The City of Lawrence recently announced its 2022 proposed budget, totaled at more than $49 million. The budget includes a slight tax rate reduction from .771 to .7259 per $100 assessed value.
Mayor Steve Collier said the city took a cautious approach to planning for 2022 regarding income tax projections for 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m happy to say that the dire predictions of what would happen didn’t come true, and so much of our revenue sources either remained the same or suffered very little reduction,” Collier said.
The proposed budget will bring the city’s reserves to $9.1 million.
“I’m very proud to present this budget because it represents, once again, a very balanced budget,” Collier said.
Collier said his first term, which began in 2016, was all about “getting our feet back under us,” focusing on public safety and repairing IT infrastructure. Now, Collier wants to invest in the long-term health of the city. Proposed budget items for 2022 include investing more in the parks department, repaving Community Park, replacing the Sterrett Center roof, adding pickleball courts to Lee Road, adding three police officers before the end of 2023, repaving streets and a new fire station.
For more, visit cityoflawrence.org.
