The Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention has made improvements with a new position and will adopt new recommendations from the Mayor's Task Force on Homelessness
On Tuesday, October 27, Council’s Budget, Finance, & Economic Development Committee (BFED) will discuss how to distribute the city’s fund balance from Fiscal Year 26 (FY26).
🙋♀️ What is the fund balance?
The fund balance is essentially leftover money from the previous budget year. The balance can come from several sources: more revenue or lower expenses than expected from the previous budget and money in the last budget that has not been spent yet.
Lexington has a total FY26 fund balance of $169,007,424, which is about a $20.7 million dip from last year. $162 million of that funding is already legally restricted, pre-committed to programs, or designated for emergency savings through the economic contingency plan. This leaves an "unassigned" balance of $6,043,836 to allocate.
Mayor Linda Gorton has submitted her recommendations to allocate the majority of the unassigned balance, which would leave an additional $1,331,514. The mayor’s proposed spending covers three areas:
$2,168,780: Municipal Aid Program (MAP) Fund Revenue Replacement: This covers a 13% shortfall in state-level gas tax revenues to ensure the city’s schedule for building infrastructure is not disrupted.
$1,536,573: Fleet Fuel Adjustment: As fuel costs have increased drastically since February 2026, this would offset rising operational costs for city vehicles.
$1,007,000: Shared Appreciation Loans for Affordable Housing: This would fund an affordable housing initiative in partnership with the Kentucky Housing Corporation, which would provide interest-free second mortgages for up to 25% of a home’s purchase price to eligible first-time homebuyers who make under 80% of Lexington’s median income.
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Download the Presentation: You can review the presentation slides on the fund balance starting on Page 38 of this agenda packet.
What proposals did Councilmembers make for the fund balance?
Individual Councilmembers have also submitted recommendations for how to spend the fund balance. These recommendations, and the Councilmembers that suggested them, include:
Councilmembers Liz Sheehan, Shayla Lynch, Dave Sevigny, and Dan Wu proposed $1,000,000 to continue the Solarize Lexington initiative to promote and encourage the use of solar panels on low to moderate income households.
Councilmember Amy Beasley proposed $355,000 to complete the Parks Master Plan, $250,000 to complete the Waste Water Treatment Plant Study, $100,000 for capital projects in the 8th District, $20,000 to assist costs associated with the Senior Intern Program, $3,000,000 to go towards a new homeless shelter, and $80,000 for a truck with a snow plow.
Councilmember Lisa Higgins-Hord proposed $550,000 to initiate a roundabout design for the intersection of Pleasant Ridge Drive and Bryant Road.
Councilmember Dave Sevigny proposed $240,169.63 to special events overtime pay for the Lexington Police Department, $25,000 to the Homelessness Prevention and Intervention Division’s panhandling diversion program, and $50,000 to new equipment and storage facilities to the New Life Day Center.
Councilmember James Brown proposed $140,000 for Commerce Lexintgton to support programs that promote business and job growth in Lexington.
Councilmembers James Brown and Chuck Ellinger proposed $500,000 to provide support to Lexington’s nonprofit community.
Councilmember Tyler Morton proposed $750,000 to provide $50,000 to each Council Office for capital improvements, $30,000 to the Housing Advocacy and Community Development division for a pilot program to develop community action plans for safer communities, $25,000 for an initiative to support food access to children while school is out, $125,000 to support an expansion of Fayette Mental Health Court, $300,000 to initiate a roundabout design for the intersection of Loudon Avenue and Maple Avenue, and $50,000 to support the purchase and placement of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) throughout Lexington.
Councilmembers Joseph Hale and Tyler Morton proposed $25,000 to support revitalizing youth programming across Lexington.
Councilmembers Amy Beasley and Tyler Morton proposed $50,000 to provide information, tools, and resources needed to help residents lower their utility costs.
Councilmember Jennifer Reynolds proposed $350,000 to initiate a roundabout design for the intersection of Alexandria and Cross Keys drives.
Councilmembers Shayla Lynch and Amy Beasley proposed $450,000 to fund capital improvement projects for Lexington’s Childrens Theatre.
Councilmember Shayla Lynch proposed $500,000 to fund another round of the Lex Grow Trees program and $250,000 to fund the Municipal Tree Inventory Database.
These Council recommendations create a combined total of $9,715,169.63, which exceeds the remaining unassigned balance. Moving forward, Councilmembers will be tasked with evaluating each of these priorities to ultimately determine which initiatives, upgrades, or projects to fully fund, scale back, or push back to a later date.
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Read the Council's fund balance proposals: You can review all the proposals by Councilmembers in this memorandum.
James is a Civic and Community Reporter with CivicLex. James is a part of Report for America, which supports journalists in local newsrooms, with support from Press Forward Blue Grass.
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