Lawrence and Douglas County commissioners and members of the Lawrence school board are devoting dozens, if not hundreds, of hours to studying budget requests for city, county and school operations.
It is a tremendously difficult task, particularly when requests for money to fund a multitude of projects far exceed the available dollars.
What are the basic, critical needs? What are the marginal programs? Have some programs outlived their purpose? What about new programs and new activities that would be good for the city, county or school system?
Obviously there is no easy or perfect answer, and just about any action taken by the commissioners and school board members is likely to disappoint some while pleasing others.
Those who put the various budget requests together have every right to believe their needs are indeed important, perhaps even critical, if their particular group is to meet its responsibilities.
This raises the question of what are the top priorities for the city, county and schools? This is the job commissioners and school board members face: deciding what they think warrants funding and to what level. How damaging would it be to do away with some program or eliminate jobs?
So what are the city's top needs? What projects or efforts should be at the top of the list for the city, the county and the school district? Some of the current issues include better stormwater management for North Lawrence, the repair or replacement of many streets, a larger library, a new sports complex with baseball and softball diamonds, along with soccer fields, an indoor facility and maybe an ice rink. What about the traffic congestion, almost gridlock situation, in some areas of town? Many claim the city is looked upon as being anti-business and point to the drop in sales tax figures.
Are more police officers needed to provide a safer community? Should the city continue to subsidize the city bus service and golf course? Some say new fire engines are needed, and yet others suggest there would be far more efficiency and monetary savings if the city and county governments were consolidated. Lawrence and Douglas County history are important and, in that light, many desire increased funding for Watkins Community Museum of History.
The needs go on and on. It would be great to be able to fund all or a large percentage of these programs. But which "needs" are most critical? Has anyone tried to put together a list identifying, in numerical order, the most pressing needs, whether they deal with the city, county or schools?
The plea of David Johnson, CEO of the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, to a joint meeting of the city and county commissions and the school board this week offers an excellent example of the exercise facing local officials.
Johnson made his case for continued and increased funding for Bert Nash's Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities program. The WRAP program provides 21 full-time master-level qualified mental health professionals, backed by another 170 staffers at Bert Nash, to work with students in 21 schools. WRAP provided services to 3,321 students in 2006, year-round, in schools, homes and special programs.
In making his presentation, Johnson said he was convinced the work of WRAP had kept tragedies like the shootings at Virginia Tech, Columbine High School and other schools from occurring here in Lawrence. He did not back down in saying the efforts of WRAP had kept Lawrence out of the national headlines and, that if it hadn't been for WRAP, Lawrence probably would have had one or more shootings.
This is a frightening statement, a very powerful statement that should grab the attention of all Lawrence residents. He wants more money to continue the WRAP program, and yet this argument could cause many to wonder whether he was trying to scare city, county and school officials to pressure them to ante up the money to keep WRAP alive.
Here are some of the facts Johnson presented:
l Half of all lifetime mental illnesses begin by age 14. The earlier in life the disorder begins, the slower an individual is to seek therapy.
l Recent studies demonstrate the critical need for programs like WRAP. More than 25 percent of school-age children have experienced suicidal "ideation."
l A national study of 13,601 high school students found that 9 percent of teenagers who think they are too fat or too thin, regardless of what they weigh, have attempted suicide. Another study found that 8 percent of all high school students have attempted suicide.
l The percentage of local 10th- and 12th-graders who reported attempting suicide was 7.3 percent in 1999, 5.2 percent in 2000 and 4.8 percent in 2001, compared with 8 percent of 10th- and 12th-graders nationwide.
l In the wake of Virginia Tech, 43.8 percent of students surveyed "felt so depressed it was difficult to function" during the past year; 9 percent said they had "seriously considered suicide."
According to Johnson, it is these types of students - those who are so desperate and depressed and feel so isolated and picked on - who end up taking violent, often deadly, actions.
WRAP was started in 1999. It deals with mental health, school behavior, substance abuse, family and social issues, as well as legal problems.
How do city, county and school officials weigh the needs of the WRAP request against other powerful requests from other agencies and departments? What's the most important? How important is it to have a program that, according to Johnson, keeps Lawrence from joining the list of communities in which students have killed in the schools?
There is no easy, guaranteed correct answer, but city, county and school officials must deal with available resources, develop priorities and decide what's in the best interests of Lawrence and Douglas County residents. They hope they make the right decisions.
Next, they will need to work to increase tax revenues through new business and industry and additional taxpayers while, at the same time, maintaining the specialness of Lawrence.
