City Budget Advocacy
To facilitate greater understanding and transparency regarding the City’s 2026 Budget, our coalition has
Conducted independent analyses of the City’s current and proposed budgets.
Published several independent reports and news articles to educate our community about the City budget.
Asked the City for increased transparency and public engagement regarding their budget, including submitting dozens of well-researched questions to City staff.
Hosted A Community Conversation about the City Budget.
Produced our own community engagement survey to capture the public’s opinions about the City budget.
Presented at multiple City Commission meetings about their proposed 2026 Capital Improvement Plan, budget, and Parks & Rec fees.
Coalition’s Presentations Before the Commission
Proposed 2026 Budget
You can read our public comments or watch each of our presentations:
Overview of City of Lawrence Financial Situation, Mandy Enfield
City of Lawrence Recent Budget Changes, Ari Dishinger
Transparency and Accuracy of Debt Data, Christina McKenna
Fund Balance Inaccuracies, Katie Brown
Paying Old Debt with New Debt, John Martin - We have since learned that the information the City’s finance department provided that we based this feedback on was incorrect, and they are not taking out new debt to pay for old debt.
Debt Spiral, Limit, and Capacity, Melinda Ball
Accuracy and Transparency Issues, Part 1, Bonnie Johnson
Accuracy and Transparency Issues, Part 2, Julie Jones
Bias in Community Engagement Questions, Patrick Ross
Proposed 2026 Capital Improvement Plan
Transparency challenges our coalition faced, Christina McKenna
Results from our survey's debt-related questions, Melinda Ball
Survey comments about the City's capital investments and debt, Julie Jones