On the agenda: Valley Center Agenda — flock camera (Aug 26)

SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA
August 26, 2026
THE CITY COUNCIL SHALL HOLD ITS SPECIAL MEETING IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER IN
THE CITY HALL, LOCATED AT 121 S. MERIDIAN, BEGINNING AT 5:15 P.M.

1.

CALL TO ORDER

2.

ROLL CALL

3.

NEW BUSINESS
A.

15.

2027 COMPREHENSIVE BUDGET PRESENTATION

ADJOURN

This is an open meeting, open to the public, subject to the Kansas Open Meetings Act (KOMA). The City of
Valley Center is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities upon
request of the individual. Individuals with disabilities requiring an accommodation to attend the meeting
should contact the City Clerk in a timely manner, at [email protected] or by phone at (316)755-7310.

ADJOURN

Agenda –cover page

August 26th, 2026
To: Honorable Mayor Jet Truman & City Council
RE: 2027 Budget – Department Updates/Requests, Financial Overview, and
Opportunities/Challenges
Dear Mayor Truman and City Council Members,
It is the responsibility of the Finance Director, along with the City Administrator, to
prepare and present an annual budget to the Valley Center City Council. The following
letter recaps the SB13 budgeting process now in its fifth full year, department
updates/requests, and current/future challenges facing the City.
The City received its estimated valuation information on June 15th. The City’s overall
estimated assessed valuation increased by 8.46% from $87,761,650 to an estimated
$95,185,128. The value of each mill is estimated to be $95,185.
Revenue Neutral Rate
SB13 repealed the tax lid and implemented a new budgeting process for any entity that
levies ad valorem property taxes. The new process establishes what is called the
Revenue Neutral Rate (RNR). The RNR shows what the City would need to levy to
generate the same number of ad valorem tax dollars as the previous year’s budget. The
City’s RNR for the FY27 budget is calculated at 49.471. The RNR is calculated by
taking the total property taxes billed for FY26 and dividing that by the City’s estimated
assessed valuation for the FY27 budget and multiplying by 1,000 to express the rate in
mills:
$4,708,932 (property taxes billed for FY26)
$95,185,128 (estimated valuation for FY27 budget)
=
.049471 x 1,000 or 49.471 mills
After establishing the revenue neutral rate, the City must put together its budget to
determine if the RNR needs to be exceeded to maintain its high level of service offered
to its residents. The City must notify Sedgwick County by July 20th if we plan on
exceeding the RNR. As that date approached, discussions were still taking place on
Valley Center keeping our Fire Department funded through the City or joining the
Sedgwick County Fire department. We sent the County Clerk our “worst case” scenario

model of a 67.118 mill rate on 7-13-26. That mill rate was based on the estimated cost
of keeping our Fire Department in Valley Center and staffing up to a 24/7/365 model
with additional employees and equipment. By notifying Sedgwick County of our intent to
exceed the RNR, it allows the City more time to discuss items like critical personnel,
equipment, and overall funding for the FY27 budget. This step in the process is like how
we would set our maximum ad valorem tax dollar amount in budget years prior. The
notification process to Sedgwick County essentially sets our “cap” in total maximum
dollars we plan to levy.
The notification will also signal Sedgwick County to include this information on a
notification that will be sent to every property owner in our taxing jurisdiction of when
and where we plan on holding our RNR and budget hearings along with the financial
information on how much ad valorem tax the individual will pay at the proposed mill rate
of 67.118 mills compared to the current fiscal year.
Staff recommend having this hearing each year regardless of our decision to exceed the
RNR or not. Conducting the tax rate hearing will ensure we are able to capture, at
minimum, the same amount of taxes levied the year prior.
It will be the duty of the City Council to ultimately decide what the City’s mill levy will be.
If the revenue neutral rate will not be exceeded, the remaining budget calendar looks
like:
• Publish the FY27 budget hearing notification on September 1st, informing
residents of the public hearing for the FY27 budget on September 15th, 2026.
• Hold public hearing for the FY27 budget on September 15th and approve the
FY27 budget.
• Send certified documentation and affidavit of public hearing notification to
Sedgwick County on or before October 1st, for review and submission to the
state.
If the revenue neutral rate will be exceeded, the remaining budget calendar looks like:
• Send notification of exceeding the revenue neutral rate along with the date, time,
and location of the revenue neutral rate hearing to Sedgwick County by July 20th,
2026. The hearing will be held on September 15, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. located at
City Hall, 121 S. Meridian Valley Center KS, 67147.
• Publish notification for the FY27 budget hearing and FY27 revenue neutral rate
hearing on September 1st, 2026, and place notification on the City website with
the details of the time, date, and location of said hearings.
• Hold FY27 budget public hearing and FY27 budget revenue neutral rate hearing
on September 15th, 2026 (hearing must be held between Aug 20th and Sep 20th)
• Approve resolution to exceed the revenue neutral rate and certify the FY27
budget no later than Sept 19th, 2026, once the public hearing and tax rate
hearings have concluded. The vote to exceed the RNR must be a Roll Call
vote.
• Send certified documentation, copy of resolution exceeding the RNR, and
affidavit of public hearing notifications to Sedgwick County by October 1st, 2026,
for review and submission to the state.