Comments
LJWorld.com doesn’t necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.
merrill (anonymous) says…
The T receives a good deal of its' funding through federal sources as do railroads and airlines. This is customary among most cities with few exceptions so I read.
http://kclabor.org/tranfut.htm
Public transport systems generally rely on government subsidy to supplement fare collections, though a few systems are run as unsubsidized commercial enterprises or are entirely paid for by governments. The percentage of revenue from passenger charges is known as the farebox recovery ratio. Some systems are owned and operated by a government agency; other transportation services may be commercial, but receive greater benefits from the government compared to a normal company.
One reason many cities spend large sums on their public transport systems is that heavy automobile traffic congests city streets and causes air pollution. It is believed that public transport systems do help alleviate this. Some city councils fund public transport infrastructure to promote business,employment and economic growth.
Of the 421,864 one way "T" and 55,176 "T"lift trips provided in 2006
*47% were job related
* 7% Medical related
* 18% student related
http://www.lawrencetransit.org
Traffic calming devices are not a problem. Speeding traffic is the problem. May I suggest a local Traffic Safety Fee of $100 be applied to each moving violation citation issued without exception to assist in funding the enormous amount of time devoted to violators of traffic laws.
After 25 years of expanding the tax base Lawrence should not be cutting services but more than able to maintain ALL of its' new and existing infrastructure so where did the money go? You want some answers? Let's demand a quite detailed Cost of Community Services Study instead of speculating.
While some of Lawrence streets may not be in perfect condition I say drive accordingly which may mean slow down. If we cannot afford the streets we have now why are we allowing more to be built? Something is not working. Were existing resources being ignored to proliferate the Westward Ho expansion? Citizen/taxpayers deserve specific answers to these questions not speculation.
A new sports complex with baseball and softball diamonds, along with soccer fields, an indoor facility and maybe an ice rink. Anything but necessary...we already have ball diamonds and soccer fields Also available park space for more considering these are outdoor activities. We have indoor facilities aka neigborhood rec centers and swimming pools.
merrill (anonymous) says…
"What about the traffic congestion, almost gridlock situation, in some areas of town? "
Lawrence is not unique. All cities have this which tells me it is everywhere. KU is on break so now getting around is no big deal.
Many claim the city is looked upon as being anti-business and point to the drop in sales tax figures. Commissioners Kennedy,Hack,Hodges were saying this when they were a super majority way back when. The LJW,developers and some commissioners have been
screaming this for so damn long is it any wonder Lawrence cannot attract the light industrial employment Lawrence needs? Their little scare tactic is back firing. The 30% over saturated retail market may be the problem.
There is no drop in sales tax figures so another study reveals. This is more about what the new super majority THINKS is going to happen. It is not based on real numbers.
People love downtown for shopping.
Perhaps Commissioners Kennedy,Hack and Hodges should have focused on something such as Light"Green" Industrial jobs of the future way back then. Yes Green Collar jobs are the wave of the future and so it is implied pay more. Do we need more low paying retail jobs:NO! We live under the myth that all new development is good. Not when it continues to raise our mill levies,user fees and sales taxes.
Wal-Mart is invading small towns because they have no other place to go. They have saturated the larger metro areas and leave empty buildings behind. Lawrence would be well without a second Wal-Mart. The FEWER Wal-Marts the more choices. A second Wal-Mart will not increase more retail spending but it could likely reduce retail spending as it pulls drive by traffic from our local 31st and Iowa retail sector including the existing 207,000 sq ft Wal-Mart. In small retail markets Wal-Mart sucks away business from existing local venues.
American Eagle warehouse found a sweeter real estate deal in Ottawa,Kansas which should have been no surprise. IF local developers would forget the wetlands route and instead encourage KDOT to build a connector between Desoto and Eudora to I-70 off K-10 all concerned would be economically better off to include commuters.
Oddly enough our quaint little village is what outside spenders find attractive. Investing in our downtown gold mine makes dollars and sense. Notice other cities are spending big bucks to revitalize their downtowns why let ours go down the tubes? NO to a second Wal-Mart YES to local merchants and downtown.
Sigmund (anonymous) says…
merril once again materializes from his alternate universe where "Investing in our downtown gold mine makes dollars and sense", "Lawrence streets may not be in perfect condition I say drive accordingly which may mean slow down", and "Traffic Safety Fee of $100 be applied to each moving violation citation issued without exception to assist in funding the enormous amount of time devoted to violators of traffic laws."
