A City Hall task force said Tuesday it wanted to hire a consultant to study some of the costs of Lawrence’s growth.

The study would look at how much taxpayers pay to expand city services when new developments are built in the city. It would be the first step toward a plan being crafted by the Public Improvements Task Force that would shift some of those costs from taxpayers to developers.

“Until we know what the costs are,” said task force member Melinda Henderson, “we’re not going to be able to fairly appropriate the costs.”

City Commissioner David Dunfield, who is leading the task force, said the study would be narrowly tailored.

“I don’t think what we’re looking at is comprehensive, in terms of looking at all services throughout the city,” he said after the meeting. “We’re focusing on capital improvement costs of city infrastructure.”

Such costs would include the building of streets, construction of fire stations and land purchases for city parks and stormwater drainage areas.

The task force, which has been meeting since September, is mulling a variety of options for developers to pay such costs, including impact fees, excise taxes and escrow accounts. Such financing methods, members believe, also would help City Hall get a head start on building streets and sewers in new parts of town, ahead of developments there.

The task force was appointed last year by then-Mayor Dunfield. It includes home builder Ron Durflinger, planning engineer Phil Struble, Douglas County Commissioner Bob Johnson, school board member Rich Minder and neighborhood advocate Ed Tato.

Dunfield said the cost study also should weigh the benefits of expanded services to the community so that developers don’t get stuck with the entire tab.

Former Mayor David Dunfield on the city’s growth

“We would be asking what the costs of infrastructure are to the community … and how you approximate the benefits to the community,” Dunfield said.

Henderson said the study should help determine whether taxpayers were burdened by the city’s growth.

“There’s a lot of people who will be interested to see — if they stick around for the next 25 years and Lawrence continues to grow — are their taxes going up because Lawrence is growing?” she said. “And if so, why?”

Officials did not know how much the study would cost nor how long it would take to complete.

The task force meets next at 8 a.m. May 18 in City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.