Topeka Consultant Spending vs. Payroll: What the Data Shows
A City of Topeka KORA response shows Public Works and Utilities alone paid $20.7M (2024) and $17.9M (2025) on professional engineering and contract-service lines, and a separate KORA response shows Bartlett & West was paid $52.37M over ten years (Dec. 2015–Dec. 2025), about $436K a month. That is far above what the operating budgets imply. General Fund ratios still look normal against Springfield, MO, so the evidence supports heavy, concentrated reliance on a few outside firms, not a proven lack of in-house competence.
Bottom line
Reliance confirmed; incompetence not proven.
City payment records obtained by KORA show Bartlett & West was paid $52,371,843 from Dec. 31, 2015 to Dec. 5, 2025, about $436K a month, more than four times the $100K a month Henry estimated. Payments rose from $3.3M in 2016 to a peak of $7.0M in 2022. Benesch was paid $1.10M in 2024 and $0.98M in 2025. The records prove heavy, concentrated dependence on a few outside firms. Whether that reflects weak in-house capability is still a judgment the numbers alone cannot settle.
- Outside professional services, all operating funds: $15.3M in 2023 actuals, $14.9M in the 2025 budget.
- That equals 14% of total operating payroll in 2023 and 11% in 2025 (budgeted).
- General Fund only: 3.4% of spending in 2023, 3.7% budgeted for 2025.
- Springfield, MO budgeted 5.0% of its General Fund on comparable codes (FY2024), above Topeka.
- Topeka puts a larger share of its General Fund into personnel (76%) than Lawrence (58%). That cuts against the idea of a city substituting consultants for staff.
Topeka: professional services by year
All operating funds, $ millions. A = actual, B = adopted budget. Codes 52200, 52202, 52203 and 52207 from the city's line-item budgets.
| Code | 2022 A | 2023 A | 2024 B | 2025 B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiv. & contractual services (all funds) | $7.61M | $6.99M | $7.17M | $9.95M |
| Professional engineering (all funds) | $3.86M | $7.17M | $2.43M | $3.51M |
| Prof. audit/legal (all funds) | $0.41M | $0.45M | $0.58M | $0.63M |
| Financial services (all funds) | $0.65M | $0.71M | $0.73M | $0.77M |
| Total | $12.54M | $15.31M | $10.91M | $14.85M |
Engineering in other operating funds (mostly utilities) nearly doubled from $3.4M in 2022 to $6.4M in 2023. The 2025 General Fund budget added $600,000 for engineering consultants, per the adopted budget narrative.
| Metric | 2022 A | 2023 A | 2024 B | 2025 B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GF prof. services | $4.42M | $3.91M | $2.30M | $4.72M |
| GF payroll | $73.2M | $80.5M | $87.9M | $97.4M |
| GF prof. as % of GF payroll | 6.0% | 4.9% | 2.6% | 4.8% |
| GF prof. as % of GF spending | n/a | 3.4% | 2.0% | 3.7% |
| All-fund prof. as % of payroll | 12.4% | 14.0% | 8.9% | 10.9% |
| All-fund prof. per resident | $100 | $122 | $87 | $118 |
Peer benchmark
| City | Pop. 2025 | GF prof. svcs | % of GF | % of GF payroll | Per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topeka, KS (2023 actual) | 125,795 | $3.91M | 3.4% | 4.9% | $31 |
| Topeka, KS (2025 budget) | 125,795 | $4.72M | 3.7% | 4.8% | $38 |
| Springfield, MO (FY24 budget) | 169,847 | $6.34M | 5.0% | 7.4% | $37 |
Springfield figure sums General Fund codes for auditing, consulting, lobbyist, other professional services, and design/planning consulting from its August 2023 funds-available report. Its "other professional services" line ($5.39M) is broad and may include items Topeka books elsewhere.
