Getting Lawrence voters excited about a sales tax increase is going to be a tall order.

Lawrence city commissioners are scheduled to revisit the proposal for a temporary sales tax increase during a study session on today. Several configurations of the tax have been discussed, but none of them are likely to be very popular with local residents who already feel overburdened by taxes.

Lacking any other viable options for funding a proposed Lawrence Public Library expansion, commissioners again floated the idea Thursday of including the project in a sales tax plan. Commissioner Mike Amyx has advocated a half-percent sales tax that focuses on street and sidewalk improvements and other infrastructure work that might help attract new jobs to the community.

Other commissioners, particularly Mayor Sue Hack, are hoping to include an “amenity” project, such as the library expansion or new recreation facilities, in the sales tax mix. Such a project is needed, she said, to get voters excited about the idea of a sales tax. The fact that adding such a project would undoubtedly mean a sales tax increase of a full percent rather than a half percent is likely, however, to temper the voters’ enthusiasm.

Local voters already feel overburdened by property taxes which fall disproportionately on residential property owners in Lawrence. To avoid adding to that burden, commissioners are looking at sales tax, but that also has problems. Because sales tax is collected on food and other necessities, it poses a special burden to low-income families. Because of retail competition from other nearby towns, sales tax isn’t as lucrative in Lawrence as it is in many other cities.

The city’s ultimate goal should be to raise the city’s property tax base by bringing in new business, industry and jobs. Investing additional tax revenue in infrastructure or economic development efforts should help accomplish that goal; additional “amenities” would have less impact.

City commissioners face some difficult choices. Certainly an expanded library and recreation facilities would be desirable, but raising the sales tax to fund even needed infrastructure improvements will be a tough sell to taxpayers who already are having to make tough spending choices of their own.