CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

Week ending April 25, 2008

 

 

Sales Tax Distributions Monitored

The City of Lawrence has recently received its April sales tax distribution.  The distribution is the result of retail sales from mid-February to mid-March.  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, March, and April (reflecting mid-November through mid-February sales) total $7,452.092.   Projections based on the trend analysis anticipated $7,354,536 for January through April collections.  As a result, the actual distributions for the four months are $97,556 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 to date sales tax distributions represent an increase of 5.1% 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 four months results, the likelihood of our sales tax revenue meeting the projection and possibly the slightly higher budgeted amount have increased.

 

Bureau of Labor Statistics Discontinues Lawrence Employment Figures

Due to federal budget cuts, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has discontinued publication of Current Employment Series (CES) data for 65 small metropolitan areas, including Lawrence (see statement and list of discontinued areas). The employment series data that will be discontinued involves employment figures, hours and wage figures. These figures have been used to track increases or decreases in employment over time. The absence of this data source will make it harder to determine the economic impacts of development in the community over time. Alternate sources for the data include the decennial census figures, the American Community Survey data from the Census Bureau and employment data from the State of Kansas, but these sources have less detailed data, higher margins of error and are released much less frequently.   

 

Public Works website enhancements

Technical specifications, detail drawing sheets, and the solid waste management plan are now available on the Public Works website. Technical specifications were revised in 2008. Detail sheets have also been added to the web page for elements such as sidewalks, driveways, pavements, patching, and so on.  Technical specifications and detail sheets are found at:  http://www.lawrencepublicworks.org/technical_spec.shtml.  At the suggestion of the Sustainability Advisory Board, the Douglas and Jefferson County Regional Solid Waste Management Plan has also been made available in digital format. Annual updates to the plan are also available. The link may be found under Resources and Information at http://www.lawrencepublicworks.org/solidwaste.shtml.

 

Egg Hunt Extravaganza held at South Park

The annual Egg Hunt Extravaganza was held at South Park on Saturday March 22. This event is sponsored by the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department and the local Hy-Vee stores. Around 1,000 children participated in this year’s egg hunt which included the traditional egg hunt, carnival inflatables for the children to play on, face painting and visiting the Extravaganza Bunny to receive their goodies bags filled with treats. Please see attached photos of the event.

 

Earth Day Celebration Attracts Record Number of Participants

On Saturday, April 19, 2008, the City’s Waste Reduction & Recycling Division hosted the 8th Annual Earth Day Celebration at South Park. There were an estimated 800 to 1,000 attendees at this year’s event, making it the largest Earth Day Celebration in Lawrence. South Park activities for all ages included live music, informational booths, children’s activities, and food vendors. For the fourth consecutive year, the celebration featured April Showers to Water Towers: a Water Festival for Douglas County with activities focused on water quality and pollution prevention, organized by the City’s Stormwater Division.