Lawrence City Commission favors parks and rec fees in early budget talks; much still unclear

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Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday gave city staff some guidance for how they might want to address a $6.5 million budget deficit projected for 2026.

The budget conversation is beginning far earlier than usual this year. That’s aiming to get ahead and get more public feedback throughout the process; however, it also means the city doesn’t have firmer numbers for estimates that it will have later in the year.

Projected revenue and expenditure increases shared with the commission Tuesday were estimates that city staff members were comfortable with at this point, said Alley Porter, budget and strategic initiatives manager.

Commissioners said they might be in favor of implementing fees for usage of Parks and Recreation facilities, which are currently free for residents. That suggestion has come up in the past and received quite a bit of blowback from community members.

Mayor Mike Dever said he wanted the city to consider scholarships or some means to ensure that people who wouldn’t be able to afford fees could still use the facilities.

Commissioner Bart Littlejohn also said he recalled some conversations around naming rights of facilities, and he’d “love to get that off the ground.” Commissioner Amber Sellers said she thinks the city should do a full analysis and assessment of fines and fees around license registrations and development permits as well.

But commissioners said it was difficult to determine what they want to do with the mill levy, or property tax rate, considering how early it is in the budget season and how uncertain the forecasts are at this point.

Most agreed they didn’t want to eliminate the option of increasing the mill levy, though Commissioner Lisa Larsen said she was not interested in raising it.

Sellers said a flat mill levy was “not an option for me right now.” Sellers said the commission had to think about inflationary costs and other factors, and starting to talk about a mill levy increase now could help prevent “sticker shock” that could come down the road.

City Manager Craig Owens said staff members wanted to start the process early to have the “softest possible landing” regarding service changes and impact on employees.

August Rudisell/Lawrence Times Lawrence City Manager Craig Owens speaks to the commission during Tuesday’s meeting. Behind him are Toni Wheeler, city attorney (left), and Casey Toomay, assistant city manager.

“We will be smartly and carefully trying to guide to where we think the reductions are going to come from, because we have extra time to do that. So I want to be very visible and candid about what we’re talking about here today, so that it’s not a surprise,” he said. “It’s also not to alarm people that should not be alarmed. Most of our employees, most of our operations, are going to be largely unchanged.”

More notes from the commission’s conversation on Tuesday:

• Fund balance:
Commissioners last year opted to dip into the city’s fund balance, which is basically savings the city has on hand, to help offset a property tax increase. They noted that they did not want to repeat that this year.

At this stage, staff members are proposing the city aim to restore $2 million to its fund balance, and commissioners generally agreed with that amount.

“When we start to dip into fund balance with no plan to restore that, we jeopardize our credit rating, and when you get downgraded, you risk paying millions of dollars more for nothing other than the fact that it’s simply more expensive to borrow,” Porter said.

August Rudisell/Lawrence Times Alley Porter (left), budget and strategic initiatives manager, presents to the Lawrence City Commission about the 2026 budget.

• What to cut:
Commissioners ahead of the meeting gave feedback that they might be willing to make cuts to the city-owned golf course, as well as to the Lawrence Police Department’s information services.

Vice Mayor Brad Finkeldei noted that commissioners didn’t have the option to increase green fees to offset costs, and he’d be interested in talking more about the specifics.

Deputy Chief Adam Heffley said the information services unit provides records to the public and the district attorney’s office, manages evidence and more, and that the unit had gone from six technicians and a manager to four technicians and a manager in the last two years.

August Rudisell/Lawrence Times Deputy Chief Adam Heffley of the Lawrence Police Department speaks to the commission.

• What not to cut:
Commissioners largely agreed they don’t want to see any cuts to the city’s initiatives to bring infrastructure into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, LPD’s Investigations and Patrol units, aquatics, code compliance and housing initiatives.

This PDF shows how commissioners indicated they’d change funding levels for various city programs (click here to open it in a new tab):

20250121-Commissioners-balancing-act

• Property valuation cap?
The city is currently projecting a 6.25% increase in assessed property values, though it will have a clearer forecast in a few months. But the Kansas Legislature is considering attempting to limit property valuation increases to 3% annually. Porter said that would equate to roughly $1 million less in property tax collection for the city.

Last week, a Senate committee heard testimony about a resolution that could lead to a constitutional amendment vote in the Nov. 4, 2025 election, Kansas Reflector reported. If at least 50% of voters approved, the amendment would take effect Jan. 1, 2026. But the city must finalize its budget by Oct. 1, well before the vote.

• World Cup:
Local officials have said with the World Cup coming to Kansas City in 2026, it could be a “once in a generation” economic opportunity for the city. (Read more at this link.) But staff intentionally did not factor in that potential revenue because it would be a one-time boom that the city could not use as an ongoing funding source, Porter said.

• Pay rates:
A few public commenters spoke to the commission about the budget. As Owens pointed out, a slide in the presentation stated that “The average annual salary and benefits cost is approximately $115k per employee for a general fund employee.”

Some commenters said they thought market-rate pay for employees or anticipated raises might not be feasible for 2026 given the deficit the city is facing.

Next steps

A Balancing Act, an online program where residents can submit their budget priorities and other suggestions to the city for consideration during the process, will be open throughout the month of February.

City staff members will tentatively return to the commission with an update during their Tuesday, March 11 meeting.

Here’s a timeline from the meeting agenda:

A timeline for the Lawrence City Commission’s 2026 budget season from the Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 meeting agenda
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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.

Lawrence city budget coverage

Lawrence City Commission favors parks and rec fees in early budget talks; much still unclear

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Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday gave city staff some guidance for how they might want to address a $6.5 million budget deficit projected for 2026, possibly to include fees for recreational facilities and a property tax rate increase.

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