UG Wyandotte County Budget Simulator - Balance the County's Budget

Have you got what it takes to balance the UG's budget?

Every year, the UG must craft a balanced budget that provides a wide array of services to our community. This year, we are doing more to engage the community in the budget process to receive feedback on government spending. This budget simulator puts the task of balancing the Wyandotte County budget into the community's hands so that we can see how you would balance the budget and what changes you might make.

The numbers in this budget simulator are based on our current operating expenditure levels within the Wyandotte County tax levy funds: the County General, County Bond & Interest, Elections, Aging, Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, Health, County Initiative for Funding Infrastructure,  and the county portion of the Consolidated Parks Fund. More information about these funds can be foud in the budget document on our webpage: Budget – Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City (wycokck.org) 

The budget simulator allows you to adjust funding to service areas that address our strategic goals: Reduce Blight; Increase Economic Prosperity of the Community and Opportunity for our Residents; Increase Safety and Perception of Safety; Improve Community Health; and Improve Infrastructure. The simulator also allows you to adjust revenue streams in the form of property tax. As you change funding levels for these categories, you will be able to see the direct impact on services and the budget balance. 

Instructions for using the tool:

• Click the "Create your budget" button below to launch the simulator.
• The budget balance is displayed at the top right of the screen; you will not be able to submit your budget until a balanced scenario is reached.
• You are challenged to allocate funding in different ways to different categories and can do so by moving the sliders from left to right.
• Access more information on each category by clicking the 'i' button appearing near each slider's title.
• Check the consequences of allocating funding to help you better understand the impact of your decisions.
• Add comments for each category if you want to (this is optional). 
• See the remaining budget balance at the top of each page.
• Should you start to run out of budget funding, you can easily go back to previous categories and amend the funding levels by clicking on the category title on the left panel.
• You can also decide to change revenue streams and increase or decrease the overall level of funds to be distributed.
• The aim is to arrive at a balanced budget and submit that so that the budget office and elected body can review your feedback. 

We look forward to hearing your views!

Please visit the budget’s webpage for more information on our operating expenditures and the overall budget: Budget – Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City (wycokck.org)