Concerned Wichitans began asking this question in the wake of a sudden, urgent push for a 1% sales tax in Wichita.
How did a group with no public face until Nov 25, 2025, secure a ballot question on nearly a billion dollars of taxpayer-funded projects in just six weeks?
Who benefits from this regressive sales tax? Especially when according to the Sedgwick County Clerk's office, one-fifth of Wichita property tax comes from property owners living outside the city?As the adage says: follow the money.Dion Lefler described this incredulity toward well in his Jan 14 Wichita Eagle opinion piece:
"If one of those 400,000 [Wichitans], who don't have the letters CEO next to their name, walked into City Hall and proposed an $850 million tax election, they wouldn't get past the public lobby - much less have the council vote to spend $150,000 to advance the plan 14 days later."
Ballot MeasureA 1% sales tax for 7 years, not to exceed $850 million.These funds will go into 5 buckets:1) Public Safety. $225 million. This will be invested in police and fire facilities. In 2024, the WPD received an 8% increase in their budget, and their budget has grown an additional $4.4 million from 2025 to 2026.2) Funding Second Light. $150 million.3) Property Tax Relief. $150 million.4) A New City-Owned Performing Arts Facility. $75 million5) Renovation and Expansion of Century II.** $250 million**Note: The primary organizer behind "Save Century II" started the coalition "Vote No, Save Taxpayers".
Sales Tax TimelineNov 25, 2025. Wichita Forward publicly announces their proposal.Dec 9, 2025. Wichita Forward presented their proposal to City Council, who voted unanimously to put it on the ballot for a March 3 special election.
** Read the 12/9 City Council Meeting Report
** Read the Wichita Eagle's ReportingDec 16, 2025. Mike Hoheisel puts forward a motion to amend the language of the ballot question to allow citizens to vote for or against each of the five buckets. This motion failed 4-3. (Yes votes were Hoheisel, Ballard, and Wu.)
** Read the 12/16 City Council Meeting ReportJan 14, 2026. A vote to potentially delay the sales tax vote until the August primary fails 5-2 (No votes were Wu and Hoheisel). Failing to move the vote to August incurs an additional $170,000 in special election costs and displaces 26,000 voters (approximately 10% of the electorate) from their regular polling place
** "Wichita City Council fumbles last chance to fix sales tax election" by Dion Lefler, Jan 15.Jan 27, 2026. City Council holds the first budget workshop with City Manager Dennis Marstall to develop a plan for the money. This occurred 13 days before voting is scheduled to begin.
** Read the 01/27 City Council Workshop NotesFeb 10, 2025. Last day to register to vote in time to participate in the March 3 sales tax vote.Feb 10, 2025. City council passes 8 resolutions adding guardrails to the sales tax.
** Powerpoint of Resolutions
** Video of the City Council MeetingMail-in ballots can be accepted starting Feb 11Early Voting begins Feb 17Check Your Voter Registration NowMarch 3: We vote!
This is just some of the public information available about who's behind Wichita Forward.Everything listed on this site is publicly available information; this site's goal is to publish it all in one place. Sources are listed, and new information is being compiled.Unbiased reports from local meetings can be found on the Wichita Documenters website.========Wichita Forward describes itself as a "nonpartisan" and "citizen-led" coalition. Yet, Wichita Forward is represented by high profile, powerful community members and retains the services of local partisan political operatives.CEOs Jon Rolph, Ben Hutton, and Aaron Bastian represented Wichita Forward at a Public Info Session at the Advanced Learning Library on 12/16/25 according to attendees.These men have some of the largest real-estate portfolios in Wichita.========Wichita Forward describes itself as a citizen-led, community coalition "of more than 50 business and community leaders." Yet, 52 individuals listed among the coalition on their website represent a relatively small number of connected business interests:--> 15 members of the coalition are either directly employed by Hutton, Bastian, or Rolph, or are the spouse of someone who is.--> 8 persons in the coalition sit on the board of the Greater Wichita Partnership together.--> 7 persons in the coalition sit on the board of the Chamber of Commerce--> The Wichita Foundation and Downtown Wichita are also heavily represented.--> Every member of Second Light's Board of Directors also sits on another board alongside a member from these business development organizations.
Second Light's Board of Directors knew the shelter would run out of funding. From what the public has seen, they have done nothing else to secure funding and protect one of our only winter shelters for the unhoused community.
City Council Campaign Donors connected with the 1% Sales Tax proposal.
Campaign finance reports for City Council candidates are publicly available at wichita.gov.A number of individuals representing Wichita Forward at public meetings, as well as coalition members listed on the Wichita Forward website, have also made campaign contributions to members of City Council.City Council members also received a number of donations from real estate and property managers, construction and development companies, and PACs for both property managers and construction groups.These groups would benefit from proposed projects and property tax cuts in the ballot measure.
CEO of Thrive Restaurant Group, operates over 150 Wichita restaurants.