Update: Council voted August 18th to put the expanded Fire Department expansion to a
public vote in November of 2026. Therefore, the number sent to the County on July 13th
of 67.118 will not be used for the 2027 budget. We will instead be using a FY2027 mill
rate of 59.842 unless Council votes to increase or decrease that rate at our
Comprehensive Budget discussion on August 26th.

Department Updates / Requests
Public Works
Over the past six years, Public Works has been aggressive in terms of equipment
replacement and developing new ideas and procedures. Public Works staff should be
commended for their forward thinking, as they continue to seek new strategies to
improve efficiency in service through better project management and tackling some
projects in-house.
Public Works functions play an integral role in the City, providing essential services for
streets, water, wastewater, and stormwater.
.
Public Works will be taking on the largest capital improvement project in Valley Center
history with the upcoming Water Treatment Plant (WTP). The estimated completion
date will be Q1 of 2027. Most of the WTP will be paid through a 30-year SRF lowinterest rate loan. We have also been awarded a $1.5-million-dollar KDHE loan
forgiveness grant, $1.9M from the water department to pay for Engineering expenses
for the construction of the WTP and staff continue to search for any additional grants or
funding sources that might help us reduce the overall cost of the project.
The 2027 budget includes $1.9M from water operating to pay off the engineering
expenses for the Water Treatment Plant. Water operating will also make a $440K
transfer to Bond and Interest to make the first loan payment toward the WTP in
February of 2028.
Special Streets and Highway Fund
The Special Streets and Highway Fund is dedicated to maintenance and construction of
roads in Valley Center. Funding is provided through gas taxes distributed by the State
and Sedgwick County along with 50% of local sales tax distributions. The increase in
inflation since FY21 has increased annual sales tax revenue projections through FY27.
Mirroring the General Fund in terms of sales tax revenue budgeting, county sales tax
revenue was increased for FY27 to account for the increase realized over the past two
years. County sales tax revenue is still budgeted conservatively to account for changes
in the economy due to inflation and changes in interest rates.

