LOCAL TAXING & sPENDING DECISIONS SHOULD BE MADE BY
LOCALLY ELECTED OFFICIALS
The
Lawrence City Commission strongly opposes the enactment of State imposed
spending or taxation controls or lids. The so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights
(TABOR) proposals create an arbitrary and capricious procedure for what should
be an essential function of representative democracy: elected officials
determining the appropriate spending and taxing policies of their community.
Local tax and spending decisions should be made by locally elected officials –
not by artificial limits in the state statutes or constitution. The City
desires to partner with the Legislature to find solutions which will ease
property tax burdens on low income, elderly homeowners while maintaining
adequate funding sources for City services.
State limits on ANNEXation Powers
The City of
Lawrence opposes efforts to limit the ability of cities to annex property.
We oppose changes to the current state annexation statutes. Annexation
provides a key tool for municipal ability to manage and plan for growth.
Protecting sales taxes as an essential City revenue source to fund important City services
Sales taxes
are an increasingly important component of City budgets, funding essential municipal
services and capital improvements which benefit our entire community. An
important federal and state issue that must be addressed is the legal authority
to impose state, city, and county sales taxes on electronic commerce and
catalog sales. A sales tax on e-commerce and catalog sales protects an
important revenue source for state and local governments and puts traditional
land based businesses in our communities on an equal taxation footing with
their electronic competitors. The Kansas Legislature should continue to pursue
the “Stream-lined Sales Tax” efforts and other opportunities to include
Internet and catalog sales tax collection.
municipal authority to enact excise taxes.
The City of
Lawrence supports the enactment of legislation to allow all Kansas cities the
ability to enact development excise taxes. In 2006 the Legislature adopted
legislation which allows certain cities to maintain existing excise taxes – but
not cities such as Lawrence. This places cities such as Lawrence at a competitive
disadvantage – essentially penalizing Lawrence taxpayers who must pay more for
infrastructure than residents of cities with excise taxes. This is
fundamentally unfair and the Legislature should enact legislation allowing all
cities this financing option.
telecommunications legislation
Lawrence's ability to franchise utility companies and
regulate its public rights-of-way must not be compromised. Private companies
which use a public asset – such as locally owned right-of-way – should continue
to be required to collect franchise fees for the use of public right-of-way and
property. These utilities should also continue to be required to relocate in
the right-of-way for public projects at their own expense – and not at the
expense of local taxpayers.
KPERS AND KP&F – COMMITMENTS to OUR Public SErvants
KPERS and
KP&F are very important benefits for the individuals who have chosen public
service in the State of Kansas, including City of Lawrence employees. We do
all Kansans a disservice by ignoring current and future funding obligations for
this vital benefit system. Any proposals to change KPERS and KP&F should
encourage – not discourage – public service.
IMPACT
OF GASB 45
The
Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement 45 will be effective for some
Kansas cities beginning in 2007. The standard affects post employment
benefits, including retirees group health insurance plans. Under Statement 45,
the local government must make contributions to an outside party, but Kansas statutes do no appear to permit this. The City encourages the legislature to
establish local government authority to ensure complete compliance with GASB
45.
TRANSPORTATION PLANNING & FUNDING
We support
the current State highway program and the necessary funding to achieve the
goals of the program. We support efforts to renew the State of Kansas Comprehensive Transportation Program and provide additional resources for our
transportation needs, including streets, transit, pedestrian and bicycle
facilities, and airport improvements.
MOTOR
FUEL TAX REVENUES
The motor
fuel tax is an important revenue source for the City of Lawrence and is used to
maintain City streets. This source of revenue, however, is not keeping pace
with the City’s rising street maintenance costs. The City of Lawrence requests
the Legislature be mindful of the increase in street maintenance costs and
consider providing cities with revenue sources that will grow with the
increased street maintenance costs.
STATE ALCOHOL TAX FUNDS
IMPORTANT CITY & COMMUNITY SERVICES
The City of Lawrence and many community groups rely heavily on monies received from State taxes levied
on alcohol purchases. Pursuant to State law, one-third of the fund revenues
are allocated to the City's General Fund, one-third to the Special Recreation
Fund and one-third goes in the City’s Special Alcohol Fund. Resources in the
City’s general fund provide support for a number of City services, while monies
deposited in the City’s Recreation Fund provides resources for a number of park
and recreation activities. A number of not-for-profit Lawrence organizations
rely on the funds from the City’s Special Alcohol Fund for their programs. These programs and services are vital to the health of the
Lawrence community.
homeland
security
The City of
Lawrence urges an active partnership between state and local governments
regarding issues of homeland security. The City’s police department and our
City/County fire and medical department are essential resources in providing
security and safety to our community. These departments rely on funding
resources that should be protected by our State legislature.
CITY AUTHORITY FOR REGULATION OF DRINKING
ESTABLISHMENTS
City
authority to regulate and license drinking establishments is important for
neighborhood preservation and public safety. Clear statutory authority
allowing for reasonable municipal regulations and licensing of drinking
establishments should be enacted.
unfunded mandates
The City of
Lawrence opposes unfunded mandates from the State of Kansas as they drain
limited resources from needed City programs and activities. State legislators
know how federal mandates hamper the State's ability to respond to problems and
issues, similarly the State should not impose unfunded mandates on local units
of government.
waste reduction/recycling
We continue
to support State efforts to encourage resource conservation and recycling. The
City of Lawrence supports the adoption of a beverage container deposit law, a
“bottle bill”. States with bottle bills typically have recycling rates for
beverage containers in the 80 percent range compared with recycling rates in
the 20-30 percent range for states without a bottle bill. Such legislation
would help reduce roadside litter and decrease municipal waste collection
costs.
The Lawrence community annually participates in an Earth Day celebration.
|
|
ENSURING ADEQUATE WATER SUPPLIES FOR OUR FUTURE
Because
a good water supply is essential to the welfare and growth of the Lawrence community, the City Commission has taken steps to assure continued quality water resources. The City opposes federal and
state regulatory changes to quality standards that are not demonstrably related
to public health unless adequate state and federal financial assistance is
provided to meet such new treatment requirements. We oppose water transfers
that will negatively affect Lawrence’s current and future water supplies.
CALL
BEFORE YOU DIG PROGRAM
The City
does not support expanding the “one-call” program to require water utilities to
participate in the program unless municipal water utilities are provided with State
resources to do so.
HOUSING
TRUST FUND SUPPORT
The City
urges the Legislature to favorably consider funding options for local housing
trust funds, including the ability to locally increase mortgage registration
fees to provide a revenue source to fund city sponsored housing trust funds
enhancing housing opportunities for residents
