Even as City Manager Tom Markus presented his recommended budget to the Lawrence City Commission Tuesday, he advised that some of the numbers will change — potentially calling for reductions to what is proposed if the property tax rate is to remain flat.
Markus said updated numbers will be presented to the commission on July 10, and the city will need direction on what’s acceptable and what changes commissioners would like to make.
He said that, while he hoped some numbers would move in the right direction between now and then, the overall changes to revenue and expenses could make the budget tighter.
“You’re going to probably see some revenue differences and you’ll probably see some expense differences, both probably going in the wrong directions — meaning, revenues a little bit less and expenses a little bit more than what we’ve shown tonight,” Markus said. “So (city staff members) are going to have to take a hard look at those things, too.”
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