‘We have to live within our means.’ Gorton vetoes $750K council added to Lexington budget
Mayor Linda Gorton has vetoed 10 positions the Lexington council added to the city’s proposed $539.2 million spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Gorton, who issued the vetoes during a Tuesday Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council work session, said the added positions would add too much ongoing expenses to the city’s budgets in future years.
“We carefully vetted the new position requests,” Gorton said. “While there were many good ones that were unfunded in my budget, I felt that we had to make sure we are living within our means. I don’t want to make choices today that could potentially force us into increasing taxes in our future. I believe in living within our means.”
The 10 positions, including two civilian positions in the Lexington Police Department, would cost approximately $750,000, according to information provided to the council during budget deliberations last month.
Gorton said the move was not personal and she appreciated the council’s work on the budget.
“This will help protect our city’s financial health into the future,” Gorton said.
Vetoes are rare in Lexington-Fayette Urban County government. Gorton is only the third mayor to do so in 50 years of merged government. Other mayors who issued vetoes include former Mayor Jim Gray and Foster Pettit.
The $750,000 was just an estimate. For positions new to city government it would take the city a while to determine salary ranges, said Erin Hensley, the city’s finance commissioner during the May 28 council deliberations on the budget.
Some of the salary information provided was only for a partial year’s salary as it sometimes takes several months for a person to be hired. It’s likely the ongoing costs will be more than $750,000 a year, city officials have said.
In addition to adding 10 positions, the council also added $2 million for an infrastructure fund designed to help pay for costly infill projects. In total the council added $3.2 million in spending.
This is the first set of vetoes Gorton has issued since she took office in 2019.
The council passed the budget June 13.
The council has until June 30 to overturn Gorton’s vetoes. The council’s next meeting is June 27. It will take nine members to overturn the vetoes.
Gorton’s budget proposal had included money for 15 new positions.
It also included $24 million for a second senior center and therapeutic recreation center in Shillito Park, 3 % raises for most city employees, and more money for affordable housing and homelessness prevention and intervention.
