The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council has given final approval to a $531 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year. It’s slightly larger than the current spending plan, with expectations for additional revenues over the next year.
Lexington Vice-Mayor Dan Wu said Council didn’t remove anything from the mayor’s recommended budget, but did make some additions. Plus, Wu said setting aside 1% of revenues for affordable housing creates consistency.
“That’s different from past years in we’re not determining how much to put in year after year. It’s a set figure, so there’s a certain level of guarantee that that particular program is gonna get funded,” said Wu.
The vice mayor said new money this year goes for odor mitigation at the City’s wastewater treatment plants, which will impact several Council districts. And Wu said his Council link also put funding into tech worker development.
Wu noted the spending plan is a bit larger than the current budget, but is still considered pretty tight. Wu added revenues are growing at a healthy clip, so Council did make a few additions.
“The Council, through the links process, put so more money into infrastructure fund. I know the link I was in put some money toward tech worker development. And then we funded several more positions in government as well,” said Wu.
Since no more federal coronavirus recovery dollars are in the mix, Wu says the City is getting back to what might be termed a ‘normal budget cycle.’ A final reading and approval of the urban county government budget came during Thursday night’s Council meeting.
** WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, and fact-based journalism. Monthly supporters are the top funding source for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.