Former Chairman on Kansas Board of Regents overseeing the 2025 gutting of DEI policies; stepped down from the board June 30, 2025, two years before his term expired.
In 2023, while Chairman of Kansas Board of Regents, Jon Rolph stood behind the firing of 30 tenured and tenure-track professors at Emporia State University, actions which led investigators to state about ESU admin and KBOR in their report, "we must conclude that they are unfit to lead." The report said the university mispresented evidence during appeals and made “a mockery of basic due process rights," and that the actions amounted to an attack on academic freedom."
Campaign donor to City Council members JV Johnston, Joseph Shepard, Dalton Glasscock.
Jon Rolph represented Wichita Forward at a public information meeting at the Advanced Learning Library on December 16.
CEO of Hutton
Concerns have been raised at public meetings that Hutton Construction and other construction companies in the coalition stand to benefit from these millions of dollars in taxpayer funded construction projects.
Campaign donor to City Council member Maggie Ballard
Ben Hutton represented Wichita Forward at a public information meeting at the Advanced Learning Library on December 16.
Aaron Bastian, Fidelity Bank
President and CEO of Fidelity Bank
Owns a large real estate portfolio in Wichita and does contribute significantly to local philanthropy.
Aaron Bastian represented Wichita Forward at a public information meeting at the Advanced Learning Library on December 16.
Ben Davis identified himself as the campaign manager of Wichita Forward at the public info session on Dec 16. He also appeared on their website, but we can no longer locate this. He makes media appearances as a spokesman for Wichita Forward.
Republican strategist and owner of Cato Consulting Group
Professional work centers on campaign strategy, messaging, and ballot initiative advocacy.
Posts and shares shamelessly partisan and inflammatory rhetoric on his LinkedIn page.
Teaches "Campaign 101" sessions in leadership and political training spaces, where the focus centers on political campaigns rather than municipal finance or city administration.
KD Economics hosts the Homeowner Impact Calculator on "Watch Wichita Win" which claims renters will receive trickle-down savings from landlord property tax relief.Far from non-partisan, Founder and Principal Michael Austin created the "Wichita version of DOGE" (Wichita Office of Government Efficiency, "WOGE") which inflated potential budget savings. The WOGE's report included several rounds of revisions, including revisions that "redacted comments that were critical of Austin, Mayor Lily Wu and the Koch family while keeping disparaging posts about the Steven family, Michael O’Donnell and City Manager Robert Layton."His CV hosted on KD Economics identifies him as a Coalition Partner on the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, and also identifies him as the current legislative director for the Kansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity.
** Archived CV Link
Steve Dixon is currently listed as a Small Business Owner on the coalition page of Wichita Forward's website, but he is worth mentioning for the following reasons:
Steve sits on Second Light's Board of Directors, for whom the lapse in funding is not a surprise.
He is connected with a number of developers and construction companies through Greater Wichita Partnership and Wichita Lead.
He donated to the campaigns of every City Council member.
Wichita City Council has attempted to earn the trust and buy-in of more concerned Wichitans by increasing transparency in certain areas.On February 10, City Council passed eight resolutions to provide additional guardrails in response to public backlash. These are not legally binding, unlike the legal language on the ballot question, and it is within the power of future city councils to alter these resolutions.Read exact language from the ordinances and guardrails on the City of Wichita's website.26-049. Prioritizes the use of sales tax proceeds among the five initiatives. Property Tax Relief, Homeless & Housing, and Public Safety will be prioritized first.26-060 and 26-061. Wichita residents who meet the eligibility requirements for the federal Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) for the preceding tax year are eligible to receive a payment of $55 per year per household to offset sales tax paid on food and grocery items.Property owners** who meet eligibility requirements for the Homestead Refund program for the preceding tax year are eligible to receive payments to provide additional property tax relief, based on sliding fee scale utilizing information from state income tax returns.
====** Note, 17,832 properties in the city are owned by people outside Wichita, including significant numbers of owners who live in Oklahoma, Indiana, California, and Texas. This sales tax shifts the tax burden to local, low-income communities.====
15-member Oversight CommitteeSelection: One from each Council District; one Mayoral appointment; and three stakeholder members from continuum of care, affordable housing, and public safety communities.Authority is limited to:
1. Review expenditures with adopted guardrails.
2. Recommend corrective actions, pauses, or audits to Council
3. Review and make recommendations on Performing Arts Center.The author of this section cannot find any language about the Citizen Oversight Committee on the legal ballot question OR City Council ordinances.This "guardrail" appears to have no teeth, and according to the City Manager during district meetings, the committee will exist as long as money is being collected; this means that without future action, the committee will not exist after the sales tax collection sunsets, even while funds continue to be allocated or spent on projects.
This site was the collaborative work of private citizens in Wichita concerned about the lack of transparency around this sales tax. We are not affiliated with any organization, political party, or corporation.We're just regular Wichitans.If you are a concerned citizen, you're not alone! Chat with your fellow residents at a District Advisory Board meeting (you can attend virtually) and talk to your neighbors wherever you can.