Lawrence City Manager Tom Markus is right to challenge the Lawrence school district’s request for the city to waive a portion of its building permit fees for the school district’s upcoming bond construction projects. Such arrangements between taxing entities usually have little benefit for the people paying the taxes.

Last month school board president Shannon Kimball and interim Superintendent Anna Stubblefield sent a letter to the city requesting that the city waive half of the building permit fees for construction associated with the $87 million bond issue to fund facility improvements at the district’s middle schools and high schools. Estimates are that the fees will total $180,000, meaning the district is seeking a break of approximately $90,000.

The letter suggests that splitting the fees with the school district would be a way for the city to support the bond issue by ensuring that as much of the bond funds as possible are spent on students.

“The entire community benefits when governmental entities work in partnership and when bond issue dollars can be maximized to improve public schools and support students,” the district’s letter states.

There is precedent for the school district’s request. In 2014, the city waived 50 percent of the building permit fees for the final six projects in the $92 million bond issue to fund improvements at the district’s elementary campuses.

But Markus, who took over as city manager in 2016, questioned the need for the fee waiver. In a response letter to the district, Markus challenged the district’s request, noting that cutting the fees means the city might not recoup the cost of providing plan review and inspection services on the bond issue construction and might be forced to increase fees for others to make up for the shortfall. He also noted that the city limits include just 79 percent of the residents of the school district. By cutting fees for the school district, district residents who live in the city limits would have to pay more for the bond construction than residents who live outside the city limits.

Finally and perhaps most importantly, there is the 2015 accident during construction at New York Elementary School in which an 8-year-old boy was injured after he wandered onto the construction site. That accident occurred after the city waived the permitting fees for the school district projects, allowing the district to arrange private inspections instead. Neither the district nor the city can afford for a similar incident to occur.

The school district’s request for the city to waive building permit fees isn’t surprising; such waivers are common between government entities. But the benefit to taxpayers, most of whom live in both the city and school district, is negligible since any savings that the school district nets will have to be absorbed by city taxpayers.

It’s important to make sure school district projects go through thorough building reviews and inspections to ensure safety. City commissioners should make sure such reviews and inspections are fully funded before granting fee waivers to the district.