City commissioners agree on parking rate hike
Parking rates will soon go up in downtown Lawrence, but not as much as once thought. Enlarge video
There may not be much room for fun and games in the city’s 2010 budget.
A majority of commissioners on Monday expressed concern with a proposal by City Manager David Corliss to spend $300,000 next year to design a new recreation center for city land near Overland and Wakarusa drives.
Commissioners at a study session stopped short of killing the proposal, but four of the five commissioners did balk at the idea.
“I’m in favor of a new facility, but I just question the timing of it when we are having a hard time — maintenance-wise — taking care of the facilities we have,” said City Commissioner Aron Cromwell.
Commissioner Mike Amyx said he found it difficult to support the idea, especially when the city is eliminating the Human Relations division in an effort to save money. The elimination of the Human Relations division will result in two city employees being laid off, although their job responsibilities will transfer over to members of the city’s legal services department.
“It seems like this is coming at an expense of a department,” Amyx said.
Corliss said he did not view it that way. Instead, he said he made the proposal in an attempt to follow through on the intent of the countywide 1-cent sales tax that was passed by voters in 1994. That sales tax was envisioned, in part, to fund new recreation projects. The city will pay off the Indoor Aquatic Center in 2010, so Corliss said he thought it would be appropriate to begin planning for a new project.
Commissioner Lance Johnson was the lone commissioner to strongly support the idea.
“I think the city manager has it right,” Johnson said. “Sometimes in tough times, we have to remind ourselves that we have to keep looking forward. This would be a good community-building type of project.”
Commissioners are expected to make a final decision on whether to include the project in the budget at their July 28 meeting. That is when commissioners are expected to set a maximum amount of money they are willing to spend in 2010.
In other budget news, commissioners:
• Largely supported a proposal by Corliss to establish a new sidewalk maintenance fee that would show up on the utility bills of all Lawrence residents. The fee, as proposed, would amount to either a half-cent or 1 cent per foot of frontage that a property owner has along a city street. Currently property owners are required to maintain sidewalks on their property. The fee would shift the responsibility — minus snow removal — to the city. Property owners would be required to pay the fee regardless of whether they have a sidewalk on their property because the city believes everybody benefits from good sidewalks. Mayor Rob Chestnut said he wanted to have more discussion about that part of the proposal.
• Heard that the city’s Convention and Visitors Advisory Board has agreed to support a proposal to raise the city’s guest tax to 6 percent. The tax, which is a special sales tax charged to hotel and motel guests, currently is at 5 percent. The increase is expected to bring in at least $100,000 per year in new revenue. Corliss is proposing that $50,000 per year for 10 years be spent to renovate the former Carnegie Library building at Ninth and Vermont streets. The building would house new offices for the Convention and Visitors Bureau and, perhaps, serve as the home office for the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area.
• Expressed concern about a double-digit percentage increase in water rates for many users. Typical households that use between 2,000 and 4,000 gallons of water per month are expected to see their monthly water bills increase by 11 percent to 12 percent. But sewer rates are expected to remain virtually steady for 2010, meaning combined water and sewer bills will increase by about 4 percent for most users. That amounts to about $1 to $2 per month for most residential users.
But Mayor Rob Chestnut said he’s concerned the city may be on track to see 10 percent to 15 percent increases in water bills for years to come. He said he’s concerned that the size of the recent Clinton Water Treatment Plant expansion and other similar infrastructure projects have been greater than what the city’s population demands.
“I’m concerned about what our rates are going to look like in 2013 and 2014, if we aren’t having the type of population growth that we’ve expected,” Chestnut said. “We need to come to a consensus about what our growth numbers are going to look like.”
Comments
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cowboy (anonymous) says…
Status quo
new sales taxes in effect , increase in all fees , parking , courts , recreation , double digit water rate increases , clearly demonstrates the incompetence , inability , unwillingness , of the city management to adjust spending to revenue.
