KCK officials suggest increasing their own salaries while weighing service cuts
At a time when the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, is telling residents it needs to get a handle on its finances and is weighing the need to further cut services, officials are discussing a string of significant salary increases for elected officials totaling more than half a million dollars.
The government’s administration and human services committee was scheduled to consider a recommendation from its legal department to increase salaries for the mayor, register of deeds and county commissioners during a 5 p.m. meeting on June 3. Government staff removed that item from the meeting agenda on Friday morning after it had been publicly visible for almost two days and garnered traction and pushback on social media.
Krystal McFeders, spokesperson for the Unified Government, confirmed Friday that the item had been removed. She said staff will revisit and further discuss in private before deciding whether to bring it to a public meeting.
If the item resurfaces on a future agenda, commissioners — who would likely vote on their own raises — would make nearly three times as much as they currently do.
A sweeping approval would result in at least $585,914 — but up to $622,442 -– in impact to Unified Government finances in the year ahead. Between $350,000 and $370,000 of that money would come from city funding and the remainder would come from county funds, according to committee documents. The proposal came as Unified Government commissioners are preparing to decide whether to freeze property tax revenues for a second consecutive budget year — a move that, although intended to offer relief for residents suffering from rising tax bills, also directly harmed public services this year. The decision affected overtime pay for first responders, the public works budget, neighborhood resources, transportation and other services, leaving many departments operating within strict parameters.
Personnel financing already dominates both the city and county budgets. It accounted for nearly $134 million of KCK’s $181 million budget during the 2025 budget year and comprised $57.3 million of the county’s $84.9 million budget.
Government staff this year eliminated various vacant positions and others that were deemed unnecessary and made millions in departmental cuts across the board in response to constraints presented by the property tax revenue freeze.
It’s also an election year, with mayoral candidates and some commissioner candidates headed to an Aug. 5 primary and a subsequent Nov. 4 general election. The deadline to file to run in this year’s elections falls on June 2.
As of May 29, six people were in the running for the mayor’s position in the August primary election. They are: Commissioner Tom Burroughs, Christal Watson, Janice Witt, Rose Mulvany Henry, Gwendolyn S. Thomas and Mark Gilstrap.
It’s unclear whether this decision would affect Mayor Tyrone Garner, given his term is due to expire this winter. He doubled down on his 2024 promise to not run for another term during a May 20 interview with The Star.
Four current commissioners are running for commission seats this year. Chuck Stites is seeking reelection to his District 7 seat, and Andrew Davis wants to retain his District 8 seat. Both Philip Lopez and Christian A. Ramirez want to move from their District 6 and District 3 seats, held respectively, to the at-large District 2 seat held by Burroughs.
How much are we talking?
If the recommendation makes it on an agenda and sees approvals in both committee and full commission, district commissioners would see at least a 186% increase on their salaries come January. They would see their $22,193 salary increase to $63,492, or to $65,396 with a cost of living adjustment.
At-large commissioners would see a roughly 164% increase on their pay, moving up from $25,875 to $68,492, or to $70,546 with a cost of living adjustment.
The mayor’s salary would increase from $132,818 to at least $219,956. This could increase to $226,555 with a cost of living adjustment.
The register of deeds position’s pay would increase from $136,801 to the same amount in pay as the mayor, according to the resolution.
Is this allowed?
Yes, UG commissioners can vote on their own salaries and the mayor’s, according to local government code. However, the adoption of a salary increase has to fall at least 120 days before a general election for those seats, and those increases can’t take effect until after newly-elected or re-elected officials start their new terms.
“No such ordinance increasing the salary of the district commission members shall become effective until the date of commencement of the terms for the district commission members elected at the next general unified government election,” according to local government policy.
This means that although commissioners can vote to increase their own salaries, it wouldn’t guarantee every single commissioner that votes on the item would get a raise — they may be ousted in the upcoming elections.
State statute reads governmental councils may “specify the duties and compensation of the office holders.”
