The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council is considering overriding Mayor Linda Gorton’s line-item vetoes for the upcoming fiscal year budget.
Mayor Gorton Tuesday announced vetoes of ten new positions the Council had added to her original budget recommendation. The mayor said she couldn’t support such a move, based on increased revenue projections. In response, Council said the new positions will deliver critical services to residents including traffic management, improving road conditions, and improving access to city resources and services.
The Council statement also says the mayor’s administration in recent years has made very conservative revenue estimates, resulting in budget surpluses due to job and wage growth. Council said it voted with confidence to increase revenue estimates by .15% and that it’s the 15-member body’s responsibility to review the mayor’s budget and make adjustments to reflect constituent priorities. It would take nine yes votes to override the mayor’s vetoes.
Council members plan to discuss a proposal to override the mayor’s vetoes to restore positions at its June 27th meeting.
Here is the mayor's veto message followed by the Council's message on possible override of vetoes.
Mayor announces veto of 10 city jobs added by Council
Mayor Linda Gorton today announced vetoes of 10 new City positions the Urban County Council added to the City’s budget.
“I cannot support the precedent this sets of increasing our projected revenue by $750,000 without justification, to add more recurring costs in the 10 new positions Council approved,” Gorton said. “I do not want to make choices today that could potentially force us to increase taxes in future years.”
Gorton said in putting together her budget plan for the 24-25 fiscal year, the administration “carefully vetted” new position requests. “My team and I approached this budget with the desire to do as much good as possible with the guiding principle that we would protect the taxpayer and the City’s long-term financial health,” Gorton said. “We assessed every expenditure, especially recurring costs and the potential impact they would have on future budgets. We carefully vetted the new position requests, and while there were many good ones unfunded in my budget, I felt we had to make sure we were living within our means.”
In the budget it passed, Council made some “very valuable contributions that will help our residents in many ways,” Gorton said. “Generally, I have greatly appreciated Council’s careful deliberations and thoughtfulness in this budget process.”
Under Gorton’s leadership, Lexington has been ranked as one of the best financially managed cities in the country.
Each year, Lexington bases its revenue estimate on a recommendation from a team of economists. Based on that revenue projection, the Mayor presented her original budget plan to Council on April 16. After considering her recommendations, Council gave final approval to its budget with increased spending at its June 13 meeting.
“Increasing a revenue estimate arbitrarily so more can be spent is not a good budgeting practice,” Gorton said. “It leads to over spending, especially when recurring expenses are involved. I take a more careful approach.”
The Mayor has a line-item veto, which means she can veto individual expenditures included in the budget. If Council decides to override her vetoes, it should take that action prior to the end of the fiscal year (June 30) in order to ensure a final budget is in place. An override vote requires the support of nine Councilmembers.
Gorton’s predecessor, Jim Gray, and Foster Pettit, the first mayor of Lexington’s merged government, are the only other Mayors who have vetoed items in the budget.
Media Advisory
Council to Consider Override to Mayor’s Veto
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council applauds Mayor Gorton and her administration for their work on the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY2025) Proposed Budget. It is the role of Council to review the Mayor’s proposed budget and make adjustments to reflect our constituents’ priorities and the needs of the city before passing a final budget. This is one of the most essential functions of Council in the shared governance of Lexington-Fayette County. During the Council Budget process, Council decided to prioritize and fund additional positions across government following interviews with LFUCG division and department leaders. These new positions will deliver critical services to the residents of Lexington including traffic management, improving road conditions, improving access to city resources and services, not to mention additional support for our E911, Fire, and Police departments.
In recent years, the administration made very conservative revenue estimates that have consistently resulted in budget surpluses due to Lexington’s positive job and wage growth. In order to pay for these new positions without having to cut any other budget priorities, Council voted with confidence to increase the FY2025 revenue estimates by a mere 0.15%. This adjustment will fund these needed positions and keep us living well within our means. It will in no way endanger the fiscal health of the government, threaten to unbalance the budget, nor force us to raise taxes.
The City’s long-term financial health is a top priority for Council and it is reflected in our funding and policy recommendations during the budget process. We demonstrated this with a recommendation to increase savings in our Economic Contingency Fund, continually evaluating our bonding to reduce debt payments, and enhancing cost-savings by reducing employee overtime. The decision to add the 10 new positions represents the will of the vast majority of Council and was based on careful vetting and robust discussion with stakeholders. Despite the Mayor’s recent veto of these positions, the approved budget reflects the many shared goals and priorities between Council and the Mayor’s Administration. We will continue to work together to build budgets that affirm the values of our community while meeting the needs of all Lexingtonians.
The Council will discuss a proposal to override the Mayor’s veto to restore these needed positions on June 27, 2024 at the 6 p.m. Council Meeting.
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