Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton presented her version of next fiscal year’s city budget to council members Tuesday.
The $546 million budget is up around $7 million from this year’s budget. It includes increases of around 4% for both revenues and expenses, and no tax increases for residents.
Mayor Gorton called it a budget “based on fiscal restraint.”
“This year, our budget is challenging, just like budgets in your household are challenging, budgets at the state level, budgets at the national level, because we've all seen what's happening in our economy,” she said.
More than half of the budget would go towards public safety services like the police and fire departments.
Other items in the budget include plans for how the city will use opioid abatement fund dollars. That includes $2 million that would go towards grant programs for nonprofits, $2.2 million to housing and treatment services for the city’s homeless population, $1.8 for “further discussion and needs,” and $3 million to be deposited into an account to fund programs in the future.
It also includes $5.1 million towards addressing snow and ice storms, up around $2 million from one year ago. The city’s response to January’s ice storm was heavily criticized. The city is investing in eight new agreements with contractors, and is investing more in salt, trucks and deicing chemicals like Beet Heet.
It also includes three new city positions, including a liaison for housing developers. That position was created in response to a local housing shortage. A study from EHI Consultants says Lexington is around 22,000 housing units short. The other two positions are going towards staffing a new senior and therapeutic recreational center.
The proposal will now be discussed by council members. The final budget is expected to be approved in June.
