Wichita ? The Mid-America All-Indian Center, saddled with $150,000 in debt and behind on its taxes, will ask the city of Wichita for more money — and help with managing it.

The city seems more inclined to provide the latter sort of assistance, warning that it does not have what City Manager George Kolb called an “open checkbook” policy toward struggling organizations.

“We may try and help them get their management priorities together and try to help them figure out how to handle insurance issues,” Kolb said Thursday.

Newman Washington, the center’s acting board chairman, said the city would be asked to fund an executive director’s salary and help the center pay its outstanding bills. He did not say how much money the center planned to seek.

“We’re looking … not to be a burden on the community,” Washington said, “but be productive for the community and good representatives of Native Americans throughout the city.”

The center’s financial problems have caused difficulties in making payroll, according to the Concerned Citizens for the Indian Center, a community group that has observed operations for the past two years.

Documents show that the center also has let state withholding taxes go unpaid and its liability insurance lapse, and missing records have forestalled plans for an audit.

The Indian Center is one of seven cultural institutions that already get some money from the city each year. The list also includes the Wichita Art Museum, Botanica, Old Cowtown Museum, the Wichita Arts Council, the Sedgwick County Historical Museum and the Kansas African American Museum.

The city budgets slightly more than $180,000 annually for grounds upkeep and maintenance at the center, and it also pays just under $58,000 a year for utilities. The building itself also belongs to the city, which charges the organization only $1 per year to lease it.

John D’Angelo, Wichita’s director of arts and cultural services, has met with the Indian Center’s board to discuss its requests. Kolb plans a meeting later this month.