photo by: Nick Krug

Children's librarian Jennifer Cook laughs as she and 7-year-old Davian Copeland, of Lawrence, talk shop concerning dragon tales and other books in the children's fantasy genre on Friday, July 29, 2016 at the Lawrence Public Library. An item on the upcoming city budget that has drawn plenty of interest is the option to increase the pay of library staff. The city commission has suggested raising the mill levy to fund the raises.

The Lawrence City Commission will give its first round of approval Tuesday to a 2017 budget, but whether it will include cuts to some staff, projects and services is unknown.

That’s up to commissioners to decide — after they hear from community members during a public hearing on the budget Tuesday and before they’re asked to pass a budget later that night.

City Manager Tom Markus, who arrived in Lawrence in March, recommended a budget totaling $191 million with no increase in how much the city levies in property taxes.

Among other things, Markus proposed the elimination of one part-time staff position and nine full-time positions, reductions in an employee longevity program and contributions to employee retirement. The budget also doesn’t meet some requests from city departments and outside entities, such as the Lawrence Public Library and Lawrence Arts Center.

On July 19, commissioners voted the maximum they would consider spending in the 2017 budget would be $480,000 more than Markus’ recommendation in order to fill some of those cuts. The increase would come from a rise in mill levy. The highest mill levy commissioners said they would consider is 32.018 mills, an increase of 0.53 mill from 2016.

Now, commissioners will determine whether they want to increase the mill levy to fill some of the cuts; keep the levy steady and make the cuts; or propose no increase to mill levy but defund other services to fill some of the cuts Markus recommended.

Here’s a look at some of the issues commissioners will face Tuesday:

Lawrence Public Library

The library’s final request for 2017 was $3.95 million, $200,000 more than it received in 2016. If granted, the increase would go toward staff salary increases. Library employees are currently “grossly, chronically underpaid,” Board of Trustees Chair David Vance has said.

Markus’ recommendation called for a slight increase to the library’s budget — approximately $26,000.

Mayor Mike Amyx has noted that the library at least received a slight increase in Markus’ recommendations, while other departments and organizations received level funding from 2016 or less.

“We cannot fund everything,” Amyx said at the commission’s July 19 meeting. “They did not lose money from a year ago. There’s more money there; a small amount, but it’s there.”

The City Commission voted July 19 that they would consider a 0.282 mill increase, generating $255,195 more from taxpayers to fulfill the rest of the library’s request. Commissioners voted to consider it only after hearing from an attorney saying the authority to raise the mill levy to fund the library actually rested with the library’s board of directors — not the City Commission.

Lawrence ordinance states the City Commission “shall annually levy a tax” for the library “in such sum as the Library Board shall determine.”

Lawrence attorney Terence Leibold showed commissioners the ordinance July 19, saying the City Commission’s role was to “take the amount the board has determined and set the mill levy.”

“The city of Lawrence hasn’t followed the statute for a very long time,” Leibold said. “The board has remained silent about pressing this issue because it wants to get along with the city. I think it’s time that it no longer be ignored.”

Vice Mayor Leslie Soden said the comment pushed commissioners into including the full increase while setting its maximum budget and mill levy July 19. She said commissioners would hear Tuesday an opinion from the city attorney on whether the ordinance gives the library board the authority to set its funding amount.

“It was just best to go ahead and include that, not knowing how it was going to play out,” Soden said. “I’ll be curious to see what our legal staff thinks about that, and we’ll go from there.”

Markus did not weigh in immediately on the ordinance. He said later in the meeting that the library should consider charging fees for services such as the library’s recording studio, which is currently free to use.

“They should look at those things before they come back with next year’s budget,” Markus said. “It’s not going to abate all the need for an increase, but there’s something there additionally. It’s a very specialized, unique service.”

The arts

At the commission’s last meeting July 19, half a dozen people lined up outside City Hall flashing signs reading “art makes a difference” and “Keep Lawrence remarkable, yes to arts and culture.”

Dozens of people wrote into the city after Markus’ recommended budget was released, contesting cuts to the Lawrence Arts Center and the elimination of the city’s director of arts and culture, as well as the omission of the East Ninth Project.

In response, commissioners said they’d consider raising the mill levy by 0.117 to maintain the arts and culture director at a cost of $105,697.

