New $3 million Lexington police roll call center in budget; sports complex out. For now.
The Lexington council gave tentative approval Tuesday to build a roll call center for the Lexington Police Department in the Veterans Park neighborhood.
During discussions over changes to Mayor Linda Gorton’s $398 million proposed spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council agreed to borrow $3 million to build a more than 6,000-square-foot roll call center to replace a 4,000-square-foot roll call center off of Centre Parkway. That roll call center is leased for a little less than $40,000 a year.
The department currently has three roll call centers for each of its police sectors — East, West and Central. The Centre Parkway roll call center is for the East sector patrol division.
The new roll call center would be built adjacent to the current Veterans Park Fire Station, fire station 22, on Clearwater Way.
The city owns that property, dramatically cutting the cost of construction, Jamshid Baradaran, the director of facilities and fleet management, told the council on Tuesday. Moreover, the land adjacent to the fire station already has the necessary utilities to build a police roll-call center on that land.
The council has been reviewing the city’s 658 properties and how best to use them. The idea to build a new roll call center on land the city already owns came from those discussions, said Chief Administrative Officer Sally Hamilton.
“The mayor supports this proposal,” Hamilton said of bonding an additional $3 million to build the new police roll call center. It would have been included in Gorton’s budget proposal but the details were not available when she unveiled her spending plan in April, Hamilton told the council Tuesday.
Where does city money come from, where would it go?
Tuesday was the first day the council met to discuss changes to Gorton’s spending plan. It will meet again on Thursday to discuss possible further changes.
Gorton’s $398 million budget includes 30 new positions, $4.8 million in parks improvements, increased investment in affordable housing and raises for most city employees.
The $398 million spending plan is a 5 percent increase over the current-year, bare-bones budget of $379 million. Gorton’s budget does not include any tax increases.
The $398 million comes from four main pots of money:
- $376 million in projected tax revenue.
- $7.9 million from current-year savings.
- $3.9 million from a budget stabilization fund to offset pension cost increases.
- $10 million from federal money the city will receive from the American Rescue Act.
The city is expected to receive $61 million this year and $61 million next for a total of $122 million in federal stimulus dollars. But there are restrictions on how that money can be spent.
The money has to be obligated by 2024 and spent by 2026.
On Tuesday, the council decided to fund $3 million in affordable housing projects through money from a city savings account rather than American Rescue Act funding. That was done in part to make sure that affordable housing projects were not subject to requirements that construction and other jobs be paid a prevailing wage. That change means roughly $7 million of $61 million in American Rescue Act funding would be used in the upcoming budget.
Other major additions to Gorton’s spending plan made by the council on Tuesday include:
- Adding $1.2 million for a new fire ladder truck (could be bonded or paid for through current-year savings).
- $66,733 for a currently frozen position in historic preservation.
- $63,444 for a human resources position.
- $50,000 to up minority recruitment for public safety.
- $22,600 to advertise jobs on social media such as Facebook.
- $75,000 for a tree canopy study.
- $63,818 for an information technology position for the parks and recreation department.
Almost all of those changes would be paid for using money in a city savings account. Even after the changes, the council made Tuesday, that account has a balance of $20.2 million. In addition to that savings account, the city has a $41 million rainy day account.
Council members table large youth sports complex
A proposal that would use $40 million in American Rescue Act money — $20 million in the first year and $20 million in the second year — for a large, youth sports complex was tabled Tuesday.
In 2016, the Bluegrass Sports Commission proposed building a sports complex in Cardinal Run area on land the city owned off of Versailles Road. The city agreed to put in $7 million in bonding for the project, but the money was never spent because the project ultimately fell apart for a host of reasons.
Councilman David Kloiber said a previous study done in 2016 showed that the sports complex would generate millions of dollars in potential revenue and jobs. Other council members also spoke in favor of the project, saying American Rescue Act money was meant for once-in-a-lifetime projects.
The need for tournament-level fields has only grown since 2016, some council members said.
“I think the need has grown exponentially,” said Councilman Josh McCurn.
Vice Mayor Steve Kay cautioned the council not to do “ad hoc” budgeting and urged the council to have a separate discussion on American Rescue Act money so all proposals could be weighed. The council has not yet received input from the community.
Other council members agreed.
“We need to be fair to our community,” said Councilwoman Kathy Plomin. “There are folks who will jump up and down for a sports complex but there are folks that are really passionate about other things.”
The council will resume discussions on possible changes to the upcoming budget at 10 a.m. Thursday.
This story was originally published May 25, 2021 at 4:14 PM.
