What's different about the Mayor's proposed FY22 Budget?
Here’s one thing this week to watch in city hall… the city’s budget process.
📺 - Watch the city budget meetings using the times below
Why should you care?
If you care about any issue that impacts Lexington residents, you should pay attention to this process.
If you’ve ever been to a CivicLex Budget Workshop, you’ve likely heard one of us say that “a city’s budget is an expression of its values.” We say this because budgets paint a transparent picture of what a city places value on - and what it does not. While there is always additional context to know, budgets are an excellent starting point for understanding a city’s priorities, structure, and how you can best advocate for the issues that motivate you.
The Mayor’s proposed budget sets the tone for the entire budgeting process. As our community representation on Council negotiates what programs will be funded in the upcoming year, they are doing so from the starting place of the proposed budget. If you are interested in shaping what our city prioritizes (and funds), it’s now time to start getting involved.
What are the main takeaways of the FY22 Mayor’s proposed budget?
This is a continuation of last week’s “What to look for in the Mayor’s Proposed Budget”. If you haven’t read that, start there first.
We also recommend reading our Guide to the City Budget here. If you don’t have time to read that, the two most important terms you should know are General Services District Fund (the main city budget) and Restricted Funds (other, more specific funds used in the budget).
This is a significantly larger budget than previous years. This budget size is made possible by pre-funding the budget with leftover money from this year and funds from the American Rescue Plan Act’s Local Funding.
Combining the General Services District Fund and Restricted Funds, the City’s budget tops out at $742M.
This is an increase of $70M from the FY21 budget and a $52M increase from the FY20 budget.
The increase is primarily driven by additional funding for a select few Divisions across City Government, including:
Water Quality ($17M+)
Streets & Roads ($16M+)
Parks & Recreation ($3M+)
Debt & Non-Departmental Allocations ($8M+)
Public Safety Administrator (~$5M)
Facilities & Fleet Management ($4M+)
Police ($4M)
Fire & Emergency Services (~$4M)
Savings (~$4M)
What new and expanded allocations are included in the budget?
The Mayor’s Proposed budget funds several new initiatives across city government and provides significant resources for some things that the city government already does and some overdue maintenance. Many of these new programs are relatively inexpensive compared to the dramatic funding increases provided for existing city services.
Here are some of the highlights, along with what we can most easily identify as their corresponding funding:
New Initiatives
A senior staff position in the Mayor’s Office to oversee the Mayor’s Commission on Racial Justice & Equality recommendation implementation ($138k).
A new Code Enforcement assistance program to help property owners with repairs ($200k).
Department of Housing Advocacy & Community Development ($200k).
Recovery Supportive Living Assistance ($60k).
Existing Service Expansion & Commitments
$8M increase in expenses related to sanitary sewer projects.
$4M in additional debt payments.
$2M each for the Purchase of Development Rights program, new fleet vehicles, and new Police officers.
$1M increase in the Affordable Housing fund allocation.
Maintenance Investments
$15M increase in sanitary sewer funding transfers.
$12M in new street paving.
$4.8M in park improvements, including $1.3M for a new irrigation system for Lakeside Golf Course.
$3M for new Police vehicles.
What are the significant changes to how the budget is funded?
There are two novel financial changes to how the city budget is funded this year - pre-funding and a wave of national funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the Biden Administration’s stimulus package. These two changes allow the city to cover almost $18M of the budget with one-time sources.
While this is great for increasing our investment in our community, it is not a sustainable source of revenue beyond this year. What happens to many of these funding items after this year is unclear.
Here is a brief look at some of the things that are funded in this year’s budget through these unconventional sources.
Pre-Funding
These items are being “pre-funded” from projected leftover resources from this current year’s budget.
$3.6M for the city’s Extended Social Resource program - funding for non-government social services.
$2M for new street lights.
$500k for the city’s Jobs fund.
A variety of other expenses, including Police computers and Ballistic Vests, Fire Department employee gear, and more.
ARPA Funding
These items are being funded through dollars received from the American Rescue Plan Act.
$3M for the Affordable Housing Fund.
$1.3M for replacing the irrigation system at Lakeside Golf Course.
$750k for Homelessness Prevention.
$400k for a parking lot in Shilito Park.
$375k for new bathrooms in Woodland Park.
$325k for LexArts.
$300k for Economic Development.
$3M+ in park improvements and other programs.
It’s important to note that there is additional federal investment coming through ARPA - almost $120M. While this enormous amount of funding will impact the budget, it will likely be managed separately.
So what’s next?
With the Mayor’s Proposed Budget released, the city’s budget process is beginning to ramp up - and so is our budget education work! Budget Links - the council committees that listen to City staff and suggest recommended changes to the Mayor’s Proposed Budget - start this week.
All this means that if you want to advocate for changes, now’s the time to start reaching out to city staff and your council members. We recommend learning as much as you can about the budget before you begin any sort of budget-related advocacy work.
Here’s how you can learn more about this budget:
Download our budget guide (coming soon!)
Here is the current schedule for Council Budget Links. More will likely be added in the coming days. Subscribe to the CivicLex Public Meetings Calendar for the most up-to-date info.