Lexington Mayor Jim Gray will outline his proposed budget for the coming year just prior to Tuesday’s council work session. The city’s vice mayor doesn’t anticipate many new initiatives.
Steve Kay expects primarily a “continuation budget” for council members to review over the next few months. Two downtown projects, refurbishing the old historic courthouse and the Town Branch Commons linear park, have attracted much attention. Kay says funds for those projects are already set aside. “The question about additional capital expense and whether we want to bond more, I think that is on the table,” said Kay.
Another heavily-discussed issue with Lexington government is the idea of building a new City Hall. Although it may not be included in the mayor’s spending plan, Kay says a resolution to that discussion may be coming. “I would expect within the next six to eight months, maybe sooner maybe later. We don’t want to postpone this forever, but we don’t want to rush into a decision,” explained Kay.
The city adopted a strategy a few years ago to address public pension funding issues. Kay doesn’t anticipate new tax dollars for pensions to be allocated in the coming year. Final action on the budget is not expected until June.
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