The Lawrence Times

As the City of Lawrence formulates its 2023 budget, some social services leaders and members of an advisory board want more transparency, equity and public engagement in the priority-based budgeting process used to distribute funding for social service agencies. Members of the Special Alcohol Funding Advisory Board (SAFAB) are charged with reviewing requests and making funding recommendations for the special alcohol tax to the Lawrence City Commission. They submitted their annual report to Assistant City Manager Casey Toomay in late April demanding clarity in the process and their role in it. They also want city officials to acknowledge the power differential [...]

Douglas County Commissioners on Wednesday heard the challenges facing an end to chronic homelessness in the county. Owen Cox, a researcher from the University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships and Research presented the findings of a two-part needs assessment on unhoused people. “We’re really hoping that what you see here today, and what you see in the final report, which is forthcoming, will really help guide any future sort of plans that you might make around tackling some of the issues that the needs assessment has uncovered.” After the presentation, Shannon Oury, executive director of Lawrence Douglas County Housing Authority, [...]

The Lawrence Community Police Review Board on Thursday advanced a charter to create a new Community-Police Oversight Task Force.  The CPRB has long wanted greater authority than the scope that city law currently allows — a scope so narrow that since the board was created in 2018, it has not reviewed a single complaint. The current ordinance only allows CPRB members to review appeals of the police department’s decisions in complaints about bias-based policing. Starting in 2020, at the direction of the Lawrence City Commission, board members began drafting an ordinance that expanded its duties. But an outside consultant’s review of the [...]

Gov. Laura Kelly signed bipartisan legislation Thursday creating incentives in the form of state income tax credits for investors in construction of residential housing that contributes to economic development in Kansas. The Kelly administration’s statewide survey of housing needs — the first of its kind in three decades — pointed to the need for affordable housing, especially in rural communities. The shortage was identified as an impediment to expansion of existing businesses and attracting new employers. The tax credit administered by the Kansas Housing Resource Corporation and the Kansas Development Finance Authority would be capped at $13 million annually. The law [...]

Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday had their own comments following a public comment about public comment. Michael Eravi, of Lawrence, raised concerns during the general public comment portion of the meeting about the commission’s admonition at the beginning of meetings regarding public comments. Eravi noted this line, which Commission Chair Shannon Reid read at the start of the meeting: “The county reserves the right to mute or remove any speaker who is vulgar, rude or inappropriate.” Source: The Lawrence Times

Trustees of the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System deferred Friday until at least next month a decision about lowering the assumed rate of return on pension investments below the current 7.75% target and dramatically inflating the system’s unfunded liability. Action by the KPERS board in response to soured market conditions would have practical implications in terms of dealing with the system’s long-term liability as well as political ramifications from state legislators opposed to the adjustment. Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson and Senate budget chairman Rick Billinger, both Republicans, advised trustees they weren’t “convinced about the wisdom” of plans to trim the [...]

People in Douglas County now have the ability to text 911 in situations where they are unable to safely call, the sheriff’s office announced Friday. The Kansas 911 Coordinating Council began rolling out a Text-to-911 service in recent years. Tony Foster, director of the Douglas County Emergency Communications Center, said in a news release that because the county has a large college student population, it might have a higher utilization of the service. “The Douglas County Emergency Communications Center recognizes this is an important service to offer in our community for those in need of help, but we also want to [...]

Over the last 15 years, Lawrence’s firefighter-paramedics have seen a 62% increase in call volume but no increase to the number of fire stations. Tom Fagan, interim chief of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, told Lawrence city commissioners Tuesday that LDCFM’s first responders are successful when they are able to reach emergencies within their goal of four minutes or less of travel time. But the substantial increase in calls for service over the past several years — from 8,964 calls in 2006 to 14,560 in 2021, according to LDCFM’s presentation — and the simultaneous calls that occur can stretch limited resources and [...]

A revised economic forecast for Kansas projects the state will collect $407.8 million more than previously expected in the upcoming fiscal year, adding to a budget surplus that could be used to eliminate the 6.5% state sales tax on food. Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat seeking reelection this year, has made the total elimination of the sales tax on food a cornerstone of her campaign. Republicans have favored an approach that would phase out the tax over several years, as long as revenue numbers remain strong, while eying other potential tax cuts and criticizing the governor for vetoing a tax bundle [...]

Masks will no longer be required for Lawrence Transit riders or employees following a federal judge’s ruling that suspends enforcement of a mask mandate on public transportation, the city announced Tuesday. “Our mask mandate enforcement is based on federal guidance,” Adam Weigel, Transit and Parking Manager, said in the city’s news release. “We encourage everyone to monitor public health information and make decisions aligned with their needs.” The CDC still recommends masks in indoor public transportation settings, and the city would refer people to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health for the most up-to-date local health information. Source: The Lawrence Times