Stormwater
The Stormwater Fund continues to transfer $200k to Bond and Interest to continue
toward the 2016 Ford/Meridian project and other shortages inside Bond and Interest. In
addition to debt service payments, $110,000 is budgeted for system improvements to
the Stormwater system.
Solid Waste
The City recently partnered with Waste Connections in early 2021 and then renewed
our contract with them for an additional ten years in late 2025. Waste Connections is
now the sole source solid waste hauler for all residential properties in Valley Center.
Waste Connections was chosen due to the pricing provided for our residents as well as
their commitment to communication and service by providing multiple avenues to
engage and interact with our residents. By partnering with Waste Connections, the timeconsuming task of picking up, removing, and replacing carts has been removed from
the duties of our public works employees, allowing more time and energy to be spent on
other public works activities.
Sewer
A new lift station will be installed in Q4 of 2026. This will be through reserve funds.
Sewer will continue to transfer $210,000 to Bond and Interest in FY27 for a 2007 bond
through KWPLCRF. That debt is set to sunset in the FY28 budget.
Community Development
Multiple new housing developments are currently in the design or construction phases
in Valley Center. They include Harvest Place, Prairie Lakes, Arbor Valley, Valepoint and
Amber Ridge.
FY27 Budget requests include $20,000 for advertising and $15,000 for to be allocated
for local business development decided by the City Council.

Parks and Public Buildings
The Parks and Public Buildings staff work hard to improve many amenities for the City.
In 2019, a new master pedestrian/bike plan for the City was completed. This will allow
interconnectivity throughout the City for residents who like to walk, run, and bike through
Valley Center. This will aid in future CIP projects regarding City parks and outdoor
spaces.
The Parks and Public Buildings Department has been an integral part of the new

Pool/Rec center that opened in February of 2025. Staff did a great job in presenting
information throughout the Steering Committee’s process of selecting the Construction
Manager and Architect Firm for the project.
Like the Community Development Department, The Parks and Public Buildings
department will be relied upon heavily as the City experiences growth and addition of a
62-acre park.
The Parks and Public Buildings budget requests for 2026 include $100,064 for
contractual services such as mowing, cleaning and an allocation of $19,000 for turf
maintenance.
Public Safety
The Public Safety Department is currently in a position of growth, adaptation, and
change when it comes to infrastructure for the Department. Over the past five budget
cycles the Department has secured funding to obtain new digital radios, new car and
body cameras, a firetruck, new air packs and SCBA’s, computers, new vehicles through
a partnership with Enterprise Fleet, new evidence processing software, software to
manage the Departments mission to receive accreditation through the States’ recently
adopted accreditation program, and most recently transitioning to a new records
management system and computer aided dispatch system through a partnership with
Sedgwick County.
$15,000 has been allocated for new Fire Department equipment in 2026.
Administration
The Administration Department plays a major supporting role for all other departments
throughout the City. Administration handles all financial duties, payroll, accounts
payable, treasury services, IT services, municipal court services, human resources,
senior services, and serves as the secretary of the City Council. Each unit within the
Administration Department continues to strive for efficiency by implementing and
utilizing new technologies. Technology upgrades continue to contribute to the efficiency
of the department. The City will be moving to a new ERP system in 2027 named
Caselle. This software system will increase efficiency for all departments in the City by
streamlining many time-consuming processes.
.
FY24 and FY25 were high-cost years in terms of healthcare expenses for the City. We
have had several employees that had higher than budgeted medical expenses and
needed surgeries. We are increasing our mills allocated to Employee Benefits to
stabilize expenses and build reserves back up.
In 2023, the City purchased a plan through Pareto which caps the maximum out of
pocket medical expenses that would have to be paid for catastrophic illnesses or
injuries for employees. After a certain threshold is met, Pareto covers the additional
medical expenses past that threshold. This has allowed the city to better budget for
medical expenses in the employee benefit fund, without having to worry about a large

unexpected medical expense greatly changing a fiscal budgetary year. This Pareto plan
was continued in FY26 and is also a budgeted item for FY27.
Emergency Equipment Fund
The Emergency Equipment fund is allocated at approximately one mill per year, for
FY26 and FY27 it is at .962.
This fund is used to purchase emergency equipment for the Public Safety department.
Historically, it has been used for purchasing a new police vehicle every year. In recent
years this fund has expanded into equipment for Fire, upfitting police vehicles and
additional funding to items such as flock cameras.

