Budget links have concluded!
Last week was the final week of Council’s budget Link meetings! Links will submit their recommendations to the full Council this Wednesday, May 15th. The Council will reconvene for a Budget Committee of the Whole Meeting to discuss and vote on the recommendations on May 28th at 10am in Council Chambers.
The majority of the Links have not officially finalized their recommendations and will continue to deliberate privately before their submission on May 15th.
All of the recommendations discussed by the Links are items that Divisions and Departments requested from the Mayor’s Administration, but were ultimately not funded in the Proposed Budget.
While the list below is not at all exhaustive and very much subject to change, here are a few noteworthy items that were discussed as potential recommendations:
General Government and General Services Link: Continued support for the County Clerk’s Digital Access Project. The Office of the Urban County Council would provide $27k in match funding from its own operating budget, as the DAP is also digitizing Council records.
CAO & Housing and Community Development Link: An additional Eligibility Counselor position in Social Services. This position’s funding could be split between the General Fund and restricted funds such as the Urban Services Fund.
Environmental Quality and Public Works: A new Traffic Engineer position with a special focus on the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program.
Public Safety and Social Services Link: An E911 Manager position, which would be split-funded between the General Fund and the E911 Fund, as well as an Accreditation Manager in the Fire Department.
The Finance, Economic Development, and Planning Link’s sole public meeting was less than one-hour long with no deliberation period, so we are unsure what their recommendations will be.
Two weeks ago at the first Budget Committee of the Whole meeting, Council voted to adopt the Administration’s revenue projections of $500 million over the next fiscal year. Now that one-time federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) are fully allocated, Council will need to find funding for their requests almost exclusively from the General Fund. There will certainly be Link recommendations that go unfunded this year due to fiscal constraints.
You can learn more about the City Budget process on our Budget explainer page. The next Budget Committee of the Whole Meeting will be Tuesday, May 28th at 10am in Council Chambers. You can attend in-person or watch live on LexTV.