As a member of the Traffic Safety Kommission, and operating in this dimension, merrill's physical manifestation wasted tons of money on unwanted and unneeded roundabouts leaving the streets in such disrepair that it will be a decade before we will be able to catch up. Although two of the his three PLC Kommissoner's enablers have been exorcised from City Hall, his disembodied spirit remains to haunt its environs and sometimes his pale, gaunt. wasting shell can still be seen and heard spouting his urban planning, socialist worker, Boog dollars, living wage rhetoric of a long bygone days. While it is bit eerie, I think there is an opportunity here, especially around Halloween
The City should consider a "Haunted Lawrence" guided tour. In cooperation with our bankrupt ex-Kommissioner and ex-Mayor (still living by all accounts and if true could probably benefit from another part time job) as a tour guide. Visitors could be treated to the ruins of their failed agenda, broken promises, and wasted opportunities. While a bit too much the very young, faint of heart, and aging hippies, it would provide educational experience for citizens in the surrounding communities who have heard of the horrors Lawrencian's faced in the creepy past, but whose City leaders were wise enough to avoid falling into the abyss and now enjoy increased City services, healthy economies, balanced budgets and affordable housing.
The grand finale would be a ride on the Empty bus system across our potholed and deteriorating streets, million dollar roundabouts, and end in our increasing zombied downtown complete with newspapered windowed storefronts. While not quite dead yet, it isn't really alive either. Revenues generated from "Haunted Lawrence" could be used to fund a paranormal study on how, despite inhabiting in his own parallel reality, merril is still able to cut and paste nonsense to the LJW Online, and why.
erod0723 (anonymous) says…
I have a great way to provide solvency for the City and County budgets: Let's provide tax benefits to individuals who voluntarily transition to death. This would alleviate millions of city and county dollars spent on health care for the elderly and terminally and mentally ill. Crime would go down, and the stigmatization that Lawrence has as being "anti-homeless" would dissipate. I envision providing each individual willing to transition with a 1 weeks paid vacation to a location to a destination of their choosing in the United States. We could call it the "Celebration of Life Vacation". We could also partner with other communities in the US to provide discounted hotels and such to visiting transitioners.
Sigmund (anonymous) says…
OMG! And the award in the highly covetted and competitive cataegory of "The Most Intentionally Funny Post By an Anonymous User In the Local News Story Written by the Owner of the LJW Online" for 2007.... wait for it, goes to erod0723 for their 9 June 2007 at 12:26 p.m contribution to "City, county, school officials face tough funding choices", by Dolph C. Simons, Jr!
erod0723's contribution, which I propose should forever be known as the "smart growth requires smart transitions post," is the gold standard by which future generation must be measured. Well at least till next year.
Godot (anonymous) says…
I was going to post something serious about wondering if WRAP taps into the mental health benefits of the kids' parents health insurance, but decided against ruining the ambiance of joyful levity created by Sigmund and erod0723.
coneflower (anonymous) says…
Get rid of No Child Left Behind. Don't change it, just get rid of it. It's the worst thing to burden education since desegregation by busing in the sixties. The only people who benefit from it are the businesses that get the fat contracts to do the testing and reporting.
Billions are wasted on No Child Left Behind. It's a veiled attempt by the GOP to destroy public education.
Godot (anonymous) says…
"Billions are wasted on No Child Left Behind. It's a veiled attempt by the GOP to destroy public education."
No, it is an overt effort to expose what public education does and does not accomplish.
justthefacts (anonymous) says…
What happened to all the grand plans proposed by PLAY and supporters of a new library? Did those who supported these (and other) new ideas suddenly realize the government is going broke? How did we go - in the span of 1 to 2 months - from "Let's build something new!" to "We are out of money?"
This is all a ploy to get support for increases in taxes. If we start cutting out programs that impact the most people (or that are supported by the most vocal people) then there will be an increased tolerance for the other option; more taxes.
It would not take a REAL fiscally informed person/group all that long to find lots of FAT that could be cut out. The purpose of government is not to be mamma and daddy to everyone. It is to provide necessities that can only be organized and paid for collectively; roads, police/fire protection, and in the good old days schools. Start by funding those things adequately. Then work your way out.
merrill (anonymous) says…
Traffic calming devices are not a problem. Speeding traffic is the problem. May I suggest a local Traffic Safety Fee of $100 be applied to each moving violation citation issued without exception to assist in funding the enormous amount of time devoted to violators of traffic laws.
After 25 years of expanding the tax base Lawrence should not be cutting services but more than able to maintain ALL of its' new and existing infrastructure so where did the money go? You want some answers? Let's demand a quite detailed Cost of Community Services Study instead of speculating.
Something is not working. Were existing resources being ignored to proliferate the Westward Ho expansion? Citizen/taxpayers deserve specific answers to these questions not speculation.
Sigmund (anonymous) says…
Spooky isn't it!
coneflower (anonymous) says…
Godo said:
[No Child Left Behind] it is an overt effort to expose what public education does and does not accomplish.
Exactly what I said. Only you put the Republican spin on it. Same difference.