Bond and Interest Fund
Long Term Debt
Overall debt through maturity and total principal and interest payments due per year

Long Term Debt - Future
Overall debt through maturity and total principal and interest payments due per year
***Note: 2026 GO Bonds are now completed. However, we still need to update the power BI to move that
to current debt and it is listed as future debt currently in the model below.

Valley Center has invested in their future the past six years. New roads, bridges, a new
city recreation center, over ten new housing additions and a new water treatment plant.
These investments were paid through bonds and loans, and those payments start
ramping up in FY27. In FY26, the city had $2,291,550 in bond payments on their debt.
These payments will increase to $5,713,876 in FY27.

The chart below is the estimated debt payments
by year for all current and future Bonds and
Loans. The only debt excluded from this chart is
Temporary Notes for housing additions currently
being constructed and not yet bonded.

Five Year Forecast (Taxing Funds)
Financial Outlook 5-Year Forecast
To aid finance staff and City Council in future decision making, staff have created a 5year forecast for all taxing funds the City operates. The taxing funds include the General
Fund, Employee Benefit Fund, Library Fund, Bond and Interest Fund, and the
Emergency Equipment Fund. The 5-year forecast allows staff to stress test future
budgetary requests against what staff projects and assumes will happen in terms of
revenues and expenses. The 5-year table and chart are below:

The table and chart visualizing the 5-year forecast includes revenue and expenditure
assumptions. The revenue and expense assumptions will be reviewed annually to
ensure the forecast stays up to date and can be used to stress test our taxing funds.
The City has also a reserve policy that lists five funds that must keep a reserve fund
balance no less than 25% of the current year’s expenditure appropriations. Those funds
are: 010-General Fund, 110-Employee Benefit, 150-Steets & Highway, 610- Water
Fund and 620-Sewer. Below are five graphs showing the revenue, expense and reserve
fund forecasts for these five funds for the years 2026-2031.

The Fund Balance Forecast charts show total revenues in blue and available fund
balance in yellow. The orange line is our annual expenditure, and the green line shows
how much fund balance we need to stay within our City policy limit of 25% fund balance
of annual expenditures.
As shown, General Fund, Streets, Sewer and Water are all forecasted to be inside our
city reserve policy through 2031. Employee Benefits are currently forecasted outside of
our reserve requirements through 2031. The City had higher than projected medical
claims in the past three years and had to make transfers from General Fund, Water and
Sewer to stabilize this fund at the end of 2026. We have allocated additional Ad
Valorem dollars toward this fund in FY26 and FY27 to bring reserves back up.
Currently in FY26, claims have stabilized and we are trending toward being able to add
additional funds beyond what was budgeted to the fund reserve balance at the of this
fiscal year. We will continue to aggressively work to bring this account back into the city
reserve policy in the years ahead.

Opportunities & Challenges
The City is ripe with opportunities that benefit the quality of life for residents while
establishing sustained and managed growth over the next several years. The growth
that the City is set to experience will need to be managed strategically utilizing our
strategic plan to assist in guiding the City in the best direction possible.

Challenges
There continues to be discussion at the State level of capping property tax increases for
cities to a fixed rate. The rate most often discussed is a 3% annual cap. Valley Center
is about to experience a period of rapid growth and capping our property tax rate would
put considerable strain on the City budget(s), especially with an increase in bond
payments coming due in 2027.
Capital Improvement Plan - Projects
The City has made several announcements over the past 5 fiscal years regarding new
developments occurring in the city. The expected growth is exciting and will add several
new elements to our beloved city. Growth brings many opportunities, but it also
presents several challenges as well. There are no current new CIP projects in
development. We are currently completing the last two of the CIP projects that council
had previously approved. The current CIP projects are shown in the table below:

The current CIP plan is the largest capital investment in the City’s history over a 5-year
period. The importance of diversifying the revenue sources for all these projects cannot
be overlooked. The challenge that presents itself with such a large capital investment is
the City’s statutory debt capacity. The City’s debt capacity forces staff to plan and
forecast projects based on the revenue source needed to fund the projects as well as
what projects to include or exclude based upon the exempt or nonexempt status of the
project in relation to debt capacity. Doing this results in the best possible mixture of
infrastructure and quality of life projects to be planned and completed.
Through FY28, the City anticipates funding $71,219,519 in projects. $50,838,723 of this
total is anticipated to be financed using long term debt. The current CIP projects are
funded by various revenue sources including:

