Lexington council adds $5 million to budget to retain, recruit jail, police officers
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council voted Tuesday to add $5 million to retain and recruit public safety officers and also added millions for several road improvement projects as part of changes to Mayor Linda Gorton’s $460 million spending plan.
The budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 will get its first reading at a June 9 council meeting. A final vote is scheduled for June 14. With council changes, the new spending plan is approximately $473 million, the largest budget in the city’s history.
Gorton’s proposed budget includes $419 million in revenue. The remaining $40 million dollars comes from one-time money from city savings accounts.
Gorton’s budget includes 5% raises for most city employees, new violence intervention programs and programs to address affordable housing. It includes no new taxes. It also includes several new programs like a $3 million fund to give zero interest loans for developers to build infill projects and $1 million for a program for nonprofits to take abandoned property and turn it into affordable housing.
During a marathon Tuesday meeting, the council agreed to add $5 million from the city’s savings account to help retain and recruit public safety employees.
The Fayette County Detention Center, Lexington police and E911 are struggling to retain and recruit employees. The Fayette County Detention Center and the Lexington police have had as many as 100 vacancies in recent months. E911 has also struggled to keep employees, said Councilman Richard Moloney, who proposed the council add the $5 million for worker retention and recruitment.
“In the 1990s, we had officers who were trained here and then they would leave to go to other counties,” Moloney said. “We are starting to see that again.”
Over the past 18 months, the city has approved new union contracts for the detention center and police. Starting wages were increased and current employees got substantial raises, under those contracts. Still, some say it’s not enough to stem the tide of resignations and retirements.
Road improvement funding
The council also voted Tuesday to spend $2.5 million for a design study for improvements to Versailles Road.
Councilwoman Jennifer Reynolds, who represents the Versailles Road area, had originally asked for $4 million to do design work for Versailles Road from Mason Headley to Oliver Lewis Way. The design work will help that project be “shovel ready” for potential federal infrastructure funding or state funding, she said.
“It’s cheaper to do the entire design at once,” Reynolds said.
Ultimately, the council decided to lower that amount to $2.5 million for a section of Versailles Road.
Also on Tuesday, the council opted to add an additional $2 million in borrowing for road paving. That would take the total amount the city bonds or borrows for road paving to $11 million, according to city documents. Including other money spent on paving, the total amount the city would spend on paving would top $15 million.
“We have never fully funded our pavement management plan,” said Councilman Preston Worley on the need for more money for roads. “These are the types of investments our businesses want to see and our residents want to see.”
Gorton has proposed borrowing $42 million. The additional $2 million would bring that total to $44 million.
What else is in the proposed budget?
Other changes the council made to Gorton’s proposed budget include:
- $172,658 for enhanced lighting to improve safety around Tandy Park near Main and Short streets
- $1.2 million for match for a potential federal grant for improvements on Manchester Street for Town Branch Park entrance
- $150,000 for enhanced pedestrian crosswalks around schools
- $300,000 for LexArts plan to bring public art to all areas of Lexington
- $1 million for land acquisition to house the fire department’s community paramedicine program in one location
- $50,400 for additional translation services to allow city web sites and materials to be translated into various languages
- $45,075 to move the citizen’s advocate position from part-time to full-time
- $750,000 for infrastructure improvements in the Distillery District on Manchester Street
- $150,000 for a study to look at city’s planning and development processes
- $82,644 for salary and benefits for a full-time facilities manager for Charles Young Community Center
Much of the money for the above changes came from $25.1 million in a city savings account.
Gorton used $12.6 million of the $25.1 million for various projects in her proposed budget including $2 million for affordable housing, $3.8 million for grants to social service or nonprofits and a $1 million to replace aging elevators at city hall.
After the council’s changes, a little more than $450,000 remained in that account, according to council staff.
The city also will have an additional $1.4 million in another city savings account to start its fiscal year come July 1.
This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 11:29 AM.
