The Build Kansas Fund (BKF) program was authorized and provided appropriations in Senate Bill 25 of the 2023 Legislative session with funding appropriated for FY2024-FY2027. This Bill was originally intended to provide $200 million in matching funds over four years to help Kansas communities pursue federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) opportunities. Through FY 2025, $100 million was awarded for infrastructure projects across the state. For FY 2026, funding was not appropriated and the authorized funding level for FY 2027 was reduced from $50m to $15m. As a result, the program is now expected to receive approximately $85 million less than originally planned, reducing total available funding from $200 million to $115 million.
As the Build Kansas Fund continues to support transformational projects across Kansas, demand for funding has significantly exceeded available resources. Communities throughout the state have identified critical infrastructure, economic development, and quality-of-life needs, demonstrating both the success and importance of the program.
To ensure responsible stewardship of Build Kansas Fund resources and to maintain the sustainability of the program, the Hub is implementing additional prioritization measures for future funding considerations. These recommendations are intended to maximize statewide impact, expand access to communities that have not previously received funding, and ensure investments are targeted toward projects that are ready for implementation.
Once the Build Kansas Fund reaches approximately $115 million in total committed funding1, all new applications and projects currently in the pipeline will be temporarily paused. As project determinations occur and funding capacity becomes available through project decommitments2, pipeline projects will be reconsidered.
The Hub is implementing additional prioritization measures for future funding decisions. These updated priorities are intended to:
- Maximize statewide impact,
- Expand access to communities that have not previously received BKF funding,
- Support projects that are ready to move into implementation, and
- Distribute limited resources as equitably as possible across Kansas.
To guide future funding decisions, on May 6, 2026, the Legislative Advisory Committee has recommended updated eligibility requirements and evaluation priorities for the Build Kansas Fund.
Projects must meet the following eligibility requirements to be considered for funding:
- Applicants must be local governments
- Funding requests must not exceed $5 million per application
- Projects must be implementation-ready (no planning projects are considered at this time)
Among eligible applications, funding decisions will prioritize:
- Multijurisdictional applications
- Communities with populations under 10,000 (prioritization of communities does not preclude communities over 10,000 inhabitants from applying)
- First time BKF recipients
- Applications within Economic Development Districts (EDDs) that have not received approximately $10 million in BKF funding. To see how much has been invested in each District, please visit the Hub’s Build Kansas Fund Dashboard.
These measures are not a reflection of the quality or importance of unfunded projects. Rather, they reflect the reality that community needs across Kansas currently outweigh available resources. The updated criteria are intended to ensure funding reaches a broad range of communities and supports projects positioned to deliver immediate and measurable impact.
In order to ensure each application that meets the above criteria is provided an impartial review and screening process, we have developed a scorecard that captures important quantitative data points such as community size, return on investment, multi-jurisdictional approach, if the applicant has been awarded BKF previously, and location of the application to ensure equitable distribution of BKF monies across the eight EDDs.
Technical Assistance will remain available to help communities identify resources both with IIJA opportunities and outside if IIJA as well as Build Kansas to support their projects. You are welcome to reach out to your Technical Assistance provider at Technical Assistance provider.
If you have been the recipient of Build Kansas Funds, your funding remains secure. The new requirements apply to applications that have not/were not reviewed by the Legislative Advisory Committee after May 6, 2026.
If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact the Kansas Infrastructure Hub at hub@ks.gov.
May 2026 Build Kansas Fund updates and relevant FAQs click here
1In finance, committed refers to funds, credit, or capital that are legally obligated or officially set aside for a specific purpose
2A decommitment is the act of withdrawing from, undoing, or reversing a prior commitment, promise, obligation, or planned course of action
