examine how peer cities deliver similar services at a lower cost, and whether Wichita might do the same through better structure, technology, or accountability,” the report notes.
The next section of the report analyzed the city’s spending on contracts and vendors during the fiscal 2024 year. The report asserts that the city over budgeted for some contracts that year, made purchases for more than $50,000 without bids as required by city policy, and wasted money by allowing employees to make small one-time purchases that could have been bundled for savings.
The third section of the report covered economic development efforts by the city. It says the city has failed to require private developers to repay millions of dollars in debts; failed to require retailers to collect special sales taxes in Community Improvement Districts; allowed private companies to mismanage the Wichita Ice Center and Stryker Sports Complex; wasted money renting office space for Visit Wichita when city-owned property is vacant; and failed to make sure public-private developments such as WaterWalk live up to expectations. Additionally, it says the city is leasing space from a developer against whom it has filed a lawsuit; failed to collect $13 million in revenue from the Old Town Parking garage; and committed millions to develop Crystal Prairie Lake Park adjacent to a private subdivision while neglecting existing park maintenance.
At the Aug. 7 City Council meeting, Glasscock and Mayor Lily Wu thanked the group for their work. Glasscock called several of the group’s recommendations (see accompanying list) “noncontroversial” and Wu said: “I appreciate that a group of volunteers decided to spend time, look at our budget and see what else could be improved.”
Wu indicated the city had already taken steps as a result of several issues raised in the report. In back-and-forth exchanges with City Manager Bob Layton, Wu drew out information that the city had failed to bill the private operator of Stryker Sports Complex for thousands of dollars in water bills. The bills have now been paid.
“Thank you, Celeste, she pointed that out about 30 days ago,” Wu said.
In another exchange with Wu, Layton said the city was now attempting to end a Police Department lease for space in Old Town owned by developer Dave Burk, against whom the city has filed a lawsuit over an unrelated project.
“Again, Celeste bought this up to us multiple times and we did follow through,” Wu said.
Layton also acknowledged that the city doesn’t have a staff member responsible for Community Improvement District retail tax compliance but “we are training a new person to do that.”
Glasscock and Racette thanked city staff for collaborating with The Exchange’s members during their work on the report.
In its Aug. 12 meeting, the City Council also voted against 6-1 against a proposed apartment complex pitched by the private developers of WaterWalk, citing some of the same concerns raised in The Exchange’s report.
Here are recommendations that The Exchange report makes for the city of Wichita:
1. Set and Enforce Internal Cost Benchmarks
• Use peer-city comparisons, as well as other internal metrics, to establish annual per-resident spending targets by department.
• Require departments that exceed these benchmarks to provide justification and propose efficiencies.
2. Modernize Procurement and Vendor Oversight
• Implement centralized purchasing, accounts payable, and receivable controls through the Finance Department.
• Require competitive bidding for all purchases over $50,000—no exceptions.
• Consolidate P-card and one-time vendors into formal contracts to reduce duplication.
• Conduct quarterly reviews of contract utilization to flag overbudgeting or underuse.
3. Reform Economic Development Accountability
• Enforce clawbacks within six months for underperforming developers.
• Require all developer debts over $50,000 to be disclosed in public financial reports.
• Move Visit Wichita and similar entities into city-owned properties to reduce overhead.
• Prohibit deals with vendors or developers who are in litigation with the city.
4. Strengthen Financial Transparency and Public Reporting
• Publish an annual efficiency audit highlighting contract utilization, clawback enforcement, and vendor compliance.
• Post all major development agreements and financial disclosures online in a searchable format.
5. Review and Reprioritize Spending on Non-Core Programs
• Freeze the automatic 2% annual increase in arts funding until the General Fund is stabilized.
• Reexamine feasibility studies, consulting contracts, and overhead allocations to identify potential savings opportunities.
6. Prioritize Community Trust and Engagement
• Maintain and expand district-level budget workshops and advisory boards.
• Adopt and promote tools, such as online budget simulators, to enhance resident understanding and input.
• Publicly report progress toward cost-saving targets and use savings to protect core services.
