Lexington mayor touts new winter equipment, police tech in $546M city budget proposal
A growing city budget is needed to keep Lexington afloat during a “challenging” economic environment, Mayor Linda Gorton said Tuesday as she unveiled her proposed $546 million spending plan for the upcoming year.
“Today I am presenting you with a balanced budget,” she said in her annual address before the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council. “(The budget) meets many needs in our community, and importantly, keeps our sights set on a successful future.”
The city’s general fund is supported primarily by payroll taxes and business profit taxes. The general fund functions like the city’s checking account, and officials have more flexibility on how that money can be spent.
Lexington has an additional $301 million in funds in the budget, but those are heavily restricted and can only go toward areas like sewer improvements, waste collection costs and other specific city services.
While overall revenue is growing compared to last year’s $539 million general fund budget, that growth is lower than in previous, post-COVID fiscal years.
The city’s upcoming fiscal year runs from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027.
From fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2025, Lexington saw an average annual growth of 7.3% in the city’s payroll tax revenue. Those earnings typically make up 56% of the city’s general fund.
While payroll tax revenue growth has slowed, expenses have continued to rise, creating a tighter fiscal landscape than the city has seen recently, Gorton said.
“For example, we estimate that due to higher rates, utility costs will increase by over $2 million this year,” she said.
From asking city divisions to submit leaner requests, to lowering the city’s bond package to $10 million solely for paving, Gorton’s administration has worked to create a “fiscally responsible” budget, she said.
Still, the mayor said the budget makes a number of key investments focused on improving Lexington’s quality of life.
$2 million more allocated to winter weather
After two chaotic winter weather incidents this year that frustrated Lexington drivers, Gorton said the city is investing $5.1 million in new trucks, additional salt and beet heat, overtime for city drivers and new contracts with companies to help in weather emergencies.
That’s an additional $2 million compared to last year’s $3.1 million investment.
“It’s just the beginning of the changes we are making,” Gorton said of the increased funding. Now that the city’s after-action review of its response to Winter Storm Fern is complete, a work group will fully rewrite the snow and ice plan.
Parks, community center upgrades
This budget is the second to feature the parks capital fund, supported to the tune of $7.5 million by an additional property tax approved by Fayette County voters in 2024.
Gorton highlighted some of the parks expenditures in the budget plan:
- A new playground at Addison Park
- A replaced gazebo at Woodland Park
- The first walking trail at the new riverside Kelley’s Landing Park
- Community center renovations and other improvements to Castlewood Park
- Sports court improvements at nine city parks
In addition, $1.2 million will be invested in general maintenance work at Lakeside, Douglass, Raven Run Nature Sanctuary and other city parks.
The Tates Creek Community Center will also offer expanded service hours and a variety of new programming for all ages.
The new senior and therapeutic center at Shillito Park is slated to open later this year. This budget provides funding for two new full-time positions to staff the center.
Public safety makes up more than half the city budget
Funding for fire, police, E-911 and other emergency services makes up 54.6% of Gorton’s general fund budget.
While a previously proposed drone program for public safety divisions is not included, there will be a host of technology improvements, from new computer equipment for E-911 and body cameras for police, to an expanded contract for unlimited cloud storage for evidence in active investigations and court cases.
The new $2.6 million expanded technology contract will also include a public portal for residents to upload digital evidence relating to a crime incident, such as cell phone videos or pictures from a scene they witnessed.
Gorton argued these investments make Lexington safer.
“Technology has helped drive our crime rates down,” Gorton said, citing a 10.8% drop in violent crime from 2024 to 2025 and an 8.7% drop in property crime over the same period.
The police department will also get a new training center on city-owned property at Coldstream Research Park. An allocation of $4.5 million for that center has been reserved in city coffers for several years, finance commissioner Erin Hensley told the Herald-Leader Tuesday.
The city’s Industrial Authority Board and the council will have to approve the project before design work can begin, Gorton said in her address.
A top council priority makes it in the budget
A new development liaison position is included in this budget. The position, a top priority of the council and advocacy group Lexington for Everyone, will help developers navigate the city’s planning and development process in an effort to quickly build more housing.
While Gorton has countered claims from Lexington for Everyone that the development process is too slow, claiming a “complete” development plan can be approved in just 32 days, she said in her address the position will help increase “the efficiency of the government’s interactions with the development community.”
Additionally, more than $5 million will be invested in the city’s affordable housing fund.
Lexington is required by ordinance to invest 1% of the previous year’s general fund revenue for that purpose. This is the first time since the requirement was adopted that general revenue investment in the affordable housing fund has reached $5 million, Gorton told the Herald-Leader.
Gorton’s budget also continues a $400,000 contract with Legal Aid of the Bluegrass to provide legal assistance for residents actively facing eviction proceedings in court.
Council takes the reins on the budget
The council will hold a meeting Tuesday, April 21 to discuss the mayor’s proposed budget.
It will then meet throughout the spring in smaller groups called links. Those links will focus on specific areas of the budget, such as public safety and social services, and bring recommendations for changes to the full council before the body approves the spending plan in early June.
In recent years, the council has made several changes to the budget, including in 2024, when it added 10 new positions Gorton subsequently vetoed — the first and only veto in her time as mayor. The council ultimately overrode that veto.
