MARC JACOBS
Hutch Post
In a joint meeting on Wednesday, members of the Reno County Commission and Hutchinson City Council reviewed survey results on community willingness to pay additional sales tax. At the meeting members from the city and county expressed frustration and support over the situation regarding potential sales tax increases.
Reno County Commission Chair Ron Hirst said earlier discussions among the county, the City of Hutchinson, the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce, and the Hutchinson Community Foundation led to a consensus to explore a countywide sales tax. Based on that, the commission partnered with Wichita State University’s Public Policy and Management Center in June 2025 to survey registered voters.
In December, the Hutchinson City Council placed a three-quarter cent sales tax for voters to approve in a March 3 election. The reasoning behind placing the issue on the ballot is that the city faces a list of projects, and with budget projections, and they face the possibility of layoffs without new revenue.
Hirst in the meeting expressed disappointment that the city acted to place the issue on the ballot before the county had received the study that they had hired Wichita State to perform. The county faces a Jan. 25 deadline to present a request to the legislature to place a sales tax issue on August primary ballot.
Council Member Greg Fast said Hutchinson would benefit from a countywide tax but more so from its own. Villegas characterized the proposals as complementary, saying, “We can all coexist here.”
Survey results presented by Wichita State showed 70% of respondents willing to support a 0.5% county sales tax, 51% willing to support 0.75%, and 40% willing to support 1%. The strongest support for use of funds was for property tax relief, followed by economic development incentives and county road improvements. Lower support was shown for sewer and water extensions in smaller cities, jail expansion, and housing incentives.