Lawrence city commissioners decided Tuesday that they will ask Lawrence residents to vote on whether to approve a .05% sales tax increase to fund homelessness programs.
Otherwise, much of the 2025 city budget is still up for discussion.
Commissioners heard from more than 30 people during their budget hearing, most asking them not to increase property taxes. Many also asked commissioners to maintain funding to staff Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical fire trucks with four staff members rather than cutting staff for each truck to three, as the city manager’s budget had proposed.
In their discussion, commissioners considered ways to save on costs and potentially lessen tax increases, such as using fund balances — essentially the city’s savings accounts, or funds kept on hand in case of emergencies. They agreed that spending fund balances was not sustainable but thought it could help get through a particularly difficult year when sales tax revenues came in far below what the city anticipated.
Commissioner Brad Finkeldei summarized items the commission would like city staff members to look into and bring back for further discussion:
• Funding 149 total operational staff for Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, and staffing each fire truck with four people;
• Adding one LDCFM deputy chief;
• Funding non-sworn personnel for the Lawrence Police Department;
• Postponing the start of construction of new fire stations by one year;
• Looking at using special funds to fix some playgrounds;
• Authorizing Parks and Recreation to look into advertising and sponsorships;
• Charging the University of Kansas for false fire alarm calls; and
• Decreasing the amounts of raises some city staff members will receive.
Vice Mayor Mike Dever said the city can’t increase the mill levy by double digits to cover two new fire stations and full staffing for those stations. He said people obviously like their fire department, “and we need to respect it and trust it, but we also need to be able to pay for it.” He said he thinks using the fund balance to alleviate the tax burden on residents could be a good use.
“If we’re going to go ask for the community to somehow authorize future homeless and unhoused services, then we want to do the best possible setup for that,” Dever said. “If we are not considerate with the money now, I don’t feel like the people are going to be considerate trusting us with it in the future as well.”
Dever said he thinks the city is carefully compensating employees but constant increases are not sustainable, and he suggested perhaps a 1% cost of living adjustment for non-union employees rather than the 2% that’s budgeted would help. That would save about $200,000.
Commissioner Amber Sellers suggested possibly applying the lower COLA raises to executive-level employees.
City Manager Craig Owens said staff can look at options and bring it back for further discussion.
Commissioner Lisa Larsen brought up an idea that arose a few years ago but never came to fruition: charging KU for false alarm calls that consume fire department resources. Compliance is the ultimate goal, and technology upgrades can help with that, Owens said. But fees could help recoup some costs for those false alarm calls, he said.
Owens and commissioners agreed that they will need to have longer-term conversations about sustainability of the budget in the future, and include the community in those conversations. That should start earlier in the budget process, they agreed.
“We need to create a process that lets us have those conversations, because that’s not how the budget conversations have gone in the time I’ve been here,” Owens said. “And so we put new tools in place, we’ve given new handles for the community to understand where their money is going and what programs are actually existing, and to help us, help communicate to us on those things, but we still get back to if anything is discussed about reduction of service, it is not met with conversation. And we’re just running out of money to do that.”
Larsen said she thinks the commission and the community should be part of a conversation about what programs and operations the city is maintaining and what, if anything, could be eliminated. “Do we want a golf course?” Dever asked, and “Do we want an airport?” Larsen asked, both speaking hypothetically about potential conversations the city could have.
“We should not let any stone unturned,” Larsen said.
Commissioners did not make final decisions on the budget other than to approve putting a question on voters’ ballots in the Nov. 5, 2024 general election.
Commissioners have to ask voters to approve any new sales taxes. The city’s affordable housing sales tax is currently 5 cents on every $100 spent in the city; that would increase to 10 cents per $100 spent. The .05% sales tax is currently set to sunset in 2029. If voters approve doubling the tax, it would also extend it through March 2035 under the resolution commissioners approved Tuesday.
In the past 10 years, Lawrence and Douglas County voters have narrowly rejected a sales tax increase to fund a new police headquarters and a jail expansion, respectively. But county voters approved a quarter-cent behavioral health sales tax, and city voters approved renewing sales taxes toward public transportation and infrastructure improvements. City residents voted 62% in favor of the .05% affordable housing sales tax in 2017. Voter turnout was about 23.5%.
Here’s the full text of the question commissioners approved to put on the ballot:
“Shall the City of Lawrence, Kansas be authorized to repeal the 2019 Sales Tax in the amount of five one-hundredths of one percent (0.05%) in the City of Lawrence, Kansas, and replace it with the levying of a new special purpose retailers’ sales tax in the amount of one tenth of one percent (0.1%) for the purposes of (1) providing and improving the quality, availability, and affordability of housing in Lawrence, acquiring land for future affordable housing units, investing in private/public partnerships for the provision of affordable housing, and such other related affordable housing purposes as may be in the best interest of the City, and (2) providing temporary emergency shelter for persons experiencing homelessness and related services including but not limited to providing food, laundry, transportation, storage, non-prescription medical supplies, case management, and outreach services as well as homeless prevention services including but not limited to rent stabilization funding, utility assistance, assistance obtaining government identification cards, government benefits, and such other related programs and services for persons experiencing homelessness as may be in the best interest of the City, the collection of such sales tax to commence on April 1, 2025 and shall terminate ten years after its commencement, all in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 12-187 et seq. and amendments thereto?”
Commissioners also generally agreed that if the sales tax does not pass, they will have to find other ways to fund services.
The commission’s next meeting will be at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 3. They are set to consider adopting the 2025 operating budget and capital improvement plan at that meeting.
See links to further coverage of the budget below.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
More city budget coverage:
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
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Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
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