HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The 2025 City of Hutchinson budget approved by the city council after its hearing Tuesday morning will spend down much of the city's ending balance.
According to budget documents, the 2025 Budget shows a beginning general fund balance of approximately $5.3 million with a projected 2025 year-end fund balance of $913,000.
"The goal here that council has expressed is to keep the mill levy the same," said City of Hutchinson Finance Director Angela Richard. "We are seeing those rising costs but along with that this year we have seen a decrease in our sales tax revenue."
Normally, trends would indicate that the general fund ending balance would be higher than budgeted because the city typically does not spend the full budget. Sales tax collections will greatly impact the balance in 2025, and the city portion of sales tax will actually go down in October when the Sports Arena bonds are paid off.
"The city portion will go from 1.5 to 0.75 percent," Richard said.
The 2025 budgeted expenditures of $47,169,865 exceed the 2024 general fund budgeted expenditures of $44,581,726.
The 2024 assessed valuation for 2025 budget purposes ($380,287,477) reflected a 5.1% increase from the 2023 assessed valuation of $361,840,574.