Lawrence City Hall is pictured in this file photo.

The Lawrence City Commission voted unanimously on Tuesday to put a question on the November ballot about raising the city’s sales tax to fund affordable housing efforts from 0.05% to 0.10%.

The sales tax increase, which was proposed by City Manager Craig Owens in July, would add an extra nickel in tax to every $100 in purchases made by consumers in Lawrence. State law requires that all city sales tax increases be put to a citywide vote.

A large amount of the new money would fund programs for homeless services, which the city created with temporary federal funding received during the pandemic. Most of that federal funding, however, is scheduled to end in 2025.

Owens previously told the Journal-World the increase in sales tax would double the money the city currently gets to address housing issues from $1.25 million to $2.5 million, and that it would be critical if the city wanted to maintain those services without federal dollars.

Initially, commissioner Lisa Larsen expressed she felt uncomfortable putting on the ballot after public comment during a public hearing about the city going over the revenue neutral rate made her question if there was “appetite out there” to pass the special tax increase.

Commissioner Amber Sellers said although she understood that position, the commission shouldn’t pre-empt the potential that the public could vote to approve funding she views as much needed to help the city tackle the issue.

“We’ve been putting a Band-Aid on fixing the homelessness issue,” Sellers said.