Broad category comparison
| City (General Fund) | Personnel share | Contract/operating share |
|---|---|---|
| Topeka 2024 budget | 76.5% | 18.4% contractual |
| Topeka 2025 budget | 75.8% | 19.8% contractual |
| Lawrence, KS 2024 budget | 58.4% | 28.4% operating expenses |
Lawrence lumps professional consulting into operating expenses with utilities and maintenance, so this compares the broad mix only. Topeka's contractual category likewise includes insurance, utilities, rent and maintenance.
Lincoln, Des Moines, Wichita, Overland Park, Olathe and KCK/Unified Government were not added: their public budget documents either do not break out professional services or could not be retrieved and checked for this report. They should be filled in through records requests or checkbook data before any ranking claim.
Henry's specific claims
Benesch around $1M in one year · Verified
Paid $1,100,529 in 2024 and $982,027 in 2025 by Public Works and Utilities (City of Topeka KORA response to Henry McClure, Sept. 23, 2026). Separately, a $916,600 not-to-exceed Benesch contract for SW Topeka Blvd was approved Aug. 12, 2025.
Bartlett & West about $100K/month for 10 years · Verified and exceeded
Understated. The city's 10-year payment report shows $52,371,843 paid to Bartlett & West Engineers ($50,621,570) and Bartlett & West Operations LLC ($1,750,272) from Dec. 31, 2015 to Dec. 5, 2025, about $436K a month (City of Topeka KORA response to Henry McClure, Dec. 16, 2025). 2024: $6,637,429; 2025 through Dec. 5: $4,461,122.
Huntoon design contract (related) · Close ($3.34M)
Bartlett & West's SW Huntoon contract amendment (Project 701028.00) added up to $2,988,860, for a total not to exceed $3,337,340. The Governing Body approved it 6-4 on Feb. 11, 2025 (City of Topeka KORA response to Henry McClure, Aug. 15, 2025). Henry had recalled about $3.5M.
Jeff White used for 'but for' analyses · Verified (role)
Topeka's RHID policy routes applications to the city's financial advisor. Columbia Capital, where Jeff White is a principal, lists Topeka as a client, and an Oct. 16, 2026 city memo says Columbia Capital runs the with/without-incentive return analysis. Fees paid were not found.
Payments by firm (KORA records)
| Vendor | 2024 | 2025 | 2024–25 total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bartlett & West (Engineers + Operations LLC) | $6,062,992 | $5,285,646 | $11,348,638 |
| KBS Constructors Inc * | $6,183,451 | $4,689,170 | $10,872,621 |
| "Professional Engineering" (vendor as listed) | $1,198,548 | $1,052,298 | $2,250,845 |
| Alfred Benesch & Company | $1,100,529 | $982,027 | $2,082,556 |
| USIC Holdings * | $582,307 | $829,942 | $1,412,249 |
| Black & Veatch | $673,117 | $625,747 | $1,298,864 |
| WSP USA | $340,935 | $615,157 | $956,093 |
| SBB Engineering | $399,331 | $453,800 | $853,131 |
| JEO Consulting Group | $100,278 | $354,942 | $455,220 |
| Cook Flatt & Strobel | $237,736 | $209,054 | $446,790 |
| All 85 vendors | $20,744,761 | $17,894,217 | $38,638,978 |
Source: City of Topeka KORA response to Henry McClure, Sept. 23, 2026 (Bonnie Williams, Legal Dept.), invoice-level spreadsheet for Public Works and Utilities, Jan. 2024–Dec. 2025. Lines: PROF-ENGINEERING and INDIV. & CONT SERV. Totals summed from 5,197 invoice lines.
By department: Public Works $11.75M (2024) and $8.57M (2025); Utilities $8.99M and $9.32M. Bartlett & West alone is 29% of the two-year total. * KBS Constructors and USIC (utility locating) appear to be construction or field contractors billed to these lines, not design consultants; excluding them, the total is still about $26.4M.
These actual payments from just two departments exceed the city-wide professional-services lines in the operating budget ($14.9M budgeted for 2025), so most consultant spending runs through capital and utility funds the operating budget does not show.
