Lawrence city commissioners will hold a public hearing Tuesday on the proposed 2027 budget, which includes a property tax rate increase of more than 2 mills. They’ll also consider increasing stormwater rates.
Commissioners have held several conversations about the budget over the past few months, but they have struggled to reach consensus and give city staff firm direction about many budget items.
Alley Porter, budget, strategy and performance director for the city, told commissioners during their Aug. 18 meeting that the budget presented during the upcoming public hearing would likely be fairly similar to the city manager’s proposed budget if they did not get firm direction from commissioners.
The mill levy in the proposed budget is 36.060, an increase of 2.348 mills over the 2026 budget’s mill levy of 33.712. It’s the same maximum mill levy commissioners approved for publication in July.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
The majority of the increase would be to the city’s general fund tax rate, increasing to 23.595 — up 1.941 mills from 21.654 in 2026. It also includes raising the property tax rate for the library to 4.5 mills, which is the maximum allowed under city ordinances, up .407 mills from 4.093.
A large driver of the property tax increase is the city’s planning for Fire Station 6, which will be built at Sixth Street and Stoneridge Drive. The budget includes funding for 15 new full-time positions.
Please support
The Lawrence Times!
Subscribe here.
The median sale price of a home in Lawrence over the past two years was $325,000, according to a recently completed housing study. The owner of a home valued at $325,000 would have owed the city about $1,260 in property taxes this year. If the proposed mill levy is the rate included in the final budget, the property owner would owe the city about $1,348 in property taxes, an increase of $88, in 2027.
Home valuations have also increased 5% on average countywide, meaning even if the city’s property tax rate were to remain flat, most residents will be paying more next year. Property owners also pay taxes to the county, school district and state. In Lawrence, property taxes break down to about 41% to Lawrence Public Schools, 32% to the county, 26% to the city and 1% to the state.
Commissioners did agree during their last budget discussion that they want to add an administrative assistant in the city manager’s office, and they do not want to cut an administrative position in the fire-medical department.
They’re also interested in increasing spectator fees for athletic tournaments held at Sports Pavilion Lawrence to $6 per person over the current $5, but city staff members are not recommending that change, though they estimate it would bring in $50,000 in revenue.
Commissioners agreed in July that they want to ask voters to approve an increase to the sales tax that partially funds Lawrence Transit, though they have not given final approval to a question that will appear on voters’ ballots in the Nov. 3 election.
The commission on Tuesday will hold two public hearings as required by state law — one on their intent to exceed the revenue neutral rate, and the other on the budget itself.
The revenue neutral rate was codified into state law (KSA 79-2988) by the Kansas Legislature in 2021. It creates additional steps for any taxing entity that does not lower its property tax rates enough to offset increased property valuations. Governments already held public hearings on their proposed budgets, but now they hold two formal public hearings if their revenue is going to increase by 1 cent over the previous year. Locally, the hearings are typically held back to back during the same meetings, and they frequently receive much fewer public comments than budget discussions held earlier in the process.
The revenue neutral mill levy rate for Lawrence would be 32.068 based on the city’s assessed valuation of about $1.682 billion, according to the agenda.
See the revenue neutral rate public hearing agenda item, which includes presentation materials for the commission, at this link, and the budget public hearing agenda item at this link.
The presentation includes options for the commission to consider regarding employee raises: 5% or 2.5% step increases, which would be in addition to across-the-board 2.5% general wage adjustments.
Commissioners must approve a balanced budget by the state deadline of Oct. 1. Their final vote to adopt the budget is set for Sept. 15.
Stormwater rate increases
Commissioners will also consider approving increases to stormwater rates. The staff proposal in the meeting agenda would increase rates by 7.51% each year in 2027, 2028 and 2029.
Rate increases would take effect Jan. 1 if approved.
This chart from the meeting agenda shows stormwater billing depending on the impervious area of a property, such as pavement and rooftops:
Meeting info
The commission’s regular meeting will start at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1 at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St. See the complete meeting agenda at this link.
Commissioners will meet at 5 p.m. for an executive session, or closed-door session, “to discuss privileged legal communications from the City’s attorneys regarding case law and its application to City operations.” That’s estimated for 30 minutes.
The commission accepts written public comment emailed to [email protected] 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.
If local news matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat — get the latest news from the Times delivered to your inbox:
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
Lawrence city budget coverage
Jacob Rice / Lawrence TimesLawrence City Commission to hold public hearings on proposed property tax increase, 2027 budget
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
Latest Lawrence news:
Jacob Rice / Lawrence Times
