By Adam Stewart and Charles Melton
Hutchinson Tribune Staff
HUTCHINSON—Hutchinson voters approved a 10-year, 0.75% city sales tax increase on Tuesday by an unofficial final vote of 2,316 to 2,116, pending provisional ballots and advance ballots that were turned in at polling places.
The tax will raise the total sales tax in Hutchinson to 9% for non-food purchases, divided between the State of Kansas (6.5%), Reno County (1%), and the City of Hutchinson (1.5%), effective Oct. 1, 2026. The state’s portion of sales tax is not charged on qualifying food purchases.
The sales tax is to pay for stormwater system modifications, maintenance and repairs of parks and streets, capital improvements and city operations, according to the question on the ballot. That includes elimination of the city’s stormwater utility fee. The stormwater utility fee is $4.75 per month for residential properties and varies based on hard-surface area of commercial properties.
“It feels good,” Hutchinson Mayor Scott Meggers said Tuesday night. “We all wanted it to happen, and now we’re going to have to keep our word and do what we said we would if it happened, and that’s get rid of the stormwater fee and have the people who come to Hutchinson help us pay for things here.”
When Hutchinson City Council voted Dec. 17 to have the special election, they specifically talked about a need to reinvest in the city’s wastewater treatment plant southeast of town. At the time, city Director of Finance Angela Richard said the sales tax would make a difference equivalent to around 10 mills of property taxes in the city’s budget. The city’s 2026 mill levy is 42.095 mills.
Because the sales tax question was on a special election, the City of Hutchinson committed to paying the cost of the election. In February, Reno County Clerk Jenna Fager said she projected the cost of the election to be around $36,800.
By having the special election in March rather than waiting for a regularly scheduled primary or general election, Hutchinson City Council will know the results of the sales tax question when planning its 2027 budget.
Reno County had also considered—and discussed with city officials—pursuing a sales tax that would have been divided between the county and cities, but on Jan. 20, the Reno County Commission voted 3-1 against requesting the Kansas Legislature allow the county to put a countywide sales tax increase to a public vote.
Voter turnout was about 16.5% of the 27,450 registered voters in Hutchinson.
Memorial Hall polling place
Many Hutchinson voters cast their ballots at Memorial Hall, used as a polling place because the Kansas State Fairgrounds were booked before the election was scheduled.
Reno County Voter Registration Clerk Alisha Johnson said election officials had some concerns about lighting in Memorial Hall’s auditorium before the election, but it turned out OK. A bigger issue with the change in location was the stairs into and out of the auditorium, so Reno County set up a location in the lobby where voters who couldn’t navigate the stairs could vote.
On the other hand, Johnson said the county received positive feedback about the smaller size of the poll site, meaning voters didn’t have to walk as far to get to their precinct as in the Meadowlark Building at the fairgrounds.