LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — For many years, Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton and her peers from around the country had to craft their budgets on how to best lead their respective cities through a pandemic that wrecked local economies. Now, we’re back on our feet and Tuesday Mayor Gorton was able to present a robust budget to city council members that totaled more than 500 million dollars.
“We’re calling this a ‘can-do’ budget because it will take us forward in so many different ways,” she said on Tuesday morning inside City Hall. “If we had not had the pandemic, which as we know created a wild economic swing, we might’ve been able to do some of these projects (in years past)," she added.
The mayor is a staunch advocate of Lexington’s green spaces and to that end, she has earmarked more than $6 million for many parks and public spaces.
$1 million will be used to add Deer Haven Park in the Hamburg area, which she said needs a big park in a big way. Another $2 million will be used to demolish and rebuild the Douglas Park pool. And a new senior center will be added to the Shillito Park area, which, as the mayor noted, is an area of town that continues to build on its seniors' population.
The mayor has also outlined a $150,000 infusion to the city’s integrated security system, which is designed to help police solve crimes faster. Another $750,000 will be dedicated to a site study for a joint police and fire department training complex.
Two million more dollars will go towards more affordable housing projects. And all of this, of course, is pending the approval of LFUCG city council members.
“We don’t have the wiggle room we’ve had in the past,” Mayor Gorton stated. “So when they add something they’re going to have to take something out to balance it, but we’ve always done that,” she continued.
Mayor Gorton solicited one-on-one interviews with each of the city’s council members to best determine what they need and want for their respective districts. It was a smart ploy to involve them on that level as it not only keeps everyone involved while serving to benefit as many Lexington residents as possible, but it could also potentially lead to a faster, easier approval process.
The mayor also remains steadfast on finding Lexington a new city hall, be it through new construction, or new space in an existing structure. To that end, she devoted six million dollars to begin studying that plan.
“This was never supposed to be a permanent home for City Hall,” she said, after noting the exorbitant costs involved with maintaining and repairing issues to the current building.
*You can read a copy of the mayor’s budget proposal speech presented to LFUCG members below:
