Friday, April 19.1974
University Daily Kansan
2
Revenue Sharing Gives City Boost
By BOB MARCOTTE
Kansan Staff Reporter
Lawrence city officials aren't complaining about revenue sharing, no matter how the program may have been accepted in other parts of the country.
In fact, they're highly pleased with the boost that federal revenue sharing has given to local capital improvement projects. The government, otherwise have dried up for lack of funds.
BUFORD WATSON, city manager,
lawyer that Lawrence had done a better job
"I'm very positive on revenue sharing."
Barkley Clark, city commissioner and associate dean of law school, said sales in the business sector are right way, better than many other cities."
More so than other cities, he said,
Lawrence has used funds for so-called
"people programs" that have been un-
tainted by the agency to obtain assistance
from federal agencies.
By the end of 1976, the city will have received about $2.5 million in revenue from county sentiments and settlement periods. City officials plan eventually to have a new maintenance facility, a renovated community building, an office for city finance, and county corrections facilities to show for it.
The rationale behind federal, revenue sharing, sometimes called "the new federalism," is to return a portion of the federal tax dollar to the local community in exchange for federal assistance and reassuring red tape in Washington and bringing the decision back to local government.
The actual distribution of funds occurs during entitlement periods of six or twelve months.
THE AMOUNT EACH city and state gets, and it varies widely, is based upon local population, per capita income and the local tax effort.
One of the most appealing aspects to federal revenue sharing for local officials is that it has been a flexible "no strings attached" kind of funding. President Nikon's 1972, authorized payment of about $30 billion over a five year period to state and local governments. The legislation requires only that spending be kept within any of eight broad categories, ranging from the aged, the poor and for traffic safety.
"THE GUIDELINES that we are
using under our wing, leave us a great deal of
comfort."
The city has responded with a variety of capital improvements and funding for public services.
For instance, during the fourth entitlement period, which lasts from July 1, 1973 to June 30 of this year, the city will have received $61.5万 in federal revenue sharing funds. The allocation of those funds, issued by the city commission, went like this:
About $235,000 was authorized for renovation of the community building near the intersection of 11th and Vermont streets.
Another $224,312 was allocated for partial funding of a new city maintenance facility. The remaining $102,262 was divided among 12 community action groups and associations, the so-called "people programs."
**AMONG THE LATTER allocations was**
$29,234 to the Douglas County Public Health
Department for rent, remodeling and a new
library; $10,686 to the Lawrence
Lawrence Public Library for the purchase
of new books; $10,000 to the North Lawrence
Improvement Association for projects of
the their choosing; and $10,000 to the Lawrence
system at Babcock Places and in bookshops.
In making its allocations of revenue sharing funds, according to Kallsen, the city has tried to avoid giving funds to projects that would involve yearly, "on going" costs, because it isn't known whether more revenue sharing funds will be available after 1976.
But, he added, the city has also felt obligated to help support some of the "people programs" that have had difficulty accessing federal government or other funding sources.
Consequently, the biggest chunk of funds the city receives will go into capital improvement projects, which usually can be completed with one allotment of funds.
IN DECIDING WHICH of the "people programs" should be helped, he said, the city has tried to avoid giving allocations to people who are unaware that funding could be found elsewhere.
A prime example of this reasoning came during this year's allocations when the city gave the Ballard Community Center to start a full-time youth program. Instead, the city gave the center $1,200 to be used as food for the students to pay for food or rent because of crises.
Kallsen said the city thought the center would probably be able to get the funds from the state.
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Cynthia Turner, a co-director of the center, said recently that it did, indeed, appear likely that the center would get state funding to assist with the facilities of people to run the youth program.
HOWEVER, SHE SAID, the request would also have allowed the center to purchase a bus and sewing machines to go with the program. It isn't yet clear whether the funds from the state will be sufficient for those items as well, she said.
The city is also withholding $10,000 that had been requested by the Neighborhood Youth Corps for a summer employment program for teenagers. There is a possibility that the agency also will be able get funds from other sources, Kalsen said.
And this year's $17,000 request from the Lawrence Housing Authority was trimmed to $10,000 he added, when it was discovered that an alarm system for Babcob Place could be installed at a lower cost than originally anticipated.
THE CITY HAS TISN to keep allocations for "people programs" at about the same level from year to year, Kallsen said. By encouraging groups to find other sources of funding, he said, it's sometimes possible to shift allocations to new programs that have
City Commissioner Clark said recently that he agreed with the city's policy of using the largest share of revenue sharing funds for capital improvements, and yet of giving the city and certain share of the funds from each entitlement period for "people programs."
no other source of funding. And it alleviates the problem of having to decide among requests that exceed the amount of available funds, which occurred this year.
The city commission has been very careful, he said, to have hearing at the beginning of each funding period to allow each group and association to state its needs and receive consideration before the commission makes final allocation.
THE COMMISSION has also been careful, be said, in deciding capital improvement projects that it believes will be of benefit to the whole community.
Kallsen noted that there hadn't exactly been a "groundswalk" of public demand for renovation of the community building. But he also noted that the building continue to deteriorate, resulting in possibly greater costs later, or authorize improvements to make the building better.
Total allocations of revenue sharing funds
for the renovation, which Kallsen said,
would probably be completed this fall, are
$270,000, of which $12,000 is being used as a
contingency fund for unforeseen expenses.
That fund could later be used for purchase
of city equipment, he said.
THE RENOVATIONS will include new front steps, improvement to the roof and lighting system, an elevator at the rear of the building or location of the basement for recreational use.
The city is also planning to renovate the fire-police department facility at 7th and Vermont streets for use as city offices. The building will be vacated sometime in 1976 when the city-county corrections facility is completed and the police department moves its headquarters there. The city real estate fund has been in revenue sharing funds from the first two joint tenancy periods for its share of the expense of the joint city-county building.
Renovating the firepoison building would probably require another $40,000, Kallsen said, and that amount would be drawn from future entitlement periods.
The city is now leasing its office space in the First National Bank Building, 8th and Massachusetts streets, and Kalken said the See REVENUE, Page 7.
See REVENUE Page 7
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