Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday will revisit the access fees the city is planning to charge people to use rec centers
starting in January. A new commissioner has a proposal to potentially patch a budget deficit that staff members say would result without the added fee revenue.

The city has never charged Lawrence and Douglas County residents to enter recreation centers, but that is changing as part of plans to eliminate a portion of a multimillion-dollar city budget deficit.

All people ages 18 and up will have to pay to access Sports Pavilion Lawrence and the East Lawrence and Holcom Park recreation centers starting next month. Plans also call for spectator fees of $5 per person per day for tournaments held at SPL. Read details about the access fees at this link.

In addition, the Community Building in downtown Lawrence will no longer offer free play, and its use will be limited to only people who are enrolled in programming or those who pay to rent the building. Adding to some residents’ concerns about losing that exercise access downtown, the city plans to remove the basketball court at Watson Park this coming summer as part of construction.

The issues have raised a lot of concerns from the public. An online petition that community member Carol Kummer started against the fees had gathered more than 3,700 signatures as of the time of publication of this article.

The previous city commission approved the fee proposal in September as part of the city’s 2026 budget. That commission included now-Mayor Brad Finkeldei and current Commissioners Mike Dever and Amber Sellers, as well as former commissioners Lisa Larsen, who did not run for reelection, and Bart Littlejohn, who was not elected to a second term.

Vice Mayor Mike Courtney and Commissioner Kristine Polian, sworn into their four-year terms on Dec. 2, both asked to revisit the discussion of the fees and see if there is a way the city can avoid a budget deficit without charging access fees to people who wish to exercise at the rec centers.

“The 2026 budget assumes $450,000 from membership fees and $250,000 from SPL tournament spectator fees annually. If these fees are not implemented, an equivalent amount of revenue from other resources or expenditures reductions would be necessary to maintain a balanced budget,” according to a memo to the commission from Lindsay Hart, interim director of the Parks and Recreation department.

“In addition, the 2026 budget assumed the community building would only be open for scheduled programming,” the agenda item continues. “If those operating hours were not limited, an additional $50,000 of revenue or offsetting expenditures would be needed to maintain a balanced budget.”

Courtney came up with a proposal for the city to potentially fill in the budget gap without charging fees, though it was not included as part of the agenda as of Monday evening.

In his six-page proposal, he recommends the city use $250,000 of the $2.18 million (about 11.5%) that commissioners in September allocated toward restoring the city’s general fund balance in order to fulfill a six-month option. He recommends using $500,000 of that funding (about 23%) for a one-year option.

He also proposes extending the interim Parks and Recreation director position through January 2027 “for a savings of $103,000 (plus cost of benefits).”

Courtney also proposes the city take action on some suggestions included in the Parks, Recreation and Culture Department Master Plan the commission adopted earlier this year.

Those suggestions — many of which have been floated for years alongside access fee proposals — include establishing a fundraising arm; pursuing sponsorships and advertising revenue; increasing fees for tournaments; expanding high-demand classes and canceling underperforming ones; increasing concession revnue; exploring grant opportunities and more.

The proposal suggests the city gather usage data at all rec centers. Parks and Recreation staff members wrote in response to written questions from Courtney, as provided int he commission agenda packet, that “it is difficult for staff to track every single visitor that enters our facility. We are only able to track the access card scans that are scanned and program participants.”

“We have been working hard with staff throughout 2025 to prepare for membership fees to ensure that every single patron that enters our facilities are accounted for accurately,” the agenda item continues.

Here is Courtney’s full proposal:

20251216-Mike-Courtney-Proposal-for-Parks-and-Recreation-Department-Funding

Meeting info

The city commission meeting will start at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16 in the City Commission Room on the first floor of City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St. See this complete agenda item at this link.

The agenda does not ask commissioners to take any action — only to discuss the fees and the closure of the Community Building.

Read more background on the parks and recreation fees in the articles below and at this link.

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 virtually. Meeting recordings are uploaded to the city’s YouTube channel the next day.

See the commission’s complete meeting agenda at this link.

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.

• Bluesky
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

More coverage:

MORE …

Latest Lawrence news:

MORE …