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What should City Hall do to deal with its budget shortfall?
| Response | Percent | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cut services | 60% | 206 | |
| Raise sales taxes | 22% | 76 | |
| Raise property taxes | 13% | 46 | |
| Undecided | 4% | 14 | |
| Total | 342 | ||
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Comments
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Stain (anonymous) says…
Well I can't answer this poll. I don't think the city needs to cut services. The city needs to stop building new infrastructure, starting with the $200,000 traffic light at 6th and George Williams Way that we don't need right now. If the developer of Mercado wants it right now just to support his new retail development, let him fork over the $200k. Lawrence cannot afford it.
blackwalnut (anonymous) says…
None of the above.
Impact fees paid for by developers. Yes, Boog. Is anyone listening to him?
babyjay (anonymous) says…
Cut services for the homeless. The more services we provide, the more homeless will come to Lawrence to get their "2 hots and a cot"! We have become a major stop on the homeless highway. The word is out - go to Lawrence, Kansas!!!! I don't want my taxes used or raised to provide any more "amenities" for the non-Douglas County homeless.
kuthruandthru (anonymous) says…
You live in a college town, so there will always be homeless, if you don't like it move to Johnson county.
peppermint (anonymous) says…
How much do the homeless really cost the city of Lawrence?
Why are the people screaming about the homeless so often the same ones who scream for the city to support things the profit-making developers want?
Phillbert (anonymous) says…
Option E: Impact fees.
The City's own study said our current revenue sources can't keep up with development. Developers and the businesses & homeowners who buy properties from them should pay for the cost of the infrastructure needed to support that growth.
Study: Cost to expand city exceeds present revenue
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/mar...
Lynn731 (anonymous) says…
The idiots could stop building roundabouts. Thank you, Lynn
jlw53 (anonymous) says…
I've been saying for 25 years that growth doesn't pay for itself. Problem is that the city voters don't seem to see it and thus continue to vote for "Hacks" who seem to only want to enrich the development community - builders, realtors, bankers, attorneys, etc. at the expense of the community at large. I have no problem with development and growth, as long as it pays for itself. It can with proper upfront fees that are passed on to the new homeowners, or patrons of the new businesses. If new people coming into the community (drawn to the growth) can drive up prices of new homes because they have plenty of money to spend, then they can come up with a little more and support THEIR growth with those impact fees, and let the other residents concentrate on paying for what's already here.
pelliott (anonymous) says…
Have a citizens advisory board for how to trim the waste in city practices. There should be an assessment of service, cost analysis. The departments would rather cut employee's salaries than change how they are doing things. Departments do not work together. Frontline employees probably know some of the practices that need to be changed. Sanitation regularly schedules overtime for work that can be allocated by changing shift requirments. Overtime should be for emmergencies, not regularly scheduled. Supervisor positions can be pooled and reduced, more saving than cutting out the people that have done the job for years. Get modern methods and less "thats the way we do things". Buford and Wildgen had too many yes men and poor administrators.
Impact fees rather than raising sales taxes,sales taxes that impact every person buying groceries. I don' t want my sewer fees being diverted from maintaining pipes to building a state of the art pump station to help a developer improve his profits.
coneflower (anonymous) says…
Stop ordering new streets and traffic lights and roundabouts that are only needed because developers want them to support their projects. Any developer who wants it so bad can pay for it 100% - including that $200,000 traffic light at 6th and George Williams Way the city is bankrolling.
Lawrence can't afford to support developers any longer. The profiteers should pay their own way.
Boog is right - impact fees are the answer. The developers should have been paying impact fees all through the uncontrolled growth of the past few years.
coneflower (anonymous) says…
jlw53 says: I have no problem with development and growth, as long as it pays for itself. It can with proper upfront fees that are passed on to the new homeowners, or patrons of the new businesses.
I don't know how owners of other newer homes feel, but I pay a ton in taxes and sewer fees to live in a newer neighborhood that doesn't have parks, many trees, pleasant places to walk, or anything I love in a neighborhood. The developers, it seems, couldn't spare a dime to make a nice neighborhood around the expensive cookie-cutter houses. Living in Lawrence, at this high cost, is starting to feel like a real crummy deal to me.
Pass the cost of development on to the people who profit from it.
Stain (anonymous) says…
Marion (Marion Lynn) says:
This town is doomed.
It kinda is. It is mind-boggling to think of how much they can hurt this town in four years. Look what the new slash, burn and tax city commission has already done in just two months. And they're just getting warmed up.
Voter remorse is a pitiful thing, because you don't get to take your vote back. I'm regretting two of my votes.
Stain (anonymous) says…
Oh, just get rid of the two commissioners who do business with Doug Compton and cannot possibly vote objectively on any issue involving land he owns (nearly every development project that comes up).
Savings: $18,000 every year.
coneflower (anonymous) says…
Lynn731 (Anonymous) says:
The idiots could stop building roundabouts.
It's frustrating as hell when you can't run those babies, isn't it?
erod0723 (anonymous) says…
Does anybody know of the proper way to get Hack kicked out the mayoral post and city commission? It seems apparent that she is just a puppet of developers and businesses.