Note: The Lawrence Times runs opinion columns and letters to the Times written by community members with varying perspectives on local issues. These pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Times staff.
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Hello Lawrence!
We have reviewed the upcoming ballot question to increase the Lawrence sales tax rate by 0.05%.
To understand this impact on our family budget we looked at some expenses that incur this local sales tax. Our monthly food budget is $600, which would mean an additional $0.30 per month. That translates to an annual increase of $3.60. We know we can manage an added quarter and nickel a month.
Related news article:
• Lawrence City Commission agrees to put sales tax increase on ballot, Aug. 20, 2024
Our monthly entertainment budget is $500 per month. This covers streaming subscriptions, books, video games and travel expenses. This sales tax increase would impact our monthly entertainment budget by $0.25. This increases our entertainment sales tax by $3 per year. We can manage that additional quarter each month.
Our elected city and county officials have adopted a housing plan to end chronic homelessness in Douglas County. Let’s give them the tools they need to fund this plan.
The Stumblingbear family supports helping our less fortunate community members who at any moment could be any of us.
Flip your ballot over and vote “Yes” on City of Lawrence Question 2.
— Rachel and Dustin Stumblingbear, Lawrence
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More Community Voices:
Letter to the Times: City should create oversight committee to guide pool renovation project, rebuild trust
”Our petition’s 1,764 signatures, our supporters’ 75 letters, and our research into the extensive flaws in the (pool renovation) community engagement process all indicate that the previously proposed plan did not reflect public opinion,” Holly Krebs writes in this letter to the Times.
Shawn Alexander: Say his name – Fred Harvey Smith (Column)
”Racial violence has been omnipresent in American history, and in far too many of the incidents, the perpetrators of the crime are acquitted or not even brought up on charges. When I think of such cases I am often haunted by the heinous murder of Fred Harvey Smith here in the land of John Brown in May 1936,” Shawn Alexander writes in this column.
Letter to the Times: Are veterans’ sacrifices for democracy worthless?
”My father (Navy), mother (Army), and many other family members served our country in World War II. … They gave of themselves, in countless ways, to stop the spread of authoritarianism, suppression of freedoms and tyranny of the many by the few,” Sandy Sanders writes in this letter to the Times.
