As spring has officially begun, so has the budget season at City Hall. This will be yet another challenging task that will have a midpoint of sorts when the mayor delivers his Budget Address on April 9. Divisions of government were asked to submit flat budgets along with documents for both a 5- and 10-percent reduction, as well as “new idea” budgets.
Last Year
At the budget retreat last year, the council, through a collaborative goal-setting session, ranked our priorities. The three that topped the list were, in order, the pension, infrastructure and better investments in our parks. At that time and place those three encompassed what this current year’s priorities would be.
Pension
The pension consensus was reached because of Mayor Jim Gray’s skill set and leadership to bring parties together to arrange a more affordable answer. That measure, which the governor recently signed, mandates that this government will put $20 million per year into the pension system for 30 years. So, relief has a price. Depending on the conversation and the progress being made at the time, the estimated difference between what we have budgeted yearly and will need to budget has fluctuated between about $3 million more. (My estimations calculate about $9 million more.)
Infrastructure
The council has worked on funding a method to help pave $13 million of the $26 million paving needs in all of our neighborhoods. Right now district paving lists are being or have been submitted, and the asphalt season has officially opened – a date now more special to me than the Reds opening day. This effort includes only street work and not the sewer work that will also follow shortly. Work in our area will initially focus on Ecton Park and the back corner of Idle Hour, eventually to include a large sanitary sewer tank and pumps from Richmond Road for offline storage in the back of Idle Hour Park. What will start in our area will be repeated across the city in the next decade.
The Parks
While I have described good starts on the first two priorities, I hope that this budget address and subsequent council retreat will also begin to help our Parks and Recreation system. While we own about 4,000 acres of parkland, we only actively program about one fourth of that, and over the last four years the parks budget is now 25 percent less. Buildings have been closed and programs discontinued. In Lexington we value all things green. We purchase development rights. We protect trees and view sheds, but largely we just mow parks. Individual leagues bear the fundraising and improvement brunt for our children.
This Year
After the mayor delivers his proposed budget, the council will split into five teams of three to make suggestions and possible changes to the spending plan. I will lead the “link” on Environmental Quality and Public Works. Last year the mayor asked us for the potential to increase franchise fee income by 1 percent to help fund street lighting, which we are behind on. This year during the legislative session in Frankfort, the government asked for and almost received the okay to change our “tourism tax” from 6 to 7 percent. Let’s see what the mayor unveils, and then we can talk again here.