Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday voted 4-1 to increase to 8% the special tax that applies to hotel stays in hopes of better preparing for and capitalizing on an influx of World Cup visitors.
The World Cup is expected to bring thousands of international fans and millions of dollars to the Kansas City area next summer. Six matches including a quarterfinal match will be played between June 16 and July 11, 2026 at Arrowhead Stadium.
For each game, officials estimate the impact to the area will be similar to what a Super Bowl would be, and the effects will ripple far beyond Kansas City.
The transient guest tax is a special sales tax that applies to stays in hotels and short-term rentals. Increasing the rate to 8% from 6% could bring in approximately $940,000 in increased revenue in 2026, according to the city.
Luis Ruiz, director of parks, recreation and culture, told commissioners Tuesday that the TGT fund is currently structurally imbalanced, and the city is diving into its reserves each year to cover expenses associated with the fund.
Commissioner Lisa Larsen asked what safeguards the city would put in place to ensure a structural deficit does not happen again if the increase was approved. Ruiz said the city would make sure it’s not paying for things with the TGT funds that do not have a return on investment. He said TGT expenses have been growing but revenues have not.
“It’ll be an evaluation of everything that is funded out of that to make sure that it’s being used intentionally,” Ruiz said.
“… It could be we stop maintaining planters, and we don’t put up holiday lights. That might be the solution we come up with, right?” he said. “But something has to be done, even in 2026.”
During public comment, Rhonda Green, director of sales for Oread Hotel, said the TGT fund saw a big drop last year because KU football games were held in Kansas City while the stadium underwent construction. She said the majority of the hotel’s business is between August and November.
She and Logan Shinn, general manager of the Oread, asked the commission to hit pause on the proposed increase until city staff members provided a transparent budget showing that funding was committed exclusively to tourism-related purposes.
Heidi Champagne, general manager of SpringHill Suites in downtown Lawrence, said the “modest adjustment” was “both timely and strategic,” and that she supported it. However, she said the community deserves clear reporting of how the additional funds would be allocated.
Commissioners voted 4-1 to approve the increase, with Mayor Mike Dever, Vice Mayor Brad Finkeldei and Commissioners Larsen and Bart Littlejohn in favor. Commissioner Amber Sellers opposed, saying she was in favor of an increase to 7.5% rather than 8%.
Sellers and Larsen both said they’d be interested in the commission revisiting the tax in three years. Larsen’s motion to approve the new rate included that the commission should discuss the rate again in January 2029.
The city will next publish a legal notice. Members of the public may file a protest petition; if they do, the question will go to a public election. If not, the tax increase will take effect 61 days after the final legal notice is published.
The new rate will be effective Jan. 1, 2026, and the city will start to receive those increased funds from the state after the first quarter, around April 2026.
Commissioners also voted to start a process to temporarily amend city codes to raise the limit on how many short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs, that a licensee can hold. The limit is currently three.
That item was part of the commission’s consent agenda — a list of items that are generally considered routine and approved with one motion unless a commissioner asks to pull something for discussion. A draft text amendment will appear on future commission agendas before it goes into effect.
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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.
More coverage: 2026 World Cup
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