Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

TO:	Mayor and City Commissioners
FROM:	Dave Corliss, Interim City Manager
CC:	Debbie Van Saun, Assistant City Manager Casey Liebst, Budget Manager Ed Mullins, Finance Director Jonathan Douglass, Management Analyst
Date:	April 6, 2006
RE:	Action Items from 04/06/06 Budget Study Session

During the April 6, 2006, study session on the 2007 City Budget, the City Commission made the following requests for further information or actions in support of the Commission’s budget deliberations:

• How much of the operating budget does the City already spend on infrastructure maintenance (or how much infrastructure maintenance is not debt-financed)? 
• Program improvements
• Departments should be challenged to link their program improvement requests to the City Commission Goals.
• There should be some threshold for what size of projects should be brought to the City Commission by departments.  For example, the merits of a $15,000 program improvement should be judged by City Staff rather than the Commission.
• Projects should add value to the community (one dollar spent should result in more than one dollar of community benefit).  Staff should find a way to articulate and quantify this. 
• Look for opportunities to share equipment and machinery among multiple departments.
• Tax comparison information
• How does Lawrence compare to other communities in terms of median income, cost of living, etc.?
• Are there any tools for comparing increases in residential assessed valuation to other communities?  The analysis would need to separate increased valuation due to new property from increased valuation of existing property.
• How much local revenue might be lost due to proposed sales tax holiday?
• Request for Mark Funkhouser presentation to City Commission on auditing. 
• Would downtown fire sprinkler improvements be eligible for historic preservation tax credits?
• More resources should be dedicated by the City and the Chamber of Commerce to working with our congressional delegation to secure federal support for projects.  Off-season visits with the delegation may be more useful than visits during the National League of Cities conference.
• How much time does City Staff currently devote to grant securing activities? 
• Analysis is needed of how much expenditures can increase in 2007 without depleting fund balance faster than is desired.  This could be addressed with the financial advisors.
• At least one of the budget study sessions needs to be taken more aggressively into the community – should be held at a location outside City Hall, in the evening when more people can attend, and should be advertised. 
• How much higher than the 2006 budgeted fund balance did we begin the year?
• Clarification needed regarding the actions that are required on the streets (identified in the street condition survey) needing significant improvements. 
• Outside agency requests should be handled later (after City operations) in the budget process. 
• Staff report needed regarding a proposal to designate a portion of the alcohol tax to reserve funds.   

Staff will work to respond to these requests in a timely manner.  If there were additional requests from the Commission that are not reflected in this document, please notify me.