Lexington budget vetoes stand, let's keep moving

The Lexington city council decided not to override Mayor Jim Gray's line item vetoes that helped to curb wasteful spending in Lexington. Read the Herald-Leader's report here.

We wrote quite a bit about this and applauded the mayor for fighting for spending cuts BUT this should be viewed as just the first step. There are many other financial issues that must be tackled so that Lexington can get on solid footing for the future. Public pension reform, privatizing city owned golf courses, etc... The list goes on and on...

I encourage all Lexingtonians to contact their council member and urge them to not rest now, to keep fighting for reductions in wasteful spending!

Great LFUCG salary database

Kentucky.com has posted a great Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government salary database that allows citizens to search salaries by position, name, and department.

This is a helpful transparency tool! It would be ideal if the city would be proactive and post this information on its own website.

Check it out here!

Lexington mayor vetoes spending increases

Stands up for fiscal responsibility in tough economic times

We have been following the budget process in Lexington for the past couple of weeks. Today, mayor Jim Gray stood by his belief that the city should not make its financial situation worse by allocating funds for new frisbee golf courses, lacrosse fields and hiring more employees onto the city payroll.

According to Kentucky.com, using his line item veto power, Gray rejected $889,612 in spending increases  recommended by the city council. The council can still override the veto if nine of the 15 members vote in favor of the budget.

Contact your Lexington city council member and tell them how you feel about wasteful spending in tough economic times.

Once again, KY plays favorites with tax incentives

Governor Steve Beshear's office published a press release today to announce $2 million in tax incentives have been granted to the Neogen Corporation in Lexington for expansion. According to the press release this expansion will create 75 new jobs.

We have pointed out time and time again: new jobs are fantastic, especially in this economy BUT if tax incentives are helping do this, the state should extend these "incentives" to ALL business and not just a few, hand-picked businesses.

"We've got to live within our means."

"We've gotta be just like the private sector in government. We must be responsible. We've got to live within our means."

-Jim Gray - Lexington's mayor regarding recent budget discussions

Trust me, disc golf is not an essential service

I wrote yesterday about the "Frisbee-golf" spending in the recently proposed Lexington city budget. Brenna Angel from WUKY is reporting that the city council has accepted that budget however there were some dissenting votes.

Council member Dianne Lawless voted against the senseless spending additions in the budget and was quoted as saying:

"There are many things in here that are not essential services. And that's where we are right now."

According to the article, mayor Jim Gray plans to use his line item veto power with regards to the budget.

I commend those who can make tough budget decisions in tough times.

 

Lexington budget and Frisbee golf

Recently, the Lexington City Council took a look at mayor Jim Gray's proposed budget that featured spending reduction in times of financial distress. According to an article by Beverly Fortune in the Lexington Herald-Leader yesterday, the city council made some changes.

One of the changes is to provide $150,000 for a Frisbee golf addition to a city park. The mayor was unhappy with these changes and was quoted as saying "It's not the right timing to take on issues like Frisbee golf."


I tend to agree. Lexington is suffering serious financial strain with problems like an increasing pension liability and increased sewer costs and taxes imposed by the EPA.


What do you think? Is this the right time for Lexington to be investing in Frisbee golf?

Lexington mayor's bold budget proposal

It seems like every week we hear of new states, counties, and cities suffering from financial woes. Lexington, Kentucky has not been immune to these budget struggles.

In an attempt to remedy these problems, newly installed Lexington mayor Jim Gray unveiled an ambitious budget plan that eliminates 28 jobs, closes two pools and a golf course, and hits the pause button on his salary for six months. In total, there are $27 million in spending cuts. The reasoning behind this? Revenue is flat and spending must be curbed. Gray calls this a "businessman's budget".

Tough decisions made in tough times.

The ball is now in the court of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council to review and debate the budget plan.

Great example of a lack of accountability

Want to find a good example of where we need accountability in government?  Try the upcoming Lexington-Fayette County PVA race. A former PVA is running again after a short stint away from the position. Apparently she left the post just in time to receive a nice state funded pension and now seeks to receive a paycheck in addition to that.

We need accountability.

In a time when jobs are being cut and budgets are tight we need accountability so that we don't waste funds.

As long as state and local leadership continues business as usual we will continue to have the usual problems.