photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., is pictured on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024.

Twenty employees with the City of Lawrence have been accepted for the voluntary early retirement program, which the city began offering as part of an effort to address the city’s budget shortfall.

At a City Commission meeting in April, city staff presented a budget that addressed a projected $6.6 million shortfall; that budget included cuts to 23 full-time positions. City Manager Craig Owens and Alley Porter, a budget manager with the city finance department, said during that meeting that the city would begin to offer early retirement incentives.

The city began sending out information about the early retirement program to employees starting April 16, as the Journal-World reported. Employees had the first chance to apply during a window from April 30 to May 14. Employees were notified on Friday whether their applications for the early retirement program were accepted.

The 20 employees who will take the early retirement in this first window were generally proportionately spread across the city’s departments, according to Megan Dodge, the city’s human resources director.

The number of city employees has steadily risen over the past few years. In 2019, the city had an overall headcount of around 846 full-time equivalent employees, according to that year’s budget. In the 2025 adopted budget, the city has around 999 full-time equivalent employees.

Dodge told the Journal-World via email that the city does not have a final position count yet for the 2026 budget because the development process is still ongoing, but the city is analyzing how the early retirement program will affect department budgets moving forward.

Along with the early retirement program, the city also implemented an internal hiring policy as a way to help limit vacancies and limit the potential for layoffs. The city has said it is not looking to see a certain number of employees take the voluntary packages, but Dodge noted that it is a way to help reduce the city’s expenses.

“We remain committed to developing a sustainable budget, and managing through attrition will remain an important tool,” Dodge said.

The initial budget draft for 2026 will first be presented during the City Commission’s July 8 meeting.

The early retirement program also has another window open for city employees. The program is open to active employees who are eligible for early retirement or full retirement through the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System or the KP&F Retirement System, which is a program specifically for police, fire and emergency service workers, as of July 1.

The second window opened May 19 and will close on Aug. 8. Employees who applied during the second window will be notified no later than Aug. 22.