Week ending March 3, 2018
Massage Ordinance Update
In March 2017, the City Commission considered an ordinance that would license and regulate massage therapy businesses and massage therapists in Lawrence. The ordinance was not adopted, and staff was directed to consider blending a proposed ordinance draft submitted by members of the Lawrence Massage and Bodywork Alliance with staff’s, as well as gauge interest from the County on whether it would pursue a similar law.
Staff continues its work on an ordinance that would regulate massage therapy in Lawrence. Staff has met internally several times to review last year’s Commission meeting when the first proposed draft was not adopted, and has carefully studied the comments and suggested changes provided by the bodywork community. Recently, staff sent a letter to nearly 100 massage businesses and massage therapists in Lawrence inviting any interested parties to meet and discuss the ordinance. The first meeting is scheduled for the morning of March 5 and the second on the evening of March 7, to best accommodate as many schedules as possible. A representative from the bodywork community was consulted ahead of scheduling the meeting to ensure that these dates and times worked for a majority of stakeholders. Additionally, staff has made inquiries with the County Counselor on the County’s interest in adopting a similar law, and awaits further information. Staff has also met with the District Attorney to discuss potential changes to the ordinance and receive feedback.
There is no date yet for returning the ordinance to a City Commission agenda, but staff is working diligently to ensure that the matter is revisited again soon.
Transportation Commission non-motorized projects prioritization policy.
At their February 5, 2018 meeting, the Transportation Commission’s Non-motorized Projects Prioritization Policy, Policy No. TC18-0001, was approved with a 9-0 vote. The policy was previously placed on the January 16, 2018 City Commission agenda, but upon further review city staff determined that the Transportation Commission was the appropriate board to approve the policy since it will guide that board’s process. The policy was pulled from the City Commission agenda and forwarded to the Transportation Commission for final approval.
This policy provides a data-driven ranking procedure for prioritizing non-motorized transportation infrastructure projects identified in the Regional Pedestrian Plan, Countywide Bikeway Plan, and Pedestrian-Bicycle Issues Taskforce Report. Funding for these projects is anticipated to come from several sources, including but not limited to the Sidewalk/Bike/Ped Improvements/ADA Ramps appropriation in the Capital Improvement Program, Community Development Block Grant funding opportunities, and other grant opportunities. Projects receiving priority through the ranking process will be forwarded for inclusion in the City Manager’s recommended budget. The City Commission will then consider those project proposals during the annual budget and capital improvement program (CIP) process.
Traffic Calming and signage moratorium.
The Traffic Calming Policy, Resolution No. 6602, was enacted 13 years ago in 2005. Administration of the policy as written is extremely resource intensive and the program needs to be re-evaluated to determine if it is accomplishing the intended policy goals. Additionally, the number of requests for traffic calming measures far outweigh the annual budget for these projects. In the coming months, city staff will draft a new policy to replace the current Traffic Calming policy. The new policy will address additional traffic calming measures and potentially a phased approach to traffic calming, not addressed in the current policy. The policy will also address alternative traffic control and signage options as well as how those requests are processed. Once drafted, the policy will be presented to the Transportation Commission for feedback and public input then to the City Commission for final review and approval.
During the policy development process, no new requests for signage, pavement markings, or traffic calming measures will be considered. This will allow for the time and staff capacity needed to expediently develop the policy and obtain City Commission approval. Requests that have an immediate safety concern as determined by the Transportation Engineer will continue to be addressed on a case-by-case basis.
The 2018 Traffic Calming budget of $200,000 will be utilized on projects that are currently on the approved Traffic Calming list using the existing scoring criteria. Once a new policy is in place, any previously approved projects will be reevaluated to conform to the new policy.
2017 Building Permit and Activity Report
This annual report provides data regarding Lawrence building permits issued during 2017, as well as trends for Lawrence building permits compared to prior years and to nine (9) regional Kansas jurisdictions and to seven (7) regional peer university cities. See attached for more information.
Department of Utilities to Complete Downtown Lawrence Sanitary Sewer Smoke Testing
The City of Lawrence Utilities Department, in conjunction with TREKK Design Group, LLC, is planning on completing sanitary sewer smoke testing in the Downtown Lawrence Area on March 19, March 20, and March 21, 2018 (weather dependent). The work will be completed during the three-day period between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. in staged sections. See attached for more information.
Follow-up on State Legislation Exempting Food Sales from State Sales Taxes
At the February 13, 2018, City Commission meeting, the Commission requested information on recent bills introduced in the Kansas Legislature exempting groceries from sales tax. A summary of bills introduced this session follows:
HB 2616 reduces the State’s retail sales tax rate on the sale of certain food and food ingredients on and after July 1, 2018, from 6.5% to 3.25%. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Taxation. No hearings have been scheduled, and no action has been taken on the bill.
HB 2658 exempts from the Kansas Retailers’ Sales Tax Act, all sales of food and food ingredients that are approved under the federal special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC). The proposed exemption would apply to food and food ingredients purchased with or without a WIC voucher. If enacted, the exemption would be effective beginning July 1, 2018. The bill has a fiscal note, prepared by the Department of Revenue (DOR). DOR estimates HB 2658 will decrease state revenues by $103.9 million in FY2019. The bill will also decrease local sales tax revenues, but DOR did not calculate the specific loss of local sales tax revenues. The bill was referred to the House Taxation Committee. No hearings have been scheduled, and no action has been taken on the bill.
HB 2748 gradually reduces the state sales tax rate on certain food and food ingredients until the items are exempt entirely. From Jan. 1, 2019 to Jan. 1, 2020, the state sales tax rate is 4%; from Jan. 1, 2020 to Jan. 1, 2021, the rate is reduced from 4% to 2%; on and after January 1, 2021, food and food ingredients would be exempt from sales tax. This bill was referred to the House Taxation Committee. No hearings have been scheduled, and no action has been taken on the bill.
Staff also confirmed that local governing bodies may not establish sales tax exemptions.
Opportunity Zone Designation Request Submitted
The new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 calls for the designation of Opportunity Zones, which are qualifying low-income census tracts within communities. The Opportunity Zone designation provides a tax incentive for the reinvestment of unrealized capital gains into investments into the area. The program enables deferral and reduction of capital gains taxes when the gain is invested in these areas. The Governor of the State of Kansas has the opportunity to only designate 70 census tracts within the entire state. A call for designation requests was sent out by the Governor’s office February 20, with a deadline of March 1. This timeframe did not allow formal consideration of submitted tracts by the City Commission. Staff submitted 4 tracts for consideration, with the top priority being the large tract that encompasses the east portion of the downtown area and Lawrence VenturePark and East Hills Business Park. Tracts with projects that are pending will be more favorably considered, which was the rationale for the prioritization submitted. Attached is the letter submitted by the City for designation consideration. Information about the census tracts can be found at this online map, by searching Lawrence, Kansas: https://www.novoco.com/resource-centers/new-markets-tax-credits/data-tools/nmtc-mapping-tool.
Future Agenda Items
Attached, please find a summary of future agenda items.
Future Work Session Items
Attached, please find a summary of future work session items.