Lawrence should raise $4.7 million in city, federal and private funds over the next three years to adequately tackle the city’s homeless problem, members of a task force said Thursday.

Needs spelled out by the city’s Task Force on Homeless Services include a new $2.5 million homeless shelter, and about $500,000 per year to pay for new services such as case managers and mental health professionals to work with homeless individuals.

“Holy moley,” said City Commissioner Mike Amyx, when told how much money the task force members concluded was needed. “That is a lot bigger than I expected, and I’m not even sure what I expected. But that did catch me off guard.”

Task force members said they expected city officials to question them closely about the recommendations. But they stressed that Lawrence taxpayers wouldn’t be expected to pick up the entire tab, saying that private donations and federal grants could also be used.

The city is scheduled to receive about $600,000 in federal aid through the HOME program, members said. That money is included in the task force’s $4.7 million total.

“We should not be horrified by the initial price tag,” said Barbara Huppee, executive director of the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority and a member of the task force. “Not all of it is new money. But the reason we’re coming forward with a huge budget is because the services are not adequate to meet the need.”

The task force estimates that there’s about 150 to 200 people who are homeless and on the streets at any given time in the city.

Budget effects

How the recommendations would affect the city budget and property taxes is unclear. But City Commissioner Mike Rundle, who chairs the task force, said he hoped that the plan could be funded without raising taxes.

Instead, he said, City Hall should look at using a portion of the city’s share of the countywide 1 cent sales tax to fund the programs. Commissioners should consider dipping into the city’s year-end fund balances, he said.

About $800,000 in sales-tax money will become available to City Hall during the next two years as bonds on a trio of parks and recreation projects are paid off. Officials have discussed using that money for after-school programs or new parks initiatives.

“We need to have a community discussion about the future of the countywide sales tax money,” Rundle said. “There are so many needs in the community that we need to look at, and this (homelessness) is one of them.”

Task force members said they were uncertain how much money they would request from future city budgets. They are unsure how much of the $2.5 million for a shelter can be raised privately through grants or private donations.

But several task force members said it was likely that the city could be asked for annual funding of $400,000 to $500,000 to help pay for the new homeless services.

Report says $4.7 million needed to tackle homeless issue (06-09-05)

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Lawrence churches joining together to deal with city’s social problems (04-13-05)

Mayor Boog Highberger said he was prepared to spend more money on the homeless, but said he hoped the $500,000 figure could come down.

“I would hope, that like in most cities, a sizable portion of that can come from charities,” Highberger said.

Other needs

Amyx said the proposed spending increases would need to be weighed against other needs in the city.

“You would love to be able to help anybody and everybody you can,” he said. “The bottom line is that during cold weather or when somebody has recently become homeless, you want to help them every way you can. But we have limits. There are a whole lot of needs we’re looking at across the city, and this is just one of them.”

The report had other critics. Phil Hemphill, who lives near downtown’s Lawrence Community Shelter, said the recommendations don’t do enough to address concerns of residents who have homeless individuals frequently trespass or damage their property.

Hemphill advocated for a tougher approach that would require criminal background checks on individuals before they could receive homeless services, and would create policies temporarily banning individuals from services if they were found participating in undesirable activity such as panhandling or trespassing.

“The community is going to have to decide if everybody counts or if it is just the task force and the homeless who count,” Hemphill said. “I think they (task force members) are just whistling Dixie unless they are going to take care of all the concerns involved. They’ll pay hell getting any money if they don’t do more than this.”

A group of downtown merchants also had contemplated presenting a report to city commissioners that would have included some of the same ideas that Hemphill has. But Maria Martin, executive director of Downtown Lawrence Inc., said no decision has been made on whether to present a report. She said merchants will first review the task force’s work.

Task force members hope to meet with city commissioners to go over the report later this month.