There are few reminders left in North Lawrence of the 1993 floods. The bump in the road at North Second and Locust streets is one of them.

Second Street collapsed during that flood, a problem that cost the city tens of thousands of dollars in repairs. The road was fixed, but it continued to settle after the repairs were complete. Every time Public Works Director Chuck Soules drives over it, he’s reminded of the need to plan for the unexpected.

“We’re still behind on some street repairs” from the 1993 floods, he said this week.

In a budget year like the one the City Commission is planning, finding room for emergencies is next to impossible.

In 1994, Lawrence city commissioners put a $100,000 line item in the Public Works general fund budget. It’s intended to help defray the costs of severe weather events.

No such line exists in the 2004 budget.

“This is ‘what if?’ money,” said Assistant City Manager Debbie Van Saun. “Those are the types of things that go first.”

Public Works’ $100,000 isn’t the only contingency fund likely to be cut. It will be joined by $50,000 in contingencies from the Finance Department, and $50,000 in legal contingencies. The cuts could save the city $200,000.

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“The result, unfortunately, is that there’s less flexibility in government,” Assistant City Manager Dave Corliss said. “I’m not uncomfortable (with the cuts) … but I’m not optimistic.”

Streets aren’t the only source of surprise possible in the budget. The city already is facing mounting legal fees to defend against a lawsuit spurred by denied development requests at Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive. Corliss said if the city were sued again, city commissioners would have to shift existing funds, meaning some city projects would lose their funding.

That makes Soules nervous.

“Every year you don’t maintain a street, it deteriorates more,” Soules said.

The flood damage from 1993 caused a ripple effect in city maintenance. The emergency spending on Second Street that year delayed some projects for another year. Those projects pushed back other projects, and the dominoes haven’t stopped falling.

Street repairs are less expensive when a road hasn’t deteriorated too much, Soules said. Let it go too long, and the road disintegrates, costing many times more money to repair.

The City Commission has said it opposed any budget cuts that might cause long-term damage to the city.