The city has made a long list of increases to keep the public feed trough brimming over. Wheres the list of cost cuts , savings , efficiencies ? That would require some leadership , innovation , hard decisions , feather ruffling , management skills that seem quite deficient in this commission and non existent in city staff.
xbusguy (chris Ogle) says…
Property owners would be required to pay the fee regardless of whether they have a sidewalk
------------------------------------------------
Lawrence is so special.
BigPrune (anonymous) says…
Spend like nobody's watching; spend like you've never been poor; propose expensive projects like nobody's listening.
xbusguy (chris Ogle) says…
".... we aren’t having the type of population growth that we’ve expected,”
-------------------------------------------
But, But, Lawrence is so special.
Boston_Corbett (anonymous) says…
I'm still trying to get over the sheer idiocy of making the simultaneous recommendations of 1) a new rec center, at the same time as 2) a friggin (and illegal) library fee.
There will be lots of ways to spend that "recreation" sales money which is freed up in 2010. Maybe the commission should back up and evaluate the 1994 vote and the projects funded so far and make or revise their plan. If you can't afford to run the programs, maybe we shouldn't be building or operating the facilities.
Or maybe we should define the library as recreation, and give them the money they need for expansion/remodel?
jafs (anonymous) says…
BC,
Given that the money was voted for as being for recreation, it should be used for recreation.
Of course, there may be much better ways of spending it than on building new facilities.
Why not use it for maintenance/operation/improvement of existing facilities, for example?
dipweed (anonymous) says…
The South Park Rec Center needs to be refurbed or replaced before building another new facility.
SettingTheRecordStraight (anonymous) says…
"... the intent of the countywide 1-cent sales tax that was passed by voters in 1994."
I wish journalists would stop referring to 1-percent tax increases as "1-cent" tax increases. The former reveals a full percentage of our income lost to taxation while the latter is intended to come across as a mere penny.
unelectable (anonymous) says…
In a good percentage of the dwelling in this town it is not the homeowner but a tenant that gets the utility bill and therefore would be paying the sidewalk fee.
If the City is in charge of sidewalks will they be the ones to keep the grass and weeds from growing in between the bricks? If not, will the owner/renter have to pay a fine if their sidewalk growth gets unruly? Will the city keep all the brick sidewalks level?
So a corner lot would have twice the fee a lot in the middle of the block? That's a perk when trying to sell a house on a corner.
Is this just in residential areas? Commercial areas have much longer sections of sidewalk in front of each store. Is this a cost a small business could handle?
consumer1 (anonymous) says…
What about downtown???? Will the city still be cleaning and maintainning those side walks?? Or will the Residental taxpayers be taxed again for maintenence and repairs?
It is way past time for the city to quit enabling the downtown merchants.
Number_1_Grandma (anonymous) says…
This .01 sales tax passed in 1994 for recreation uses was changed by previous commissions and is no longer being used as such. It seems there was some "fine print" allowing for "other uses deemed necessary by the commission". So this so-called .01 recreation tax is being used for different uses now than what the voters voted in......We just have to ask about the fine print when we vote in tax increases for something or the money may go for something entirely NOT what we voted on!
kansasfire911 (anonymous) says…
WOW. Sure glad I moved!!
royalpain (anonymous) says…
We need our own rec center in far west Lawrence. They are located in every other part of town - it's our turn now.
trvlronda (anonymous) says…
I don't think so....the westsiders moved out there to "get away" from the city..... Walk/bike/run on all those nicely paved roads and new sidewalks and hiking trails. We need to take care of what we have before we build new facilities. Lawrence thinks itself to be 'green' and yet we build and when it gets old we just keep building new. It's shameful.
vermont (anonymous) says…
What do you mean royalpain? What should we consider the two gyms at Freestate? Non-athletic facilities? Why would we consider this with the aquatic center and high school literally a block from this proposed building site?
