Lexington has $8 million to improve parks. Here’s where your tax money may go
Lexington is making plans to use money from its newly established “Park Fund” to tackle 14 capital projects across city parks.
Voters passed a referendum in November 2024 creating a new tax, expected to generate $8 million for the city, that dedicates money for capital projects across Lexington’s parks.
Parks and Recreation Director Monica Conrad on Tuesday presented to the city council a proposed list of capital projects for the first year of funding, with at least one project in each of Lexington’s 12 council districts.
“We wanted to make sure that we’re delivering something in every area of the city,” Conrad said. “We certainly still have other (projects) in the queue that need to get accomplished, but when we looked at this we tried to look at it from a very holistic standpoint.”
Tax collection starts this year, at a rate of 2.25 cents on every $100 of taxable property. That’s an additional $52.88 of taxes each year for the average homeowner, and is the first new property tax approved by voters in 20 years.
Funds won’t be available for the city until early 2026, so you won’t see much change to parks in the immediate future.
Parks and Recreation has budgeted $7.9 million for the first year of projects, with $7.1 designated to specific projects and an $800,000 contingency fund. The proposed projects still have to be approved by the city council.
The most expensive project is at Castlewood Park, earmarked for a $1 million replacement of sport courts, though the specific court has yet to be determined. Conrad said the courts to be redone will be decided later, taking into account community input.
