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Board reviews 2026 budget 'Balancing Act'; commissioners signaled $6.5M general-fund gap
Summary
Advisory board members were briefed on the city’s Balancing Act exercise for the 2026 budget. Staff said commissioners’ preliminary preferences would reduce many Parks & Rec service levels; the tool does not automatically model revenue changes from fee increases.
Advisory board members received a detailed briefing on the City of Lawrence’s 2026 budget process and the Balancing Act public-engagement tool, which city staff and commissioners used to evaluate service levels and trade-offs to close a projected $6,500,000 general-fund shortfall for 2026.
Luis (Parks and Recreation staff) walked the board through the results staff compiled from commissioners’ Balancing Act inputs and from earlier citizen and employee committees. He said the Balancing Act translates service-level choices into approximate dollar impacts across the general fund and the eleven Parks and Recreation program budgets. Luis summarized that most general-fund service lines were…
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