I could type pages and pages about how NCLB hurts schools and doesn't accomplish anything, but I don't have time and nobody would read it anyway because this is just a stupid blog. Have you worked directly with that program? I didn't think so. It needs to be killed completely and immediately before any more money is wasted on it.
coneflower (anonymous) says…
"projected budget shortfall" = yellowcake
Sigmund (anonymous) says…
One of Bush's "bipartisan domestic-policy achievements," NCLB cleared the House by a 381 to 41 margin ***with more Democratic than Republican votes*** when the House itself was in solid Republican hands! So Democratic fingerprints out number those of Republicans on the NCLB and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) partnered with the White House to steer it through the Senate.
Now where have we recently seen Ted Kennedy and George Bush bipartisan agenda rear it ugly head. I remember now , the Immigration Bill! As George Carlin is credited as first pointing out, "Bipartisan usually means that a larger-than-usual deception is being carried out."
Godot (anonymous) says…
To be fair, Hawk, you need to include the people who work for the Chamber as city employees, considering how much the city gives it for operating expenses. Same goes for the the other agencies that receive city funding.
There is no doubt that, when all of the government employees are accounted for, the privately employed are a minor, minor element of the workforce in Lawrence.
karensisson (anonymous) says…
justthefacts says:
This is all a ploy to get support for increases in taxes. If we start cutting out programs that impact the most people (or that are supported by the most vocal people) then there will be an increased tolerance for the other option; more taxes.
I feel certain you are correct. This is all designed to make the most people feel the most pain, so people will be convinced the tax increase is necessary. There's a little something there for everybody - a different popular program on the guillotine every week.
There is no way this city went from flush enough to be talking about a $30 million library in one week, and cutting the library's operating funds the next.
We're being manipulated. Don't go for it, people. Say no to the Hack Tax.
Godot (anonymous) says…
Lawrence is caught in a vicious cycle.
The majority of workers in Lawrence are employed by the government. Though government employees depend on taxpayers for their livelihood, they, too, are taxpayers. If we attempt to reduce the tax burden by reducing the size of government, we run the risk of reducing the number of taxpayers, leading to higher taxes for the remaining workers.
This scenario could be alleviated if only new businesses would locate to Lawrence.
Unfortunately, there are few, new, private businesses (as opposed to businesses funded by government grants) willing to locate in Lawrence to employ any government workers displaced by downsizing government. This is, in part, due to over-regulation, government interference, and general unfriendliness by the community at large toward private business.
Without an infusion of new private employers, Lawrence has no choice but to grow government in order to survive, taking more and more money from citizens to give to other citizens.
Lawrence is a socialist state.
karensisson (anonymous) says…
Godot:
Lawrence was doing just fine a few years ago. Then the frenzy of building started, the cost of housing skyrocketed, commuters moved in. Now the cost of housing has outstripped the jobs that always formed the basis of this community's economy. Lawrence experienced a development and housing bubble. Now the bubble is shrinking, and let's hope it doesn't pop.
Slower, more stable and sustainable growth would have been better. More uncontrolled growth forced on the community by the developer community won't help Lawrence. It's the problem - not the solution.
Godot (anonymous) says…
Karensisson, you left out of your equation the unexplained and unnecessary growth, and concentration of wealth within, city, school and county government entities in the last few years.
karensisson (anonymous) says…
Godot:
Feel free to fill in the blanks of your incoherent statement with supporting details.
merrill (anonymous) says…
Lawrence is somewhat unfriendly to Wal-Mart with good reason as are a few hundred other communities. Ottawa found a better deal and an existing warehouse for American Eagle so AE made the smart decision. The development community to include quite a few county,city and planning commissioners plus our media screaming Lawrence is unfriendly is backfiring I'd say.
How is Lawrence unfriendly? Never been defined? It's a tool to manipulate Lawrence citizen/taxpayers and scare good paying light industrial jobs away. That plus high dollar land and expensive labor. However it is always the fault of others. The powers that be and the development community are living in a state of denial for they control the cost of doing business.
Just because democrats get led astray by neocons does not make the expensive No Child Left Behind good legislation or productive policy... that which came without proper funding. Throw it out the window and start over or leave it to local districts to decide what's best for respective student populations. As far as I can tell neocon state and federal governments are without a clue. They want tax dollars to be spent on private industry aka another special interest group with over paid CEO's....grab your wallets.
Godot (anonymous) says…
karensisson, you are the one with the "in" in government; I will let you fill in the blanks.....or not, as is the wont of government apologists.
perkins (anonymous) says…
I chuckled/groaned when I read Merrill's statement about speeding is the problem. I gotta agree. Today after losing a hundred bucks at the Woodlands during the Belmont, I compounded my grief by getting a $99 speeding ticket at the KC toll plaza. And yes, the fine will be my personal traffic calming device for quite some time. Court costs an additional $66. Smart pill for me, revenue for Leavenworth County.
karensisson (anonymous) says…
Godot what the hell are you talking about.