Lawrence City Commission candidates at a forum Monday said tax incentives with accountability measures will help the city grow infrastructure and jobs.
Kristine Polian, Mike Courtney, Bob Schumm and Bart Littlejohn all advanced from the Aug. 5 primary and will face off for two Lawrence City Commission seats in the Nov. 4 general election.
Former Lawrence mayors Shirley Martin-Smith, Marci Francisco, Jennifer Ananda, Rob Chestnut and John Nalbandian posed questions all four candidates answered.
The questions, which candidates did not see beforehand, were submitted by a larger group of former Lawrence mayors.
Monday’s event was the second part of the forum organized by Mike Amyx, Bob Moody and others, and it brought another full house. The first part, held Wednesday, covered annexation, homelessness and other topics related to Lawrence.
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Debt-financed projects
The City of Lawrence’s 2026 budget includes $126 million of infrastructure projects to be funded by debt that will be paid over the next 25 years. Candidates were asked if they support the expenditure and, with property tax rates in mind, how they’d review projects.
Polian, whose background is in local government finance, said one of the main reasons she joined the race was her concern over debt. The city needs a long-term financial plan that ties everything to either utility rates or the mill levy, she said.
Littlejohn, the sole incumbent in the race, was also the sole candidate who said he’s in favor of the expenditure.
Although other candidates said the city takes on too many projects at once, some unnecessary, Littlejohn defended the budget, saying that’s largely due to deferred maintenance. He said the city must work up to then feel some relief in a few years, and he hopes to achieve the lowest cost of ownership for residents.
“Yes, I would support them, because, quite frankly, as a couple of our previous fellow candidates have said — that they would pass the buck down the road — that has been happening for the last couple years and for a very long time,” Littlejohn said. “And so we’re dealing with the problem now.”
To cut costs, Polian said the city should prioritize funding services such as police, fire, sewer, water and roads while balancing its finances.
“You are dispersing property tax in the most equitable way to a community through those five core services,” Polian said. “Those core services need to come before amenities.”
Schumm said his first move to cut costs would be to reduce staff through attrition and buyouts. The city has recently done the latter, and Schumm said it’s “finally doing that correctly.”
Courtney said he rarely sees commissioners vote against proposals from city staff and that as a commissioner, he would ask more about any given project’s impact on Lawrence.
“What’s the point of having a city commission if nobody says ‘no’ or ‘why?’ You might as well just elect the city manager to run the town,” Courtney said.
Tax breaks
Candidates were also asked about their philosophy toward reviewing projects seeking tax abatements.
Courtney said tax abatement reform must begin in 2026 since Lawrence is a little more than 70% residential and around 30% commercial.
Littlejohn said he’d like to see the city continue reducing that split through tax abatements.
“That’s part of what I think we should do to go ahead and boost our commercial in this town, because it pays twice as much as residential,” Littlejohn said. “That helps everybody out here, because that means that you don’t have to pay as much in your property tax.”
Candidates said the city can continue or build upon its current system of tracking progress, receiving reports from recipients and auditing, as well as repercussions if agreements fail.
“There can be benefits, but really what has to happen is we hold those recipients accountable,” Polian said.
Schumm said the city should invest in incentives to create more jobs. But he said applicants should demonstrate they have a substantial investment in the community so that if the city approves, it will recover money at the conclusion of the agreement.
“So the wages that they pay — salaries — have to be at least market or above market in order to grant some abatement, which is an advantage to them,” Schumm said.
How and when to vote
Read more from the candidates in our introductory questionnaire.
Douglas County voters can register quickly, update their registration and/or request a mail ballot online at KSVotes.org.
Oct. 14 is the deadline to register to vote or update voter registration for the general election. Advance in-person voting runs from Oct. 15 to noon Nov. 3. Folks can apply for an advance ballot to vote by mail through Oct. 28.
Visit the county website, dgcoks.gov, for more voting information.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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