Commissioners have not made a move in response to the recommendation to fill only $55,000 of a $156,343 request from the arts center for facility improvements. City staff determined, under their lease agreement, the city is responsible for only major maintenance to the arts center. Besides the $55,000, Markus recommended the arts center get $30,000 for scholarships — the same as in 2016 but $30,000 less than what was requested for 2017. Assistant City Manager Diane Stoddard has noted the city also pays utility bills for the Arts Center and contributes about $200,000 annually for the building’s debt payments.

There also has not been a formal decision on whether funding for the East Ninth Street arts corridor would be included in the 2017 budget. Commissioners did not balk when Markus suggested July 19 that they discuss alterations to the project’s design over the next year and make a recommendation to fund it in 2018.

“Once we have a better idea of what a realistic estimate is, we can start to work that back into the discussion of the 2018 budget,” Markus said at the time. “Part of the concern I have with that project is the consternation with it, without any real conclusion from this commission in terms of where we really want to go with it. We need to spend some time over the next year resolving that issue.”

The idea came up at a meeting earlier this month to fund the East Ninth Project in place of the project to rebuilt Queens Road in northwest Lawrence. Funding for the Queens Road improvements is scheduled to be granted in 2018.

Commissioner Matthew Herbert has been vocal about his discontent with the recommendations, saying the proposed budget — specifically the cuts to anything arts related — would “erode the qualities that make our city great.”

“When I look at this current budget, I do not see my priorities reflected,” Herbert said. “I may be in the minority in that, but I want that to be known.”

Longevity program

Amyx and Soden have voiced their desire to keep steady a longevity program for city employees.

Markus recommended reducing the program by 16.6 percent in 2017 for current employees and discontinuing it for new ones. The savings would total about $87,000, according to Markus’ proposed budget.

Under the current program, the city provides those employees who have been with the city more than five years $48 for each year of service. Markus’ recommendation would cut the payment to $40 per year of service.

“It’s something I believe in and support,” Amyx has said.

To maintain funding for the program, commissioners are considering a mill increase of 0.063 mill.

City auditor

Another of Markus’ cuts that has garnered protest is the elimination of the city auditor position.

Besides hearing at meetings from a handful of people against the cut, the national Association of Local Government Auditors wrote commissioners asking that it be maintained.

“An independent local auditing function… plays a key role in effective governance and public accountability,” reads the letter, signed by the organization’s president David Givans. “It provides assurance to citizens and elected officials that scarce resources are protected by strong management controls and practices.”

Commissioners said they’d consider a mill levy increase to generate $124,600 to maintain the position.

Some commissioners expressed doubt at the July 19 meeting whether they’d keep the position on the payroll, and if the duties would remain the same, if so.

Commissioner Lisa Larsen said if the auditor makes the cut, she’d like to review the work of current City Auditor Michael Eglinski to ensure he’s meeting job requirements.

“I think it is also a good time to look at whether the job duties are really being completed to the degree we need for them to be completed, as well as the quantity,” Larsen said at the time. “We need to pay closer attention to that and come up with better guidelines for what we want him to do if this position stays with us. If — that’s an if.”

Soden said she sees the position as more of a “need” than a “want.” But she would like to make cuts elsewhere in the budget to fund the position — not increase taxes to do so.

“Not raising taxes is really important to me,” Soden said Friday. “I’ve been doing my best the past couple weeks to dig up anything I can so we don’t have to.”

Finding funds

To fill some of the cuts, commissioners could decide to raise the mill levy, find cuts in other areas, or take from the city’s reserves.

Markus and Finance Director Bryan Kidney have warned commissioners against using reserve funds, which serve as a cushion and affect the city’s bond rating. Dipping into reserves would create a “structural imbalance” in the budget, Markus has said.

Most commissioners have said they did not want to include a mill levy increase for 2017, or only a “modest” one.

Soden — who wants to maintain the city auditor and arts and culture positions, as well as the longevity program — is looking for other ways to trim the current budget to avoid a tax increase.

She said one option would be to limit funding next year to combat the ongoing emerald ash borer infestation. She’s also considering omitting or delaying some capital improvement projects, including $500,000 worth of improvements to facilities at Eagle Bend Golf Course.

“To me that’s easily more within the ‘want’ category than the ‘need’ category,” Soden said. “I think we can trim back, and come at this from a different direction.”

After commissioners hold a public hearing Tuesday and vote on a budget in its first reading, the budget will come back to them Aug. 16 for a second and final vote. A budget must be filed with the Douglas County clerk by Aug. 25.

The City Commission will convene at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.