CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

Week ending April 4, 2008

City Crews Clean Downtown Following Final Four Celebration

Crews from the Parks and Recreation and Public Works departments converged on downtown Sunday morning following celebrations of the Jayhawks’ Final Four victory Saturday night. Crews began work around 6:00 a.m. and had downtown in pre-celebration state before most Lawrencians were out of bed. Please see the attached photos of the cleanup.

Sales Tax Distributions Monitored

The City of Lawrence has recently received its March sales tax distribution.  The distribution is the result of retail sales from mid-January to mid-February.  The amount budgeted in 2008 for total city sales tax revenue (city, county, and use taxes) equals $22,675,298. 

In order to estimate monthly sales tax revenues, a trend analysis of previous distributions is used.  The 2008 estimate is based upon actual 2007 revenue while the 2008 budgeted amount only included a few months of 2007.   Using this analysis, a projection of 2008 sales tax revenue was $22,602,146 or $73,152 less than the amount budgeted.  

Actual distributions in January, February and March (reflecting mid-November through mid-February sales) total $5,920,264.   Projections based on the trend analysis anticipated $5,751,081 for January through March collections.  As a result, the actual distributions for the three months are $169,183 more than the amount projected.  A spreadsheet showing total monthly sales tax distributions since 2001 is attached.

It is recommended that the distributions be evaluated on a quarterly basis.  This should result in a more reliable analysis because the variances due to collection and processing issues will have less of an impact. The 2008 first quarter sales tax distributions represent an increase of 9.3% over the same period in 2007. It is highly doubtful that this level of increase is sustainable since national trends continue to show very low growth in consumer spending. However, food inflation has been high and food sales represent a significant amount of local spending. The 2008 projected amount represents a 2.8% increase over the 2007 distribution. Based upon the first quarter results, the likelihood of our sales tax revenue meeting the projection and possibly the slightly higher budgeted amount have increased.

Development Process Decision-Making Matrix

Planning staff has prepared a matrix regarding the decision-making process that is set out in the Development Code and Joint Subdivision Regulations.  We anticipate it will be helpful in identifying the different roles each party plays in the development process.  It lists the application types and states how reviews and decisions are made.  It also notes the notice requirements for each type of development application.   The decision-making matrix is also available on the department’s website at http://www.lawrenceplanning.org/index-devcode.shtml.

Employee Newsletter a Vehicle for Expanding Environmental Awareness

To encourage City employees to be environmentally sensitive both at home and in the workplace, the monthly employee newsletter has recently featured a number of “Eco-Tips” and “Tech Tips” aimed at saving energy and properly disposing of waste. The tips have included information about prudent water use when washing dishes, recycling of electronic equipment and best practices for turning off computer equipment.

Memorial Park Cemetery Perpetual Care Fund

On March 6, 2008, the District Court Judge entered a Journal Entry of Consent Judgment in the case, State of Kansas ex rel. Stephen N. Six v. Mike Graham & Associates, L.L.C., et al.  Under the Consent Judgment, the defendants agreed that the Lawrence Memorial Park Cemetery should be declared abandoned and the City of Lawrence be named the permanent receiver of all property and assets of the cemetery, including the Permanent Maintenance Fund.  The Consent Judgment further declares that all mortgages, liens, judgments and other encumbrances against the cemetery are void, and the City takes title to the cemetery free and clear.  Staff has been in communication with the Trust that is currently in possession of the Permanent Maintenance Fund to make arrangements for its liquidation and transfer of said funds to the City.  The Trust advised Staff on April 2, 2008, that the Fund portfolio, as of that date, contained $234,367.86.  As for the Lawrence Memorial Park Cemetery Merchandise Fund, the Kansas Attorney General’s Office agreed to accept the Merchandise Fund and be responsible for making distributions to affected consumers from it.  The City has been managing and operating the cemetery since May 2005, using City General Funds.    

Departments Cooperate to Clean Up from Winter Road Treatments

The Parks and Recreation Department and Public Works Department recently teamed up to clean sand from the streets and sidewalks at 2^nd and Locust. Street sweepers continue to clean sand from other streets around town.

City Adds Podcasts of Commission Meetings to Web Site

Audio downloads of the City Commission meetings are now available online on the “Agenda & Minutes”  page of the City of Lawrence’s web site, www.lawrenceks.org/agendas. Visitors can get the audio via a podcast subscription. A podcast is technology that allows visitors to have audio files automatically downloaded to computers when a new file is made available. The technology makes it easier for visitors to receive content with minimal manual interaction. Visitors can then listen to the audio file on a computer or put it on mp3 player. For more information about the podcast, visit http://www.lawrenceks.org/rss.