Council reviews Mayor’s Proposed FY 23/24 Budget
Urban County Council met in a Committee of the Whole (COW) on April 25th to hear an overview of the Mayor’s proposed budget from Commissioner of Finance Erin Hensley.
This year’s budget is the largest in Lexington’s history, with a General Fund of over $500 million. Part of the large size of this year’s budget is due to the City making more money than expected in FY2023 - so far, LFUCG has about $28 million in surplus revenue, and FY 2023 isn’t even over! (Lexingtons Fiscal Year ends in June).
This surplus money is mainly being used for next year as “Pre-funding”, where a set of budget items will be paid for out of last year’s surplus, and don’t have to be counted in the overall budget
Items up for pre-funding include $2 million for the Affordable Housing Fund, $2.8 million for Lexington’s Enhanced 911 program, $4.3 million to Social Services and ESR (Extended Social Resource) Grants, $2.5 million for new general government vehicles, and $3.1 million for street lights.
Following the COW, Councilmembers began to meet in small groups called Links.
The week of May 1st, the following Links met in the Council Caucus Room:
General Government & General Services - May 2nd at 9:00 am
Finance, Economic Development and Planning - May 2nd at 11 am
CAO, Housing Advocacy and Community Development - May 4th at 9:00 am
General Government & General Services - May 4th at 1:00 pm
The budget is some of the most important work in LFUCG - it decides how over $800 million is spent in Lexington, and is literally a reflection of what our city values. There are a few different ways for you to get involved in this process, and to make sure that your voice and the voice of your community is heard!
Contact you councilmember - The Councilmembers are now in charge of the budget - they can make any revision they want, as long as it achieves a majority vote. If you have priorities, concerns, or things you want to support in the budget, let them know!
Check out our budget database - CivicLex creates a budget database every year, to help explore what exactly is being funded in more detail. The database is open to the public and accessible here. If it’s too confusing, don’t despair! We will be releasing our Budget Guide that summarizes the findings of the budget soon.
Attend a budget workshop - we will also be hosting three budget workshop in the month of May to give you the best possible look of how we understand the budget, and how you can get more involved! Keep an eye on our events calendar or our Facebook page for the dates to be announced.