What about a small outdoor theater with lawn and traditional seating at the corner of 6th and the bridge? We could put a stage at the bottom of the hill with the river behind it. Promote DTL as well as the arts. Bands play every Sunday afternoon with outdoor theater during the week?
avoice (anonymous) says…
The election that earmarked this revenue for recreation was held in 1994. A lot of water has gone under the bridge in 15 years. The problem with these little taxes we add is that there is never a real review of what's being done with that money. How about putting it back to the voters to decide what happens with that money going forward? Maybe 15 years later the citizens have less appetite for additional recreation projects and would like to apply this revenue to something else.
SettingTheRecordStraight (anonymous) says…
I'm sure the private health clubs in Lawrence will welcome another government-sponsored, taxpayer-funded facility directly competing with them.
awood785 (anonymous) says…
Pure idiocy.
Tax, tax, tax. Hey, I have an idea, stop stealing my money! It is immoral, but furthermore it's just plain stupid. If the city commission continues to raise taxes, fees, ect., the cost of living will go up and people will move, thus decreasing revenue. I'm thinking about buying my cigarettes in Missouri from now on.
The thing that really sets me off is that rec center idea. David Corliss is a moron. The commission is raising taxes and you're proposing a new building? I'll bet you paid the guys at the DMV to get your license because I'm sure you couldn't do it on your own with your head shoved so far up your ass.
gl0ck0wn3r (anonymous) says…
Aren't you happy Lawrence voted to tax the poor to support the T now that it is clear the city is spiraling out of control? Congratulations.
mdrndgtl (anonymous) says…
The only remedy for tough times is more recreation centers.
jonas_opines (anonymous) says…
If they have $300K earmarked for recreational purposes, could they use some of that to buy some Round-up and spray the city parks, which are all positively infested with Poison Ivy?
puddleglum (anonymous) says…
how about building a waterslide instead? that would be cool.
Or, maybe we could get a new walmart on the southeast corner of congeressional & 6th. I know there is plenty of room on that chunk of land.
tir (anonymous) says…
To all of those complaining about the sidewalk maintenance fee--it's peanuts compared to what an individual property owner would have to pay to replace his or her sidewalk under the current sidewalk ordinance, which puts the entire burden on the property owner. I know this from personal experience. I hope that this fee passes so that no one else will get slammed with the cost of fixing their own sidewalk like I did.
puddleglum (anonymous) says…
why can't we get wal-mart to pay for our sidewalks?
don;'t they have all the money
Moderate (George Lippencott) says…
Here we go again, a new tax on only a portion of our electorate. Yes, we do need to maintain our infrastructure. We could tax everybody with a sales tax increase since sidewalks are for the common good or we could tax everybody with a water meter the same amount reflecting that we should all pay for that which we receive! Once again we have elected to focus the pain on the property owners. In fact, the more sidewalk the more you pay as if the property owner benefits from the sideway – they do not! Why?
There appears to be similar arguments associated with the way we intend to pay for our utilities and even the overhaul of our health system. Think income transfer! It would appear that we are moving rapidly toward where for the average American getting ahead will become impossible as we will tax you to the point where your living standard is no better than those to whom we transfer your income.
See more at my blog:
http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/loyal...
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) says…
and on what water bill does the fee go for the parking lots on the east side of Vermont in the 1000 block?
and what a clever way to pay for maintenance of walks surrounding all city / county/ USD 497 property
merrill (anonymous) says…
By the time the city finishes the 1,505 acre Clinton Lake Regional Park, which is being financed with the 1994 one cent sales tax, the extreme west side of town will have a luxury rec center. What more does any neighborhood want?
This rec center is one expensive project.
notwhatyouthink (anonymous) says…
Lets see here
Corliss Says --
We are in tight times.
We have to increase fees
We have to lay off people
We have to cut parks and rec hours/programs
We can only give all city employees a 1percent raise and will have to raise their health insurance by 5 percent.
But we do have money to build a Rec center which will serve a small section of the city and is not really core service.
