Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday voted 4-1 and 5-0, respectively, to increase property taxes in 2027 and to raise stormwater rates over the next three years. Exactly how much property taxes will increase is still in flux, however.
The commission held its public hearings as required by state law during Tuesday’s meeting, one on exceeding the revenue neutral tax rate and one on the city’s 2027 budget.
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.
Commissioners heard from several members of the public about the rising cost of living, including concerns about people’s inability to pay property taxes.
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They voted 4-1 to approve exceeding the revenue neutral rate, meaning taxes will increase. Commissioner Kristine Polian said she did not want to exceed the revenue neutral rate, and she’s very concerned about the city’s economy.
Commissioners heard almost a dozen more comments during their public hearing on the budget.
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The mill levy in the proposed budget was 36.060, an increase of 2.348 mills over the 2026 budget’s mill levy of 33.712.
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.
However, city staff members provided some options to decrease the city’s expenditures. The city could decrease employer contributions and increase employees’ contributions to health insurance costs. They could also add 12 full-time fire-medical positions rather than 15 planned as part of adding Fire Station 6.
With those changes and others outlined in their presentation, the overall increase to the general fund mill levy would be about 1.407 mills, for a total city mill levy of about 35.119.
Commissioners ultimately came to a general consensus that the third option staff presented was closest to what they could all agree on, but they have two more weeks before their final vote.
Commissioner Amber Sellers said she would support the budget option staff had proposed, though she would prefer to see all 15 fire-medical positions funded.
Commissioner Mike Dever said he thought the commission needed to increase employees’ contributions to healthcare. He also encouraged the people in attendance to pay attention to the other government entities that receive property tax funds. 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.
“I think we need to realize that we need to scrutinize all of our public officials, all of our elected groups, and everyone who’s spending your tax dollars, and don’t just limit it to here (the city),” Dever said.
(The Lawrence school board’s public budget hearings are set for Monday, Sept. 14; read more at this link. The Douglas County Commission held its public hearings and approved its budget last week.)
Vice Mayor Mike Courtney suggested a one-year freeze on wages to the top one-third highest paid employees. He said he would do some research and get in touch with city staff over the next week to look at the numbers.
“As we often say when I’m doing mediations in the legal world, if everyone walks away unhappy, you probably did something right,” Mayor Brad Finkeldei said. “… That’s how I’ve always felt about the the budget. I’ve never walked out of a budget thinking I got everything I wanted, because that’s just not how the real world works.”
The commission must approve a balanced budget by the state deadline of Oct. 1. Their final vote to adopt the budget and the capital improvement plan is set for Sept. 15.
Stormwater rates
Commissioners unanimously approved stormwater rate increases. Stormwater rates, which are one part of residents’ water and trash bills from the city, will increase by 7.51% each year in 2027, 2028 and 2029.
By 2029, residents will be charged a range of $8 to $22.63 per month — up from a range of $6.43 to $18.21 per month this year — for stormwater, depending on the square footage of impervious area on the property.
Rate increases will go into effect Jan. 1.
See links to more coverage of the city budget below.
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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
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August Rudisell / Lawrence Times
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