The Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday will consider a developer's request for tax breaks to build 48 affordable units for people ages 55 and up in downtown Lawrence.
The Lawrence school board and Douglas County Commission will soon weigh whether to give First Management Inc. tax breaks to renovate a downtown building into its new corporate headquarters.
Stephen Koranda, Kansas News Service
photo by: Stephen Koranda/Kansas News Service
Federal money recently helped pay for COVID-19 testing in downtown Lawrence.
In northern Lawrence, the city set up 20 white and gray tents in a park to house people who are homeless.
It’s not health care or COVID-19 tests, but federal coronavirus tax dollars are paying for the camp.
“If we put our homeless population into the shelter, there’s a higher chance that they’ll get the virus and then they’ll spread it across the community,” Douglas County Commission Chair Patrick Kelly said.
The camp marks but one example of the creative ways communities are using the federal money. They scrambled to spend the cash before a deadline at the end of December, but Congress is now giving them more time. Restrictions also mean that money can’t go to some of the top priorities in local budgets.