Lawrence leaders weigh 2027 budget, infrastructure tax renewal for projects
Lawrence could leave about $20 million in future projects unfunded if the 0.3% infrastructure tax expires in 2029. Commissioners also weighed a $407.7 million capital plan.
Lawrence leaders are deciding whether the city can keep paying for the streets, sidewalks and stormwater work that residents notice most, or whether some projects will slide back on the list. City commissioners reviewed the proposed 2027 through 2031 Capital Improvement Plan, a five-year package with $407.7 million in funded projects, and staff warned that about $20 million in out-year work would be left without money if the 0.3% infrastructure sales tax is not renewed.
That tax is one of four city sales taxes listed by the finance department, alongside the 1-cent general purpose tax, the 0.2% public transportation tax and the 0.05% affordable housing tax. The infrastructure levy is scheduled to sunset on March 31, 2029 unless voters renew it. Lawrence voters last extended it in a special election on Nov. 7, 2017, and the version approved then was set to begin collection on April 1, 2019 and run for 10 years.
City materials say the infrastructure tax can be used for constructing, improving and maintaining public streets, sidewalks, stormwater facilities, trails and paths, residential traffic calming devices, curb-and-gutter replacement, crosswalk and accessible-ramp improvements, road and intersection reconstruction, and fire apparatus and related fire equipment. That makes the renewal vote more than a bookkeeping item. It will help determine which neighborhoods see repairs first, which intersections get rebuilt and whether deferred work in places such as Downtown Lawrence and Northwest Lawrence stays on schedule.
The five-year capital plan also shows how much is at stake in the near term. Roughly $88.5 million of the proposed spending is slated for 2027 alone, meaning commissioners are not just talking about a distant maintenance backlog. They are weighing which projects move now and which ones wait if revenue falls short.
Transit was part of the same larger tax conversation. Lawrence Transit is considering a separate November 2026 ballot question that would raise the transit sales tax from 0.2% to 0.3% between April 2027 and 2029. Transit officials say the extra revenue would help maintain the current service schedule, keep buses free through 2029 and move forward on a downtown bus station.
That station project has a total budget of $2.03 million, including $406,000 in local transit sales tax funding and $1.624 million from a Kansas Department of Transportation Access, Innovation and Collaboration Grant. City transit materials say 561 riders boarded Stop No. 1 across from the library each day on average in 2023, a reminder that the tax decisions now before commissioners will shape daily trips as much as long-range planning.
Know something we missed? Have a correction or additional information?
Submit a Tip