He really is Core-Less
Jaminrawk (anonymous) says…
Why don't they just install solid-gold toilets in city hall while they are at it?
booyalab (anonymous) says…
Uh huh, yeah. I'm sure every penny taken from that 1% sales tax increase for the last 15 years has been safely stowed away in a vault marked "rec center $ ONLY, don't touch!". Unless, maybe, politicians don't necessarily spend the additional money they've coerced from us on their stated reasons for needing it. Nah, that's crazy talk.
1moreopinion (anonymous) says…
I agree that they should build a new rec center on the west side, but NOT until the next century. If there is any money left over from this 1994 special tax, then it should be used to repair the current ones that are in desperate need. If they have already spent it all, then repairs will have to wait.
I guess Lance Johnson is a yes man scratching the back of Corliss. Prove us wrong, mr. johnson! Grow some b....s, and remember the people who elected you to represent them, and to make sound, and logical decisions. Look at what is happening around you.
Corlis is probably pushing this issue because he made a promise to someone.
clue-less corliss
royalpain (anonymous) says…
Are the gyms and fitness facilities at Free State HS open to the public for use at any time? Of course not. If all of us "west-siders" are here simply because we wanted to "get out of the city", then give us our property tax money to pay for this facility. If I pay twice as much property tax on my newer home than an older home in the "old" part of town, shouldn't that money stay in my part of town? All we have now is a makeshift park with no playground equipment (budget fatality 2 yrs. ago) at George Williams Way and Harvard. Granted, we have a great system of sidewalks and a partially paved trail at DeVictor, but what about gyms, weight training equipment, etc.? Why should the "rich west-siders" have to buy our own equipment? It's readily available in other parts of town, so why is it unreasonable for us to expect the same?
Sigmund (anonymous) says…
BigPrune (Anonymous) says… "Spend like nobody's watching; spend like you've never been poor; propose expensive projects like nobody's listening."
Hope you don't mind, but I'm stealing this and calling it mine!
puddleglum (anonymous) says…
sidewalks? with a rec center, maybe we wouldn't need sidewalks so much
ObiWan (anonymous) says…
I'm all for community recreation services, but the ones that already exist are horribly maintained. Maybe for now we should just work on the rec centers that already exist. Oh, and get some new kickballs for the league that they charge teams $200 to play in!
none2 (anonymous) says…
royalpain (Anonymous) says…
"...Why should the “rich west-siders” have to buy our own equipment? It's readily available in other parts of town, so why is it unreasonable for us to expect the same?"
==============================
Last I knew there were just 3 rec centers: east Lawrence, downtown, and west Lawrence. Now you want a second rec center on the west side of town? What about North Lawrence, northern Lawrence in general, or southern Lawrence?
Perhaps they should simply take out some unused seats on the T and put in gym equipment so that more parts of town can say they have gym facilities in their area at one time of the day or another.
none2 (anonymous) says…
Marion (Marion Lynn) says…
"...
Salvation Army: $10,000.00
Salvation Army: $ 31,000.00
..."
==============================
If the Salvation has significantly scaled back their presence in Lawrence, why are they still getting all this money? Isn't that like switching from working full time to part time, but still getting the same wage?
It is too bad the city isn't as generous to tax payers as they are to themselves and their friends.
black7maker (anonymous) says…
I agree with those that feel the 300K should go to the repair of the Rec Centers we already have. Wait on the West Lawrence Rec Centers once they are ready to pay for it themselves.
merrill (anonymous) says…
West siders will have the athletic facilities at Clinton Lake Regional Park at their disposal. With the largest park no less.
Plus soccer fields. Why do any duplication in such close proximity? This project is a rec center.
$12,000,000 - $16,000,000(millions) maybe more. I'd say a fair amount of the 1994 sales tax is spent.
$300,000 could truly rehabilitate some sidewalks in east Lawrence.
