A NEW DEVELOPMENT has been booming northwest of Sixth and Wakarusa Drive.

When it comes to growth, Lawrence city commissioners want to know what’s the bottom line.

Commissioners in late January began a study to determine if growth pays for itself or whether it creates additional costs for the entire community.

What the study finds likely will determine whether property tax bills need to rise, new fees need to be created or city residents need to learn to live with lower levels of service from city government.

Former mayor Mike Rundle said the study likely would have long-term implications for the community.

“I think in the long run we would save money if we follow its recommendations,” Rundle said.

The study is not expected to be completed until this summer, but Paul Tischler, the Maryland-based consultant hired by commissioners to conduct the study, said that it was common for communities to learn that many types of residential growth do not pay for themselves.

Tischler said those communities often had to look to general property tax increases or more targeted impact fees that charge new development for the cost of the new infrastructure needed to support the growth created by the developments.

Rundle said he believed the report would lead to discussions about new or modified development fees for the community. He said that the study would find multiple examples of where residential growth is not paying for itself.

He said recent increases in sewer rates were an example of where the whole community was paying to keep up with the growth of the city. He also said the need to improve or widen relatively new roads and intersections was another sign that growth was not paying its fair share.

“I think we know right now that new development is generating more costs than it pays in real estate taxes,” Rundle said. “It seems like we always have at least one project under way that is for new growth.”

That type of talk has members of the development community uneasy. Bobbie Flory, executive director of the Lawrence Home Builders Assn., said builders were in favor of the study as long as it was balanced.

“Our only concern is too much of the focus may be on the cost of growth and not enough on the benefits of growth,” Flory said.

Flory said that her organization, based on a previous study, was convinced that residential growth does pay for itself.

Rundle said developers should rest easy about the balance of the report.

“Examining the benefits of growth is inherent in this whole study,” Rundle said. “We want a report that is fair and equitable.”

City officials are paying $12,000 for phase one of the study. Costs estimates for two more phases of the study have not been determined yet.