Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

Date:	August 6, 2009
To:	David Corliss, City Manager
From:	Casey Toomay, Budget Manager
CC:	Cynthia Boecker, Assistant City Manager Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager Jonathan Douglass, Assistant to the City Manager
RE:	City Commission Items Related to Adoption of the 2010 Budget

Please place the following items on the City Commission agenda for consideration at their August 11, 2009 meeting:

Public Hearing for proposed 2010 Budget

Per action taken at the July 28, 2009 City Commission meeting, notice of a public hearing to be conducted on August 11, 2009 was published on August 1, 2009 in the Lawrence Journal World.  The purpose of the hearing is to answer and hear questions of taxpayers relating to the City Manager’s recommended budget.  The publication of the notice of budget hearing and the accompanying budget summary establish the maximum limits of the 2010 budget.  Therefore, the City Commission may make changes, as appropriate, subsequent to the public hearing that would involve lowering, but not raising the expenditure levels of the published budget summary.

Following the direction of the City Commission, one adjustment was made to the City Manager’s recommended budget.  The $300,000 from the sales tax reserve fund is no longer designated for a specific project, instead it is allocated for Parks and Recreation needs as determined by the City Commission.

The remainder of the budget will be as previously posted. 

Commission Action:  Conduct public hearing for 2010 proposed budget.  Approve 2010 City of Lawrence budget, if appropriate, by adopting Ordinance No. 8440 on first reading.

Property Tax Ordinance

Following the provisions of KSA 79-2925b, staff recommends the adoption of an ordinance noting the necessity of appropriating/budgeting property tax revenues for 2010 in excess of that which was appropriated/budgeted for 2009 in the General Operating Fund. 

Commission Action:  Adopt on first reading, Ordinance No. 8441, if appropriate.

Enterprise Fund Rate Ordinances

• Water Service and Sewage Disposal Rates Ordinance.  For the year 2010, an increase is recommended in water and wastewater charges of $0.69 to $1.43 for approximately 44% of residential customers depending on usage (higher rates are recommended for outside city customers.)  A table showing the recommended increases for water and wastewater services is attached.  Also attached is a table comparing typical monthly bills under existing and proposed 2010 rates for residential, multifamily, commercial and industrial customers. 

An increase in the rate for rural water districts and wholesale customers to $3.83 per 1,000 gallons is recommended for 2010 as well.

Commission Action:  Adopt on first reading, Ordinance No. 8438, effective November 15, 2009, if appropriate.  Approve wholesale water rates, effective November 15, 2009, if appropriate.   

• System Development Charges Ordinance.  For the year 2010, increases in the system development charges for water utility and wastewater utility connections are recommended.  A table showing the recommended charges is attached. 

Commission Action:  Adopt on first reading, Ordinance No. 8439, effective January 1, 2010, if appropriate.

• Solid Waste Service Rates Ordinance.  The attached study explains the increase of $0.69 monthly per residential customer for solid waste disposal service that is recommended for 2010.    

Commission Action:  Adopt on first reading, Ordinance No. 8416, effective November 15, 2009, if appropriate.  

Transient Guest Tax Charter Ordinance

The 2010 recommended budget includes an increase in the transient guest tax from the current 5% to 6%.  Staff conservatively estimates that this change will increase revenues by at least $100,000 during the first full year of collection.  (The 2009 budget for the 5% tax is $846,000).   The increase would be used as follows:  $50,000 per year for 10 years for the renovation of the Carnegie Library building into a headquarters for the Convention and Visitors Bureau and our sponsorship for the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area; $50,000 per year for FFNHA related projects, exhibits and other efforts that focus on celebration of the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War; with additional funds available for marketing and promotion as resources allow.  Staff memo on guest taxes.

Currently, Charter Ordinance 36 sets the transient guest tax rate.  A new Charter Ordinance would be required to change the rate.  Charter ordinances require four affirmative votes (2/3 majority) of the Commission.

Commission Action:  Adopt on first reading, Charter Ordinance 39, effective sixty-one days after final publication unless a sufficient petition for a referendum is filed and a referendum held on the Ordinance.