photo by: Nick Krug

Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., is pictured on May 3, 2016.

City leaders will soon set the maximum spending level for Lawrence’s 2021 budget, requiring them to decide on any spending changes to the city manager’s recommended budget and whether to move ahead with recommended utility rate increases, among other key decisions.

As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will consider authorizing publication of the 2021 budget summary that establishes the city’s maximum expenditure authority. City Manager Craig Owens’ $291 million recommended budget calls for a flat property tax rate but increases in all three city utility rates to help support infrastructure projects. The budget includes a $51.6 million capital improvement plan, a $24.4 million maintenance plan and a $14 million vehicle and equipment replacement plan, or about $90 million total among the three plans.

Though Owens has described the budget as a placeholder because amendments are likely, the commission will be asked to answer several policy questions as part of Tuesday’s meeting. Those include whether to move forward with the proposed increases to water, solid waste and stormwater rates; whether to provide additional pay raises to city employees; as well as any other changes they would like to see reflected in the budget before the Aug. 11 public hearing.

As part of the meeting Tuesday, city staff will present more detailed information regarding the recommended budget’s utility rate plan. Under the recommended budget, all three city utility rates would increase, amounting to an approximately $110 annual increase over this year for the typical residential customer using 4,000 gallons of water per month. Specifically, the budget calls for an 8% increase for water, a 3% increase for solid waste and a 50% increase for stormwater. The stormwater increase — which because the current fee is relatively low amounts to only $27 more annually — would go toward major stormwater infrastructure projects.

If approved, the three rate increases would generate an additional $5.63 million in revenue for the city in 2021, according to city staff presentation materials. The presentation also provides average monthly rates for water, solid waste and stormwater for other nearby cities, comparing them to the city’s current and proposed rates for each of the three utilities. When comparing current rates to those of other cities, the staff presentation indicates that the city’s rates are in the mid-range for water and the low range for stormwater. For solid waste, the city’s rates are in the low range if privately run utilities are included in the comparison, but they’re in the high range if the comparison only includes other publicly run utilities.

photo by: City of Lawrence

Water and Wastewater Rates

photo by: City of Lawrence

Stormwater Rates

photo by: City of Lawrence

Solid Waste Rates

The commission will also decide about wage increases for city employees and whether to move ahead with the city manager’s recommendation to add five new staff positions. As currently proposed, the recommended budget calls for a general wage adjustment of 0.5% and about $828,000 in market adjustments for city employees in the primary pay plan, amounting to a total of about $1.04 million in pay increases for those employees, according to city staff presentation materials. If the city were to fully fund the compensation plan for primary employees, it would cost another $1.9 million for those employees. City staff has said over the years that pay for nonunion employees in the primary pay plan has not kept up with the market and lags behind that of unionized employees.

The recommended budget also includes another $227,000 to fund annual wage increases in the Lawrence Police Officers Association pay plan and another $179,000 to fund annual wage increases in the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1596 pay plan. Because of provisions in the LPOA and IAFF employment contracts, if the city were to fully fund the primary pay plan for nonunion city employees, it would also need to provide equivalent pay increases to unionized staff, which would amount to another $180,000 total for those two pay plans.

Owens has described the budget as a placeholder because the commission will likely make amendments once it updates its strategic plan. On Saturday, city leaders established several goals for the strategic plan, including more action to address systemic racial injustice in the community.

The City Commission will convene virtually at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, with limited staff members in place at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St. The city has asked that residents participate in the meeting virtually, if they are able to do so, using temporary meeting procedures put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Directions for submitting public comment and correspondence are included in the meeting agenda that is available on the city’s website, lawrenceks.org.