The City of Mulvane is refusing to answer questions about approval to spend more than $17,000 from transient guest tax funds for an employee Christmas party.
At the Nov. 2, 2026 meeting, the “Christmas Party Planning Committee” requested $17,412.76 to cover the party at the Kansas Star Event Center. The committee also requested $3,273 to pay for a band, caricature artists, and a photo booth.
The Sentinel contacted Mulvane Mayor Brent Allen and City Administrator Austin St. John, as well as council members Trish Gerber, Tim Huntly, Grant Leach, Kurtis Westfall and Terry Lane, to cite the statutory authority for diverting guest tax money to pay for an employee Christmas party.
As of publication, The Sentinel has received no response.
Mulvane has not published its 2027 proposed budget on the city website, but the 2026 budget is available from the Kansas Department of Administration; that budget shows planned expenditures from the Transient Guest Tax fund for contractual services paid to the Kansas Star Casino for $400,000 and $694,545 to the city.
What constitutes a “contractual service” is unclear, as is whether the city has money in the Transient Guest Tax Fund for a Christmas party.
Most cities use charter ordinances to modify transient guest tax compliance
Some Kansas municipalities and counties levy a transient guest tax alongside standard sales tax for lodging and room rentals. This tax applies to facilities offering more than two guest bedrooms when stays do not exceed 28 consecutive days. Under state law, municipalities may allocate transient guest tax revenues to convention and tourism development, events, or entities that draw overnight visitors, and designated bond servicing. Statutory uses include promotional marketing, community festivals, historical sites, and Tax Increment Financing (TIF) or Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bond obligations.
But under Kansas law, cities may use their “home rule” authority to issue a “charter ordinance” — essentially a constitutional amendment — to raise the statutory limit of 2%, or designate the tax revenues to other purposes. Documents from the Kansas Department of Revenue show that the City of Mulvane has “chartered out” of the limit, charging 8% — or four times — the statutory rate. Indeed, according to a report by the Kansas Division of Legislative Post Audit, of the 107 cities in Kansas charging a transient guest tax, 102 have chartered out of the limit.
However, it is unclear if Mulvane has chartered out of the statutory spending restrictions to use transient guest tax money for anything other than tourism promotion.
