Lawrence city commissioners gave preliminary approval to a $207 million city budget for 2016 after adding another $100,000 in funding for a housing program that will be aimed at reducing the homeless population now being served at the Lawrence Community Shelter.

That last-minute change, which was pushed by Commissioner Stuart Boley, came just three weeks after the city and the Douglas County Commission agreed to provide $100,000 in emergency funding for the shelter to prevent it from having to make immediate program and staffing cuts.

It also came immediately after interim city manager Diane Stoddard had already cautioned commissioners that the 2016 budget overall will deplete some of the city’s cash reserves, a trade-off commissioners made to avoid a property tax increase.

“There does remain in the budget, as it sits, an $894,000 structural deficit,” Stoddard said. “And we think it’s important to point this out because at some point in the near future, we will not be able to bridge that sort of a gap.”

Normally, city commissions are prohibited from adding new spending to a budget after the draft budget has been published in the official city newspaper. But Lawrence commissioners were able to accomplish it Tuesday by making a shift, reducing the amount of money that otherwise would have gone into the city’s sales tax reserve fund, and putting it instead into its Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

The money will then be given to the Lawrence Housing Authority to expand its “transitional housing” program, which provides housing vouchers, similar to federally funded Section 8 vouchers, to help individuals and families rent housing in the private market.

Last month, as part of the agreement to provide the shelter with one-time emergency funding, Boley and Douglas County Administrator Craig Weinaug were named ex-officio members of the shelter’s board of directors.

Boley said the idea to provide additional one-time money for a transitional housing program grew out of his brief experience serving on that board.

“The idea is that because the shelter has come to us and asked for emergency funds this year, I think one of the ways we can help out would be to allocate some money for 2016 to try to reduce the population at the shelter and give them a chance to regroup with their management,” Boley said.

Shannon Oury, executive director of the Lawrence Housing Authority, said the transitional program has an 83 percent success rate, but there are currently nearly 50 people, including individuals and families, on a waiting list to get into the program, 16 of whom are currently being housed at the shelter.

She said the additional $100,000 would enable her agency to serve an additional nine households, if individuals are allowed into the program, or five additional families.

Other issues were discussed during the public hearing on the budget, but commissioners made no changes based on those comments.

Samantha Snyder of the Public Transit Advisory Committee criticized a provision that will send $120,000 to the Johnson County Transit Authority to subsidize the 710 K-10 Connector route that many commuters use. And Michael Almon urged commissioners to invest more in future budgets in bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements.

East Ninth Street

Commissioners also gave their approval to a revised work plan for the East Ninth Project, which calls for streetscape improvements and public art along a six-block stretch of Ninth Street from Massachusetts to Delaware streets.

The measure passed 4-1. Vice Mayor Leslie Soden dissented because she wanted additional language in the plan specifically stating that the East Ninth area will not become an entertainment district and would not be closed to host outdoor events.

But organizers of the project said the language was unnecessary in the work plan, which only describes the scope of work to be done. They said any potential zoning issues or other type of permits for use of the street should be handled through other city policies and regulations.

In other business, the commission:

• Authorized an agreement with the Lawrence Arts Center for the commitment of $50,000 from the center toward the city’s service contract with el dorado, inc. and establishing expectations for handling the agreements with artists regarding the East Ninth Project.

• Held a public hearing and agreed to allow the owner of property at 1231 Pennsylvania St. an additional 30 days to complete removal of remaining debris, scrap and storage from the yard and porch areas.

• Adopted four resolutions regarding issuance of general obligation bonds to provide long-term financing for projects previously completed.

• And held a public hearing and adopted a resolution establishing a benefit district and authorizing intersection improvements at Sixth Street and Champion Lane.