OR that $300,000 could be spent to determine why the 25
year expansion of the tax base failed. Then the city could stop repeating the same mistakes. A Cost of Community Services Study was suggested 10 years ago at least maybe 12 years ago. Perhaps this would explain the tax increases/user fee increases of all kinds. Taxpayers would like to know.
jimmyjms (anonymous) says…
Corliss is a joke.
royalpain (anonymous) says…
Hah...my gardner drives an F150! I'll just send my personal shopper out to get my membership. Right after I settle this squabble between my maid and nanny! Good help is so hard to find!
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) says…
hmmm, wildgen was considered to be a joke, but the commissoners, some are currently serving, gave him a raise(does a joker get a raise?)
corliss is considered a joke, but the current commissioners some of them, hired him and gave him a raise(does a joker get a raise?)
so if the commission is doing the hiring and firing of the city manager?, who is a joke? (and yes, remember the city commissioners past, gave themselves a raise!)
Lawrence is killing itself within city hall and likewise, downtown merchants are slowly killing their "enterprise zone" has it has been for years been feeding from the taxpayers...
just curious , how come the J/W doesnt' do a compilation of the value of the parking lots and street parking spaces in terms of replacement dollars today, and then provide the FACTS on revenue from such and the rate of return , if the city had to buy the land tomorrow?
all that wasted space on parking lots and plenty of space above them to build up .
Lawrence isn' really that "special" after all, now then is it?
LadyJ (anonymous) says…
Check Corliss's address, mystery solved
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) says…
$300,000 just to study something again, wonder if $300,000 was given to Nortonville , KS with the stipulation that the community had to chip and build the place, the entire complex might be built with the entire $300,000.
Lawrence is just "special" in studying and squandering money on projects to be studied. Most recent case, Carnegie building is now in need of $50,000 a year for 10 years but how much has been spent to date to let it sit mothballed after study and study.
Could once the city commission just get the newspaper to print the amounts of projects to be studied over the past 10 years and whether or not they were completed and at how much cost?
Lawrence is killing itself from within city hall.
disgustedagain (anonymous) says…
It seems ridiculous when city services are likely to be cut to even consider a new rec center, much less a horrible amount of money to "study" the idea. Jeez.
The tax for sidewalk repairs is a great idea. It's never seemed fair that people who live with a sidewalk have to pay for the repairs when everyone (including those without a sidewalk on their properties) have the use of these "public sidewalks." Everyone should have to help pay for any repairs for public facilities, including sidewalks. Even more so if they are going to fine people for not clearing these "public sidewalks" quickly enough to satisfy the neighbors without sidewalks to clear.
Stain (anonymous) says…
What a terrible idea.
The city has several rec centers. They do not need another one.
It is immoral even to be discussing an expenditure like this when money is tight for everything the city needs.
Stain (anonymous) says…
This on top of proposing a library use fee.
Corliss just needs to go.
parrothead8 (anonymous) says…
Let me get this straight...Corliss sees that a 1-cent sales tax passed in 1994 is about to finish paying off the project it was passed to pay for, so instead of moving to repeal the sales tax (and put money back in our pockets) he starts looking for other ways to spend the money?
That's like one of us saying, "Oh, sweet. I just made my last car payment. Guess I need to go buy another car so I don't save any of that money."
kidscount (anonymous) says…
Far west Lawrence has enough oppritunity to give to their children. what Lawrence needs is a rec center that can be ran by parent volunteers that has a small theater, bowling alley, skating ring, arcade, putt putt golf. seriously, what a profit it would make especially if parents were to run it as volunteers. it would really work.
merrill (anonymous) says…
Let's hear more about the Clinton Lake Regional Park that should more than meet the needs of any part of town. A 1,505 acre park with baseball and soccer facilities that is taking money from that 1994 sales tax as we speak. Why is this largest rec center in Lawrence park not sufficient?
That city owned land at Overland and Wakarusa may be more necessary for another elementary school which would save taxpayers money.
The 25 year expansion of the tax base did nothing but expand our property tax bills and create other higher taxes and user fees. Why did that happen? Where is the money?
Why not spend some money determining why that expansion of the tax base has done nothing but increase our cost living that which is contradicting to a tax base expansion? Taxpayers want to know.