Property taxes Tax Increment Financing Local Option Sales Tax General Fund Streets Funding Water Funding Wastewater Funding Stormwater Federal/Grant Funding
Land Proceeds -

$12,235,136
$5,000,000
$20,767,208
$63,000
$696,144
$6,544,305
$153,518
$447,146
$25,071,515
$241,546

Conclusion
Over the past five budget cycles the City has taken tremendous strides in replacing
equipment, maintaining what we currently have instead of waiting for items to fail,
creating replacement programs to avoid the future burden of major one-time purchases,
and sought out grant funding and alternative revenue sources. City Council should be
commended for their forward thinking and their willingness to explore new ideas such as
the public power project and the water treatment facility.
The FY27 budget will move the city from a stage of rapid CIP project growth to a new
phase of slowing down and paying for the growth period that we just went through. The
FY27 budget strengthens the City’s foundation through capital planning and effective
cash management while solidifying the City’s commitment to our personnel. Uncertainty
with the fire department will require additional planning and modeling later in FY26 for
both the FY27 years and the additional years that will follow it.
It is a great time to be living and working in Valley Center. Excitement for what the next
few years will bring is abundant, and now, more than ever, is the best time to discover
what Valley Center has to offer.

Respectfully submitted,
Clint Miller
Finance Director

Valley Center
2027 Budget
Overview &
Comprehensive
discussion

2026/2027 Mill Levy
Comparison
2026 Mill Levy Actual
General Fund
Emp. Benefit
Bond & Interest
Library
Emergency Equip.
Total Mills
Mill Levy Exceeded by

21.998
14.193
12.299
4.200
0.962
53.652
6.060

2027 Mill Levy Estimate
General Fund
Emp. Benefit
Bond & Interest
Library
Emergency Equip.
Total Mills
Mill Levy Exceeded by

20.900
15.400
18.700
3.880
0.962
59.842
10.371

New proposed FY27 Mill Levy
2027 Mill Levy Estimate

General Fund
Emp. Benefit

Bond & Interest
Library
Emergency Equip.
Total Mills

20.900
15.400
18.700
3.800
0.962
59.842

Ad Valorem Tax Revenue / Fund

General Fund
Emp. Benefit

Bond & Interest
Library
Emergency Equip.
Total Tax Revenue

$1,989,369
$1,465,851
$1,779,962
$369,318
$91,568
$5,696,068

*City portion of Ad Valorem property taxes - $5,326,750

General Fund Revenue
Revenues:
Taxes

2023 ACTUAL 2024 ACTUAL 2025 ACTUAL 2026 BUDGET 2027 PROJECTED
2,418,195

2,577,744

2,811,518

2,957,241

3,057,313

Licenses & Permits

802,254

1,111,529

1,200,314

913,850

980,525

Charges for Services & Fees

24,243

24,288

32,735

23,600

26,600

Fines & Forfeitures

156,535

123,491

167,681

151,700

95,400

Interest Earnings

77,840

124,550

94,051

68,000

50,000

Other Revenues

329,119

188,157

220,609

235,018

250,000

Miscellaneous

236,451

147,011

324,056

171,500

172,000

TOTAL REVENUE

4,044,637

4,296,769

4,856,752

4,520,909

4,631,838

*2025 Misc. Income was inflated due to insurance money from the August 2025 hailstorm.

General Fund Expenditures

*The goal for the City was to budget the General Fund as flat as possible for 2027. Multiple departments will be
running a 2027 budget below 2026 budgeted levels.

