photo by: Shawn Valverde

Downtown Lawrence is pictured in November 2024. The view is of Massachusetts Street, center, looking north toward City Hall.

City commissioners next week will consider increasing the guest tax on hotel or short-term overnight stays in Lawrence by 2% to capitalize on an increase in visitors expected next summer for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

On Tuesday night, commissioners will be asked to vote on potentially raising the transient guest tax from 6% to 8%. According to a city memo, the last time the city increased the guest tax rate was in 2009, when it was raised from 5% to 6%.

The city memo notes the current Transient Guest Tax fund is “structurally imbalanced,” and at the current rate, Lawrence lacks the necessary revenue to fund major tourism-related initiatives. A presentation shared as part of the agenda packet estimates that if the guest tax is not increased ahead of 2026, the fund would end up in a deficit by 2027. If the city increased the rate to 8%, the city predicts that the guest tax fund would receive just under $940,000 in additional tax money and grow its balance.

Increasing the guest tax to 8% would also put Lawrence in line with similar cities in the Kansas City region expected to see an increase of visitors during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where six matches will be held between June 16 and July 11, including a quarterfinal contest. Cities such as Overland Park and Mission have a guest tax of 9%, while Shawnee, Merriam, Lenexa, Leawood and Kansas City, Kansas, all are at 8%.

Kim Anspach, the executive director of Explore Lawrence, told the Journal-World in a statement that if the tax rate were expanded, her organization would “have the resources to market Lawrence to new audiences, enhance visitor experiences and support major events like the 2026 World Cup,” all of which could increase visitor spending, “drive economic development and benefit Lawrence.”

Despite the projection of hundreds of thousands of visitors coming to the Kansas City region, the city memo notes there are no dedicated funding sources to create programs to attract visitors, and raising the guest tax could be a way to create those projects in the short term. Additionally, Lawrence is still in the running to be selected as a base camp for one of the 48 national teams that would play in the World Cup. Officials involved with the effort previously told the Journal-World that cities with a base camp are likely to bring in 15,000 more people, according to FIFA projections.

The measure to increase the guest tax would need a supermajority vote from the City Commission. If it were approved, a 60-day referendum period would begin where citizens could file a protest petition to require a public vote. The petition would need to be signed by at least 10% of qualified electors in the city. If the petition meets that threshold, the proposed guest tax increase would go to a citywide election and would only be passed if approved by a majority of voters.

If no petition were filed and the guest tax increase were passed by the commission, the ordinance would take effect after 61 days; the city anticipates the collection of the updated tax would begin on Jan. 1, 2026.

In other business, commissioners will consider a rezoning request that could allow a 33-unit apartment complex to be built on a vacant lot on McDonald Drive.

Commissioners will consider a request to rezone 1.32 acres of land at 515 McDonald Drive from a mixed-use district to a high-density residential district. As the Journal-World reported, longtime Lawrence developer Doug Compton and Lawrence-based Adams Architects had filed plans for a two-building apartment complex on the 1.32-acre site, which once housed a hotel until that building was destroyed by a fire in 2018.

The Planning Commission voted 6-2 in July to recommend the rezoning, as the Journal-World reported, citing the need for more housing in Lawrence.

The item is a part of the commission’s consent agenda, but it is considered a quasi-judicial item, which means members of the public could request that the item be pulled for separate discussion.

The commission meeting will take place Tuesday night at 5:45 p.m. at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.