photo by: Bremen Keasey

Lawrence's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board members approved Monday night a formal recommendation to the city commission saying the proposed $1.8 million budget cut the Parks, Recreation and Culture department is facing would have a "significant, negative effect" to the public's access.

The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board voted Monday to tell the Lawrence City Commission that it believes the proposed $1.8 million budget cut to the city’s Parks, Recreation and Culture department would have a “significant, negative effect” for the public’s access to facilities.

The recommendation was approved 6-0 by the board Monday night, with Ruth DeWitt abstaining. The recommendation, which was drafted after discussion of a membership fee proposal from the PRC department, voiced its opposition to the city’s request to the department to cut $1.8 million — or 10% — from its budget.

“The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board has reviewed staff’s recommendations to meet the city’s budget target for the (PRC) department. We believe the budget target would have significant negative effect on access to parks and recreation facilities and challenges the city’s commitment to equity and inclusion,” the statement said.

The board discussed the PRC’s proposal to implement membership fees to access the city’s recreation centers which had costs for Lawrence residents as high as $25 a month for adults and up to $5 for day passes, though there were other options for punch cards, annual memberships, family memberships, households that could demonstrate need and free after-school times for students. Those prices were first publicly released last week, as the Journal-World reported.

Ahead of the meeting, dozens of residents wrote public comments stating they were against the proposal, while a handful of public commenters spoke at the board meeting Monday night.

Multiple advisory board members expressed that they were not supportive of the fee proposal. Marilyn Hull officially said she did not support it, noting a public survey about the membership fees found 80% of residents did not support charging fees. Chair Lisa Hallberg said she found it “very hard to be positive” about adding fees, adding she doesn’t feel the fee structure would be equitable.

Luis Ruiz, the PRC director, told the advisory board Monday night the exploration of implementing fees for its rec centers was “not to make a profit,” but to try to reduce the impact of budget cuts.

“By doing this, we are preventing deeper cuts and maintaining acceptable service levels in parks,” Ruiz said.

If the membership fee plan were to be approved, the PRC anticipates it could boost its revenue by 20% to earn around $1.1 million, meaning it would be able to cut $690,000 from its 2026 budget proposal. Ruiz said without implementing the membership fees, the PRC would be forced to cut just over $1.4 million from its budget, which could lead to cutting six full-time positions and multiple part-time positions, reducing service levels to 39 of the city’s 71 parks, implementing reduced hours at its parks and recreation centers and offering fewer sports programs.

Board member Taylor Bussinger said he appreciated the meaningful discussion and the board was in a “difficult situation” in terms of the financial constraints. DeWitt said although the discussion Monday was mostly about the membership fee proposal, she felt in some ways the root of the issue was the forced reductions can lead to “bad reviews” from residents if the upkeep is not the same level as before, potentially eroding the standards of service the community came to expect.

Initially, the board discussed potentially sending a formal letter to the commission expressing its position against the fee proposal. But board member John Nalbandian suggested that really the board was in opposition to the target of $1.8 million in cuts, which was the impetus for where the whole conversation started.

“If they didn’t have to cut (the PRC budget) by X amount, (it) would be in better shape,” Nalbandian said.

The board will send its joint statement to the City Commission, which will discuss the PRC’s fee proposal and budget update during its Tuesday night meeting.