Executive Summary — Good Golly Ms. Molly

Executive Summary — Good Golly Ms. Molly
2024 GO Topeka Public budget vs. 990 actuals

The attached sheet is the JEDO-approved 2024 GO Topeka Public operating budget (Dec 2023 / Feb 14, 2024 packet). It is labeled budgeted and non-GAAP. The watchdog figures come from 2024 Form 990 actuals and the Greater Topeka Partnership (GTP) audit. Budget and actual are not the same document.

What the sheet does show
It is the plan for how JEDO-funded “GO Topeka Public” would charge payroll and GTP shared services:

• Payroll / benefits: $847,044 budgeted vs. $941,190 allocated on the 990 (~$94k hotter).
• Shared services: $585,000 budgeted vs. $660,000 actual (~$75k hotter).
  Packet split: $248k marketing/communications + $337k finance/admin/HR.
• Combined payroll + shared services: $1.43M planned vs. $1.60M reported.
• Occupancy: $135,827 on this sheet vs. $335,934 on the GO Topeka 990 — this page does not close that gap.

Structure matches the watchdog finding: GO Topeka has no employees of record. Payroll is dumped into G&A ($749,896) and WMBD ($97,148); Attraction, small-business, and talent columns show $0 payroll. GTP staff are charged in.

What it does not close

1. GTP’s full pool: $1.76M reimbursed salaries + $1.48M shared-service revenue across all affiliates (GO Topeka, Downtown, Visit, Chamber, etc.). This page is Public only.
2. Downtown Topeka figures ($486k / $456k / $1.84M) — not on this page.
3. The ~$200k occupancy difference.
4. An employee-by-employee matrix.
5. Balance-sheet items ($18.33M cash, ETLC $1.74M loan, $9.5M remodel, lease liability) — year-end audit, not this operating budget.

How to read the two sets

• This sheet = what JEDO voted to fund going into 2024.
• 990 / audit = what the related nonprofits reported after year-end, including private-side activity and GTP’s full reimbursement pool.

They line up on structure (zero GO Topeka employees, shared-services charge, incentives dwarfing operating cost). They do not reconcile dollar-for-dollar. The remaining ask is still valid: one schedule that ties this $585k / $847k budget to the $660k / $941k 990 lines and then to GTP’s $3.24 million reimbursement total.

 

Partly. This sheet is the 2024 GO Topeka Public budget JEDO approved (Dec 2023 / Feb 14, 2024 packet). It is labeled budgeted and non-GAAP. The watchdog numbers came from 2024 Form 990 actuals and the GTP audit. Budget and actual are not the same document.

What this sheet does fill in

It shows how JEDO-funded “GO Topeka Public” was planned to charge payroll and GTP shared services.

Line	This 2024 budget (Public)	Watchdog 990 actual	Match?
Payroll / benefits	$847,044	Allocated salaries $941,190	Same idea, actual ~$94k higher
Other compensation	$6,080	(rolled into allocated pay)	—
Other employee-related	$73,636	(benefits/taxes mix)	—
Shared services	$585,000	$660,000	Same bucket, actual ~$75k higher
Payroll + shared services	$1,432,044	$1,601,190	Directionally same; actual ran hot
Occupancy	$135,827	$335,934 on GO Topeka 990	Does not fill that blank
Public / JEDO revenue	$10,985,862	990 contributions ~$4.31M is a different cut	Different grouping
Business incentives	$7,872,980	Not the 990 salary lines	Separate

The $585,000 shared-services budget is explained in the same packet’s summary: $248,000 marketing/communications + $337,000 finance/admin/HR. That is the GTP charge to the JEDO-funded side. So this sheet answers “what was shared services supposed to be?” It does not by itself prove the 990’s $660,000 actual or GTP’s $1.48 million of total shared-service reimbursements across all affiliates.

What it does not close

1. GTP’s $1,758,989 reimbursed salaries + $1,482,000 shared-service revenue. Those are GTP 990 totals for every affiliate (GO Topeka, Downtown, Visit, Chamber, etc.). This page is only GO Topeka Public.
2. Downtown Topeka $486,702 / $456,000 / $1.84M. Not on this page.
3. GO Topeka occupancy $335,934. Budget occupancy here is $135,827 ($71,147 ongoing + $64,680 special initiatives). That leaves ~$200k unexplained versus the 990. Different books, different allocation, or costs sitting on GTP and pushed over later.
4. Employee-by-employee matrix. Payroll is dumped into G&A ($749,896) and WMBD ($97,148). Attraction, small-business, and talent columns show $0 payroll. That is the allocation model the watchdog flagged: GO Topeka has no employees of record; GTP staff are charged in.
5. Cash $18.33M, ETLC $1.74M loan, $9.5M remodel, lease liability. Year-end balance sheet and audit notes, not this operating budget. ETLC on this page is only a small column ($45,852 other revenue, $83,028 interest, $105,069 depreciation).

How to read the two sets together

• This sheet = what JEDO voted to fund going into 2024.
• 990 / audit = what the related nonprofits reported after year-end, including private-side activity and GTP’s full reimbursement pool.

They line up on the structure (zero GO Topeka employees, shared-services charge, incentives dwarfing operating cost). They do not reconcile dollar-for-dollar. The remaining watchdog ask is still valid: one schedule that ties this $585k/$847k budget to the $660k/$941k 990 lines and then to GTP’s $3.24 million reimbursement total.