Lexington mayor releases plan for $505M General Fund budget

April 18, 2023

Hannah Woosley-Collins,

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton on Tuesday released this year’s general fund budget for the city, and for the first time, it totals over $500 million.

“This is a big budget – for the first time our city’s general fund budget has risen above $500 million. However, all things are relative, it’s serving a big city with many needs,” Gorton said in her speech.

The $505 million comes from a mix of several revenue streams, according to Gorton:

Job growth: Over 20,000 more people are working here now than in April 2020
Recovered and surpassed economy from pre-pandemic levels
Utilizing $43.4 million in savings and multi-year commitments
$38.5 million bond

She says the budget will invest in public safety, including that of social workers, and mental health, violence prevention, technology and training.

Money will be used to invest in bullet-proof vests, laptops, mobile data computers and helmets for police; and portable radios and turnout gear for firefighters.

As for Corrections, a focus is being put on a life skills program for reentry.

The budget also includes money for police cars, SUVs for inspectors in Fire and an additional $5.2 million for a ladder truck, two fire engines and two emergency medical vehicles.

A Real Time Intelligence Center was proposed after success with Flock license plate readers, according to Gorton’s budget. She says the cameras have helped find 18 missing people, take 46 guns off the streets, charge 246 people with crimes and recover over $2 million in stolen property. Therefore, she’s asking for an investment in the center of about $150,000 annually in video-based intelligence software and includes the hiring of two intelligence analysts.

Another proposal is adding two firefighter-paramedics, and making two grant-funded social work positions permanent, for the Fire Department’s Community Paramedicine program. And increased funding to One Lexington.

Here are some more proposals:

$750,000 for a joint police and firefighter training facility
$2 million for affordable housing
1% of the fiscal year 2022 revenue to the Extended Social Resource grants
$440,000 to update the Family Care Center
$1.4 million for a new, additional senior citizens center and therapeutic facility
Funding for two more expungement clinics
$1 million to develop Deer Haven Park
$2 million to overhaul downtown Phoenix Park
$500,000 for Phase I of the Kelley property development for public access to the Kentucky River for kayaks and canoes
$2.1 million to replace the pool in Douglass Park (funding Gorton hopes to supplement with American Rescue Plan funds)
Two carts to the Art on the Town program
$6 million for a new City Hall, which includes a space study
5 percent raise for non-sworn employees
Hiring a Commissioner of Planning and Preservation
Adding an Environmental Initiatives Specialist
$14 million in paving roads, plus $1.7 million on vehicles for road crews
$300,000 to close gaps in the sidewalks on Lane Allen between Harrodsburg Road and Traveller Road
$100,000 to add turn lanes at Alexandria and Trailwood, and Harrodsburg and Red Mile
$144,000 to connect Liberty Brighton Trail to Liberty Road

“You’ve just heard some of the basic highlights of my proposed budget. It’s solid. It’s strong. It will do great things for our city and her people,” Gorton said, concluding her proposal.