10 jobs return to budget as Lexington council overrides Mayor Gorton’s veto

Ten new city positions are back in Lexington’s $539.2 million budget.

On Thursday, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council voted 11-2 to override Mayor Linda Gorton’s veto of 10 positions the council added to the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The council added approximately $3.2 million in additional spending to Gorton’s original budget proposal, which was unveiled in April.

The second-term mayor announced June 19 she would veto the 10 positions due to concerns about ongoing costs for those new employees in future budgets.

“I do not want to make choices today that could potentially force us to increase taxes in future years,” Gorton said at the time.

The council estimated those 10 positions would cost $750,000 in the first year. Some of those salary estimates were for only part of the year. It can sometimes take several months to hire people, depending on the position.

In previous discussions, many city council members said the city has underestimated its tax revenues over the past several years. That revenue growth has been as much as 10% compared to the previous year. It has ended several fiscal years with surpluses topping $20 million.

Some council members said it had increased the revenue projection to pay salaries for those position by less than .12%

The city can afford the additional staff, council members have argued. Some of those staffers include two new civilian positions for the Lexington Police Department, staff in paving and neighborhood traffic management.

Vetoes in Lexington are rare. Gorton’s was only the third since the merged government was created in 1974. The last veto was former Mayor Jim Gray in 2011. Gray’s budget veto was not overturned by the council.

Foster Pettit was the other mayor who vetoed part of the council budget.

The $539.2 million budget includes no tax increases, doubles the funding for affordable housing and homeless prevention efforts, includes a 3% raise for most employees and $24 million for a second senior citizen’s center.

Council members who voted to override the veto: Vice Mayor Dan Wu, James Brown, Preston Worley, David Sevigny, Brenda Monarrez, Shayla Lynch, Hannah LeGris, Liz Sheehan, Kathy Plomin, Tayna Fogle, Jennifer Reynolds. Those who voted against: Fred Brown, Chuck Ellinger III.