Hutchinson council takes up 2027 budget Thursday, a day after news of city manager's departure
The published agenda contains exactly one item: "2027 Budget"
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Sign up freeHutchinson City Council members are set to review the 2027 budget — the plan that sets next year's property tax levy and department spending — at a 1 p.m. study session Thursday, Sept. 10, in the City Council conference room at 125 E. Avenue B, according to the published agenda.
That agenda lists no mill levy figure, no department spending totals and no dollar changes, and it does not indicate whether the council will vote or take public comment. Any figures would be in the materials distributed to council members, which the agenda does not publish. Citizen Journal is seeking the levy proposal and the staff presentation from the city.
The most recent public benchmark for how far the levy has been pushed came in June 2025, when the council considered a 2-mill property tax increase while assembling the 2026 budget. Since then, Hutchinson voters narrowly approved a 0.75% city sales tax in March 2026, a revenue stream that is now in the mix as the council weighs 2027 spending against the property tax levy.
Neighboring South Hutchinson set a Sept. 14, 2026, hearing for its own 2027 budget on exceeding the revenue neutral rate — the Kansas notice-and-hearing step a city must take before collecting more property tax dollars than it did the prior year.
The agenda does not say who will present the budget to council members, and it lists no further budget sessions or hearings, nor does it indicate whether the city has notified the Reno County clerk of an intent to exceed the revenue neutral rate for 2027. Citizen Journal reported Sept. 9 that Hutchinson's city manager and assistant city attorney are leaving, and that the council asked for the departure in writing.
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