2027 General Fund Requests
• $25,000 – New business idea inside Admin.
• $15,000 – New Fire Fighting Gear.
• $70,000 – New RFP for custodial cleaning. Will be split among many departments.
$110,000 in total new requests - Currently in the proposed FY27 General Fund Budget

Library

2026 Budgeted
Expenditures

2027 Budgeted
Expenditures

$409,622

$411,008

$(7,000) to Fund Balance

($0) to Fund Balance

• Expenditures intentionally over budgeted to ensure
maximum dollars can be transferred.
• Budgeted flat to last year like other departments.

Library

Employee
Benefit
Fund

Employee
Benefit
Fund

2026 Budgeted
Expenditures

2027 Budgeted
Expenditures

$1,751,904

$2,141,460

$127,579 to Fund Balance

$32,041 to Fund Balance

• Employer KPERS Portion
• Medicaid
• FICA (Social Security)
•
•
•
•

• Health Insurance
• Workman's Comp
• Unemployment

FY 2025 was a very difficult year for Employee Benefits. Transfers took place from General
Fund, Water and Sewer at the end of the year to bring the account solvent.
The goal in this fund is to rebuild reserves to a healthy reserve level again. Ideally, this
account can be built back up to $400-500k in reserves again for a cushion for rough claim
years.
Current FY26 is trending much better and at this point it appears we will add more to our fund
balance at the end of the year than the budgeted $127,579.
Insurance rates are increasing 15% or higher per year. This continues to be the most
challenging part of the City budget to predict and control.

Emergency
Equipment
Fund

2026 Budgeted
Expenditures

2027 Budgeted
Expenditures

$76,000

$76,000

$33,069 to Fund
Balance

$31,571 to Fund
Balance

• No major new expenses planned in FY2027.
• Reserves at a healthy level with reserves above $100k for the first
time in several years.

Emergency
Equipment
Fund

Special
Streets and
Highway

Gas Tax
2025
2026
2027
Distributions Actual Budgeted Estimated
State
$243,383 $200,000 $200,000
Distribution
County
$44,746 $87,000 $80,000
Transfer
Total
$288,129 $287,000 $280,000

• 2025 was booked in incorrectly between
the state and county lines. The total is
correct.
• County is revising formula down in 2027.
Revised estimates down slightly.

Special
Streets and
Highway

2026 Budgeted
Expenditures

2027 Budgeted
Expenditures

$1,313,000

$1,115,731

$(151,550) to Fund
Balance

$14,269 to Fund
Balance

• $36,000 annual transfer to fleet
management continues.

Special
Streets and
Highway

Special
Parks and
Rec
•
•
•
•

No purchases are scheduled for FY2027 at this time in this fund.
Fund balance at a historical high.
Past discussions on possibly using these funds to replace aging playground equipment at some point.
15k placeholder added if needed.

Special
Alcohol
*No expenses planned in 2027. 15k placeholder added if needed.
*This account gets part of the State Alcohol Distribution.
*Fund balance at a historical high.

Equipment
Reserve
*Account is funded via annual transfers.
*Only budgeted expense is a $20,000 placeholder for any unexpected
equipment needs in 2027.
*Reserves at a healthy level.

Bond and
Interest
Fund

2026 Budgeted
Expenditures

2027 Budgeted
Expenditures

$2,342,410

$4,306,313

$336,118 to Fund
Balance

$(35,979) to Fund
Balance

•
•

•

Bond & Interest payments jump sharply in 2027 as payments for multiple GO
bonds begin.
We previously had the GO Bond for the Rec Center in the Bond & Interest fund.
We have moved that back to Pool/Rec and will book both the 1% revenue and the
bond payments out of Pool/Rec starting in 2027. The Bond and Interest payment
therefore decreased from the number previously shown to council.
$125,000 budget for “Professional Services” in 2027 as we have multiple Temp
Notes, GO bonds and a possible refinancing of a bond that will take place Q4 in
2027.

