What did Council add to the budget?
Last week, Council met on Tuesday and Thursday in the Committee of the Whole to discuss changes to the FY22 Mayor’s Proposed Budget. Prior to these meetings, Council had been working in small groups, or Links, for several weeks combing through sections of the budget to assess whether or not it fulfilled their priorities for their districts and for Lexington as a whole.
Many of the proposed changes from the Links were adopted, with discussion centering mainly on whether projects would be funded through the city’s fund balance, budget stabilization reserves, or from its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) appropriations. The city will receive two $61M installments in ARPA funding, which will need to be used for projects that address post-pandemic economic recovery.
Council decided to wait until LFUCG has its final revenue numbers later this year before deciding on where exactly to allocate these funds. As a result, money for most of the recommendations will come from budget stabilization, which will have $19.6M left after these additions.
Below are the items Council decided to add to the Mayor’s proposed budget:
$3M for affordable housing (transferred to budget stabilization from ARPA)
$22,600 for Government Communications
$66,733 for a Historic Preservation Specialist
$63,444 for a Human Resources Analyst
Additional funding for minority recruitment in PDR program
$1.2M for a new ladder truck (paid for by bonding or with budget reserves)
$3M in capital bonding for new East Sector Police Roll Call Station
$75,000 for Hope Center
Additional $24K annually for expanded Citizen’s Advocate
$91,490 for Admin Officer in Planning
$300K to CDO for workforce development support
$50K for Lexington History Museum
$91,500 for new Sustainability Coordinator
$14,000 for solar-powered crosswalk installation at Jessie Clark Middle School
$10K for 5 benches for Shillito park
$30K to expand the city employee CSA voucher program
$750K from ARPA for infrastructure development for low-income housing and a Jump-Start program on Shropshire Ave.
$9,000 for an At-Home Composting Pilot
$150K for Phoenix Park redesign study
A first reading of the amended budget will take place during the June 10th Council Meeting.