Bartlett & West: 10 years of payments
Source: City of Topeka KORA response to Henry McClure, Dec. 16, 2025 (Bonnie Williams, Legal Dept.), 'B&W payments KORA.xlsx'. Post dates Dec. 31, 2015 to Dec. 5, 2025; 3,177 Engineers lines and 49 Operations LLC lines, summed by post date. $ millions in chart.
| Year | B&W Engineers | B&W Operations LLC | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 (Dec. 31 only) | $261,033 | — | $261,033 |
| 2016 | $3,304,582 | — | $3,304,582 |
| 2017 | $3,747,420 | — | $3,747,420 |
| 2018 | $5,168,329 | — | $5,168,329 |
| 2019 | $5,653,208 | — | $5,653,208 |
| 2020 | $5,018,859 | — | $5,018,859 |
| 2021 | $6,532,316 | — | $6,532,316 |
| 2022 | $6,870,047 | $173,782 | $7,043,829 |
| 2023 | $4,211,089 | $332,628 | $4,543,717 |
| 2024 | $6,114,279 | $523,150 | $6,637,429 |
| 2025 (through Dec. 5) | $3,740,409 | $720,713 | $4,461,122 |
| Total | $50,621,570 | $1,750,272 | $52,371,843 |
Grand total $52,371,843 over roughly 120 months, about $436K a month. The city did not supply a grand total; these sums are computed from the spreadsheet. Some lines repeat with the same date and amount (for example, two $39,782.16 entries on Dec. 31, 2015); they may be splits of one payment across accounts, and were summed as listed. * Partial years.
This file covers all city payments to the firm, so its 2024–25 figures differ from the Public Works and Utilities file in KORA 091826: Engineers 2024 is $6,114,279 here vs. $6,062,992 there; Operations LLC 2024 is $523,150 here vs. $0 there. This page uses the Dec. 16, 2025 file for Bartlett & West totals; the firm table above is left as the Sept. 2026 file reported it.
Definitions and data gaps
- No vendor checkbook: Topeka publishes no payment-level open-spending portal. The KORA records cover only Public Works and Utilities for 2024–2025; the city says it does not track 'consultant' as an expense type and quoted $250 (10 hours) to search other years and departments.
- The Sept. 23, 2026 email said Finance and January–June 2026 were included, but the spreadsheet received has only Public Works and Utilities, 2024–2025. Columbia Capital (financial advisor) payments do not appear.
- Capital projects are excluded: design fees paid from bond and CIP funds are not in these operating line items, so total consultant spending is higher than shown.
- Code 52200 (individual and contractual services) mixes consultants with other contracts such as outsourced programs.
- Excluded from Topeka's total: contracted labor, construction services, medical services, IT allocation.
- Peer cities use different charts of accounts. Only Springfield's line items map closely to Topeka's.
- A consultant share alone cannot show competence or incompetence; it reflects choices about staffing specialized, intermittent work.
Draft post language
City of Topeka payment records I obtained through the Kansas Open Records Act show two departments, Public Works and Utilities, paid $38.6 million on engineering and contract-service lines in 2024 and 2025. One firm, Bartlett & West, was paid $11.1 million city-wide in those two years. A separate records request shows the city paid Bartlett & West $52.4 million over the last ten years, about $436,000 a month, peaking at $7 million in 2022. Benesch received about $1 million each year. In February 2025 the Governing Body approved, 6-4, a Bartlett & West Huntoon design amendment bringing that contract to as much as $3.34 million. The analysis that decides how much tax incentive a developer gets is done by an outside financial advisor, not city staff. Using engineering firms is normal for cities. Sending nearly a third of the money to one firm is a choice the Governing Body should explain. Topeka doesn't publish a vendor checkbook. It should.
Draft for MCRE Media, framed as opinion based on public budget data
Keep claims about individuals to documented roles and contract amounts; frame capability conclusions as opinion.
Contact
Henry McClure, MCRE Media, (762) 291-2765
Comments