Bond and
Interest
Fund

Collected $4,826,456.96 to date

Pool/Rec –
Sales Tax
Collections

Average monthly collection:
$77,846.06/Month
Sales tax is scheduled to sunset on
March 31, 2036
Sales tax revenue projections through
sunset: $13,890,464.36
(Estimated 2.5% annual increase)

Pool/Rec – Sales Tax Collections
2025 Actual
Collected $1,009,934.69

2026 YTD
Collected $674,6732.39
(7 months)

Average monthly collection:
$84,161.22/Month

Average monthly collection:
$96,091.77/Month

Sales tax is scheduled to
sunset on March 31, 2036

Sales tax is scheduled to
sunset on March 31, 2036

10.24% over FY24 Actual

Trending 24.64% up over
first six months of 2024.

Pool/Rec – Sales Tax Collections
• 1% sales tax revenue has been higher than normal since November
2025. This increase is from the August 2025 hailstorm. Most roofing
projects are now completed around the City. Revenues are slowing
back down the last three months and should soon return to normal
monthly numbers by the end of 2026.
• We are forecasting 2027 1% sales tax collections at $950,000 and
have 2.5% annual increases budgeted per year after that.

All Taxing Funds

The table and chart visualizing the 5-year forecast includes revenue and expenditure
assumptions. The revenue and expense assumptions will be reviewed annually to
ensure the forecast stays up to date and can be used to stress test our taxing funds.

All Taxing Funds

2026-2031
Reserve
Policy

• The City has also a reserve policy that lists five funds that must
keep a reserve fund balance no less than 25% of the current
year’s expenditure appropriations. Those funds are: 010General Fund, 110-Employee Benefit, 150-Steets & Highway,
610- Water Fund and 620-Sewer. Below are five graphs showing
the revenue, expense and reserve fund forecasts for these five
funds for the years 2026-2031.

General fund has healthy reserve funds and is forecasted inside our
reserve policy through 2031.

Reserve policy continued

Streets and Sewer both have healthy reserves forecasted through 2031.

Reserve policy continued

• Water is forecasted to use $1.9 million in
reserves in the FY27 budget.
• The WTP is ahead of schedule, and we may
need to revise the FY26 budget and pull some
of that budgeted $1.9M into our current
budget year to pay these final WTP expenses.
• The Water (and Water reserve fund) are
forecasted to have healthy reserve levels
through 2031 even after these one-time WTP
final expenses are used.

Reserve policy continued
• Employee Benefits are currently forecasted
outside of our reserve requirements through
2031.
• The City had higher than projected medical
claims in the past three years and had to make
transfers from General Fund, Water and Sewer
to stabilize this fund at the end of 2026.
• We have allocated additional Ad Valorem
dollars toward this fund in FY26 and FY27 to
bring reserves back up. Currently in FY26,
claims have stabilized and we are trending
toward being able to add additional funds
beyond what was budgeted to the fund reserve
balance at the of this fiscal year. We will
continue to aggressively work to bring this
account back into the city reserve policy in the
years ahead.

Enterprise Funds
Fund

Revenue Source

Water

User Charges/Fees

Sewer

User Charges/Fees

Storm Water

User Charges/Flat monthly charge

Solid Waste

User Charges/Flat monthly charge

Water
2026 Budgeted 2027 Budgeted
Expenditures
Expenditures
•
•
•
•

$1,900,000 budgeted for WTP
Engineering costs and any WTP expense
overruns.
$440,000 budgeted for first WTP loan
payment due February 2028.
$148,706 budgeted for WTP chemicals
to run the plant in 2027.
Water will be using reserve funds in
2027 to finish the WTP. The Water fund
will still end the FY2027 year with an
estimated $1.15M in cash. In addition,
the Water Reserve Fund is estimated to
have an additional $1.081M in reserve
funds.

