Metro Lex News

Mayor Linda Gorton today announced vetoes of 10 new city positions that the Urban County Council added to the city's budget.

"I cannot support the precedent this sets of increasing our projected revenue by $750,000 without justification, to add more recurring costs in the 10 new positions Council approved," Gorton said. "I do not want to make choices today that could potentially force us to increase taxes in future years."

Gorton stated that in assembling her budget plan for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the administration "carefully vetted" new position requests. "My team and I approached this budget with the desire to do as much good as possible with the guiding principle that we would protect the taxpayer and the City's long-term financial health," she said. "We assessed every expenditure, especially recurring costs and the potential impact they would have on future budgets. We carefully vetted the new position requests, and while there were many good ones unfunded in my budget, I felt we had to make sure we were living within our means."

In its passed budget, Council made some "very valuable contributions that will help our residents in many ways," Gorton acknowledged. "Generally, I have greatly appreciated Council’s careful deliberations and thoughtfulness in this budget process."

Under Gorton's leadership, Lexington has been ranked as one of the best financially managed cities in the country.

Each year, Lexington bases its revenue estimate on a recommendation from a team of economists. Based on that revenue projection, Mayor Gorton presented her original budget plan to Council on April 16. After considering her recommendations, Council gave final approval to its budget with increased spending at its June 13 meeting.

"Increasing a revenue estimate arbitrarily so more can be spent is not a good budgeting practice," Gorton said. "It leads to overspending, especially when recurring expenses are involved. I take a more careful approach."

The Mayor has a line-item veto power which allows her to veto individual expenditures included in the budget. If Council decides to override her vetoes, it must take action before June 30 to ensure a final budget is in place. An override vote requires support from nine councilmembers.

Gorton's predecessor Jim Gray and Foster Pettit, Lexington's first mayor after government merger, are among those who have previously exercised veto power over budget items.

With Phase One of Lexington's Heat Plan implementation underway, Lexington’s Division of Waste Management will begin collection services an hour earlier starting Monday.

Additionally, parts of Parkers Mill and Cross Keys roads will be closed beginning Monday for sanitary sewer construction.