Special BFED Committee Meeting

Aug 23

On Tuesday, August 25th, from 11am - 3pm, the city is hosting a Special Budget, Finance, & Economic Development Committee Meeting. The meeting is covering several very important topics, so instead of picking just one to cover, we're talking this week about the whole meeting. They'll be talking about the City's Stimulus Program targeted to businesses owned by women and minorities, the city's current financial outlook, and the use of future Coronavirus Relief Funds. Here's what you need to know:

LFUCG Small Business Economic Stimulus Program

Tyrone Tyra from Commerce Lexington will be presenting about the stimulus program added to the budget by CM Worley. Commerce Lexington is managing the funding process.
To date, $2,056,792.00 has been awarded to 133 Fayette County businesses out of $5,017,524.00 requested by 235 businesses.
The city set a goal of at least 50% of the funding going to businesses owned by women and minority residents. According to the presentation in the work packet, 30% of awards went to minority-owned businesses, and 36% to women-owned businesses. It is unclear if there is an overlap between the two, which, individually, fall short of that goal.
The vast majority of businesses funded are located Downtown or along the Nicholasville Road corridor.

LFUCG’s Financial Outlook

Fayette County's unemployment rate has bounced back slightly from April, the highest level seen since the Great Depression.
City revenues are down by a significant 2.7%, adding to revenue troubles that the city was experiencing even before the pandemic. They are mostly being dragged down by an 11.3% drop in Business Net Profit Fees.
Credit Bureaus Moody's and S&P have both issued reports on the city's creditworthiness. Both expect the recovery to be sluggish and cite Lexington's lower financial reserve funds, dependence on highly-sensitive revenue sources like employment and business profits, and higher debt and pension burdens as causes for concern.
Overall, credit bureaus are confident in the city's leadership and budgetary processes and have not issued a downgrade.
Credit ratings impact the city's ability to bond and impact the interest rates of current bonds.
The city is projected to have a $23,600,000 deficit at the beginning of FY22. The Work Session presentation indicates cuts should be considered in Personnel and Operating costs.

Coronavirus Relief Funds

The city has received almost $9.4 Million in Coronavirus Relief Funds from the State (coming from Federal funds) and is expected to receive another $15.6 Million.
The Mayoral Administration recommends the following uses for those funds:
- Around $6.5 Million to fund 7 new proposals
- $7 Million to go to the Economic Contingency Fund
- Around $2.1 Million to go to the Budget Stabilization Fund
Programs proposed by the Mayor include:
- $3M for Household assistance
- $2.2M for COVID-19 expenses
- $433k for Homeless emergency shelters
- $100k for Opioid Programming
- $125k for a disparity study to improve the city's minority business enterprise program
- $50k for the Police After Action Citizen Review Board
- $450k for the remediation and renovation of Palmer's Pharmacy at the corner of Fifth and Chestnut
Council has also proposed:
- $100k for Juvenile Treatment Court (in committee)
- $180k for an expansion of the Fayette Mental Health Court (in committee)
- $191k for the Explorium of Lexington (Lamb)
- $50k for the Lexington History Museum (Lamb)
- $800k for economic development investment for minority and disadvantaged business programs (J. Brown)
- $348k for Environmental Quality & Public Works (Farmer)
  
  Read more in the Work Session packet here.
  
  Watch the meeting live here on Tuesday at 11am.