$3,005,751

$4,881,063

($426,451) to
Fund balance

($1,927,835) to
Fund balance

Water

Sewer

2026 Budgeted 2027 Budgeted
Expenditures Expenditures

• $279,550 transfer to B&I
• $210,000 toward 2007 Sewer Loan
• $10,000 transfer to Equipment Reserves
• $35,000 transfer to Fleet Mgmt.
• 2026 budget will likely get reopened by end of
2026. We have the lift station expenses to pay
for and will need to use some reserve funds for
this.

$1,571,200

$1,519,174

($8,409) to
Fund Balance

$46,132 to
Fund Balance

Sewer

Storm
Water
• $200,000 transfer to B&I
• $20,000 transfer to Equipment Reserves
• $110,000 for system improvement
• Operating capital and reserves at a healthy
level.

2026 Budgeted
Expenditures

2027 Budgeted
Expenditures

$365,200

$363,450

($30,200) to Fund
balance

($13,450) to Fund
balance

Storm
Water

Solid Waste
2026 Budgeted 2027 Budgeted
Expenditures
Expenditures
• City renewed their long-term
contract with Waste Connections
in 2025.
• Admin fee has remained flat at
$15,300.
• $30,000 annual transfer to B&I
will begin in 2027.
• $15,000 annual transfer to Fleet
Management fund will begin
2027.
• Reserves at a healthy position.

$575,250

$622,700

$55,705 to
Fund Balance

$20,885 to
Fund Balance

Solid
Waste

Enterprise Funds
Requests
Water

Sewer

• $1.9M for WTP Engineering • Normal transfers
and overage expenses.
scheduled.
• $440k for the first WTP loan
payment due February
2028.

Solid Waste

Stormwater

• $30k transfer to Bond
and Interest.
• $15k transfer to Fleet
Management.

$110,000 for system
improvements

Economic Development Fund
• A new fund will begin in 2027 called the “Economic Development
Fund”.
• A $1 transfer from General Fund will initially fund it.
• Revenue generated from the new idea presented to council in July
would be deposited here.
• Any additional revenue surpluses in General Fund might also be
deposited into this fund at the end of the fiscal 2027 year.

Debt

• Budget will be constrained through
2036 which is when the Pool/Rec will
be paid off.
• If the states caps valuation in 2027,
existing GO Bond debt may or may not
be excluded from that calculation. If
existing bonds and debt are not
excluded, it could pose large
challenges for Valley Center financially
and credit rating downgrades for our
city and other cities across Kansas.

Challenges
• FY2027 will be the year that some type of legislative cap on property tax valuation
increases will likely take place. It is too early to predict the impact on Valley Center, but
we will monitor this closely in 2027 and bring the possible effects to council as
information is obtained.
• FY2027 will be the year our Bond and Interest payments sharply increase. This will put
strain on our budget until the Pool/Rec bond is paid off in 2036.
• FY2027 will bring the new Water Treatment Plant online. This will require additional
Water staffing and a learning curve for the City as we slowly move away from large water
purchases from the City of Wichita. The first bond payment for the WTP will begin
February of 2028.
• The City will enter 2027 with clarity on our Fire Department staffing needs. However, at
the time this presentation is being created there is uncertainty on how that direction will
still look. The City will allow citizens to vote on expanding the Fire Department or joining
the county fire department in the November 2026 elections. This issue will dramatically
affect future year budgets based on the results of this vote. If citizens choose to keep the
Fire district in Valley Center, cash reserves of up to a half million will have to be used to
remodel the Fire building and purchase gear for the additional staff.

Next Steps
The remaining budget calendar looks like this:
• Publish notification for the FY27 revenue neutral rate hearing and FY27 budget
hearing no later than September 1st, 2027, and place notification on the city
website with the details of the time, date, and location of said hearings.
• Hold a revenue neutral hearing on September 15th, 2026. We will then pass a
resolution to exceed the revenue neutral rate. The final steps are to hold a
budget hearing and then adopt the FY27 budget. All of these steps will take
place at September 15th, 2026 council meeting.
• Send certified documentation and affidavit of public hearing notifications to
Sedgwick County by Oct 1st for review and submission to the state.

Questions?