Lawrence City Manager Tom Markus gives a community talk, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016, at Ecumenical Campus Ministries. About 30 people attended the City

Increasing collaboration with the county may be one way that Lawrence city leaders deal with new state limits on property tax revenue. Once budget discussions begin this spring, the new tax policy will make opportunities for collaboration essential, said City Manager Tom Markus.

“We need to have open discussions about those and consider those opportunities for this area, especially in an environment where the state has taken some pretty drastic measures in terms of the amount of revenues that we’ll be able to raise,” Markus told attendees at a community talk Wednesday afternoon.

Last year, state lawmakers passed a law that requires cities and counties to get voter approval before increasing property tax revenues from one year to the next beyond the rate of inflation. The tax policy, which goes into effect in 2018, has since been modified to include a number of exemptions that will allow cities and counties to increase revenues without voter approval under certain conditions. For instance, increased revenues from new construction, annexation of new territory and the expiration of property tax abatements given for economic development incentives would not require a vote.

As part of his “City Hall Update,” Markus told attendees that Lawrence was already “ahead of the curve” when it came to working with the county, but that more could be done. The city and county already combine their services for fire and medical, health department, senior, and planning services.

“I actually think we could do even more,” Markus said. “You’ve got the culture to do those things and I think it would actually make things more efficient if we could get ourselves there. A lot of times these things are challenged because parochial interests kind of get in the way of these things, but, quite frankly, I do think that those are opportunities for us.”

Specifically, Markus said he saw the county’s new public works facilities as a missed opportunity to include Lawrence. While it is too late on that project, others moving forward are using the strategy.

For instance, a joint effort has been undertaken for the renovation of Fire Station No. 1, which is housed in the same building as Douglas County Senior Services. The original plan for the renovation included only the fire station, even though it shares infrastructure with the senior center.

“So when I looked at it, I asked what I thought was a pretty logical question: Why aren’t we doing the whole building at the same time?” Markus said. “It just doesn’t make sense to do it piecemeal. They share HVAC and electric and plumbing; if you’re going to do it, do it all at once. So that’s what we’re doing.”

As a result, the scope of the renovation was expanded, and a cost-sharing agreement between the county and city to redo the entire building was approved this month by both governing bodies. The project now calls for a $6.4 million renovation that will include both facilities.

The more than one-hour presentation and question and answer session covered various topics, including the city’s capital improvement plan, strategic planning, affordable housing and upcoming construction projects. About 30 people attended the talk, which was hosted by Ecumenical Campus Ministries and was open to the public.

Following the talk, Markus added that in addition to the ways mentioned, he thinks the city and the county could also work together more in the area of economic development. He noted that while they will have to see how the change in tax policy plays out, he thinks the city and county need to consider additional ways to work together on both projects and services.

“We’re the vast majority of the population (in the county),” Markus said. “I just think there are other things that we could do. You can’t dismiss those opportunities anymore. I think it’s essential that we explore those.”

Markus said the event was one of more than a dozen such talks that he has given to different community and employee groups. He said the talks began as part of his effort to get to know the community during his first 100 days as city manager, but that he plans to continue them.