FCPS Budget Solutions Work Group begins meeting this week
Fayette County Public Schools’s (FCPS) new Budget Solutions Work Group will begin their work this week to review and make recommendations to address FCPS’s budget gap.
FCPS has not published any names of Work Group members yet, but the district has stated that it will be made up of a wide range community members from across Lexington, representing different backgrounds, neighborhoods, professions, and stakeholder groups.
Anyone in Fayette County can apply to join the workgroup through 5pm today, June 23rd.
According to FCPS, the Work Group will make budget recommendations to improve the short-term and long-term financial stability of FCPS. A facilitator not directly employed by FCPS will manage the Work Group meetings. FCPS staff will be present to provide information, clarification, and context for FCPS’s current and past budget and finances.
Why has FCPS formed the Work Group?
In late May, the FCPS Board of Education voted to increase their Occupational License Tax (OLT) rate from 0.5% to 0.75% to address a $16 million budget shortfall.
You can learn more about the vote and OLT here.
Two weeks ago, Kentucky Attorney General (AG) Russell Coleman published an official opinion stating that the FCPS Board of Education’s initial vote to increase the OLT increase was unlawful.
FCPS decided not to move forward with increasing the tax shortly after the opinion was published.
The Board voted to create the Budget Solutions Work Group to examine ways that FCPS can increase revenue and financial stability for the school district.
When is the Work Group meeting?
The Work Group currently has three scheduled meetings:
Wednesday, June 25th at 5:30pm
Tuesday, July 15th at 5:30pm
Tuesday, July 29th at 5:30pm.
All meetings are open to the public and will be hosted at The Hill, a recently completed career and technical education facility in downtown Lexington.
