The Lawrence city manager’s proposed 2026 budget indicates departments had broad discretion to recommend funding cuts. Some cuts align with community feedback; some counter it.
The budget, approximately $431 million across all funds, keeps the property tax rate flat; however, most property owners will still see tax increases as the city’s assessed valuation rose 5%. There will also likely be utility rate increases proposed later this year.
The city went into this budget cycle anticipating a $6.6 million deficit, and the proposed budget had one goal: “Build a plan to create a financially sustainable organization that matches the levels of service and cost the community is willing to support,” according to City Manager Craig Owens’ letter to city commissioners in the agenda for their Tuesday meeting.
City staff members emphasized a desire to include the community in this year’s budget process, which also began much earlier than usual; yet in many areas, the numbers appear to the contrary.
Using community feedback received through the city’s online program, “A Balancing Act,” city staff members developed a tier system, ranging from programs that community members wished to remain fully funded, Tier 1, to programs that would face the largest budget cuts, Tier 4.
However, “Departments used these tiers as a framework but also relied on their expertise to develop a budget that aligns with the resources available while keeping a flat mill levy rate,” according to Owens’ letter.
The areas community members recommended for the largest cuts in the proposed budget — Tier 4 items — are levee maintenance, information services for the police department, the city golf course and recreation and wellness programming, according to Owens’ letter to the commission.
Programs the community would wish to maintain their current level of funding — Tier 1 items — include compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act; municipal services facilities maintenance; police investigations and patrol; code compliance; housing initiatives; and youth and adult sports, according to the letter.
But compared to the numbers in the budget itself, some programs went the opposite direction of community feedback. The golf course, for instance — ranked in Tier 4 by the community — will see a reduction of just $8,000, or less than 1% of its budget.
And police investigations, ranked in Tier 1, will actually see a 12.6% ($729,000) cut, while police information services — ranked in Tier 3, or the second-largest level of cuts — will see a 3.7% ($112,000) increase.
This table shows the city’s proposed 2026 general fund budget, “where most of the core services of the city are funded,” according to Owens’ letter.
We calculated the dollar difference and percentage increase or decrease in funding for each program, and included alongisde those numbers the tier in which community members ranked each program, where available. (Click here to open this in a new tab.)
City-of-Lawrence-2026-Proposed-Budget-General-Fund-landscape2Some changes appear drastic — such as some portions of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical’s budget, which includes different categories this year — but the overall cut to the department was about 1.3%.
For budget changes that strongly oppose community feedback — Tier 1 programs slated for major cuts, or Tier 4 programs that are seeing some of the greatest funding increases — or cuts that appeared as though entire programs were going away, we examined the full budget proposal to spot other sources of funding that might offset the differences.
Changes to housing initiatives and levee maintenance were not as stark as the general fund budget alone makes them appear: Housing initiatives, ranked in Tier 1, will see about a 7% ($148,000) cut overall when including grant funding in the total — not the 30.5% cut the general fund shows.
And levee maintenance — which the community tapped for major cuts — has moved from the general fund to the city’s stormwater fund, where it will see a 22.4% ($89,000) bump.
Owens’ letter to the commission states that the city has achieved cost reductions by eliminating vacant positions and implementing voluntary early retirements, “with no involuntary terminations. We took on a challenge that has been building for years – balancing our expenses, while still investing in our people, with limited resources.”
Proposed cuts constitute about 5% of the city’s general fund, and the proposal also sets aside $2 million to restore the city’s fund balance, at city commissioners’ direction, according to Owens’ letter.
“With a great deal of help from many, we have accomplished our mission and have built a plan that creates a financially sustainable organization that matches the levels of service and cost the community is willing to support,” Owens’ letter to the commission states.
The proposed budget was released at 4:45 p.m. Thursday ahead of the Fourth of July holiday weekend. See the complete proposal at this link.
Still to come is a proposal for memberships and fees for residents to use the city’s recreation centers. City staff members still have not publicly announced the proposed prices, though revenues from memberships are expected to be part of the Parks, Recreation and Culture department’s plan to offset its $1.8 million share of the city’s anticipated deficit. Read more about that at this link.
The Lawrence City Commission will meet at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, July 8 at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St. They will hold a work session on the proposed budget, but they will not be asked to vote on it. Commissioners do take public comment during their work sessions.
The following Tuesday, July 15, commissioners will agree to set the maximum property tax (mill levy) rate and determine dates for public hearings on the 2026 budget. Once set and published, the property tax rate can be decreased but cannot be increased.
The commission accepts written public comment emailed to ccagendas@lawrenceks.org until noon the day of meetings. The commission also hears live public comment during meetings, both in person and virtually.
City commission meetings are no longer livestreamed on YouTube. In order to watch the meeting online remotely, attendees must join via Zoom at this link, which also allows participants to provide public comment. Meeting recordings are uploaded to the city’s YouTube channel the next day.
See the complete meeting agenda at this link. See more city budget coverage at this link and in the articles linked 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.
Lawrence city budget coverage
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
