Lexington Mayor Jim Gray unveiled his proposed 2016 city budget in a speech Tuesday at Council.
The draft budget will consist of $324 million in spending and reallocation of $10.4 million in surplus funds. Gray characterized it as a mixture of improving basic services, fiscal responsibility, and keeping Lexington competitive.
“What we’re proposing with this budget is that we address our basic services, fundamental services; police, fire, public safety, as well as our infrastructure needs such as paving across the city, and then we go beyond that to address quality of life," he said.
He proposed $10 million for city paving, as well as almost $12 million for public safety, including funds to complete a combined 911 center. Notable quality of life improvements include $22 million to renovate the old courthouse, $1 million toward the Newtown Campus of Bluegrass Community and Technical College, $10 million for the Town Branch Commons, and $1.9 million for a variety of parks projects. Gray also announced a $116 million drop in the city’s unfunded pension liability, annual savings of $12 million in employee health insurance, and a 3% pay raise for non-union city employees. More information on the proposed budget can be found at Lexingtonky.gov.