LEXINGTON, Ky. — Mayor Linda Gorton on Tuesday outlined a $546 million general fund budget for fiscal year 2026-27, prioritizing public safety and nearly doubling investments in snow and ice response following criticism of the city’s handling of winter storms earlier this year. The spending pla n contains no tax increases and represents a balanced budget designed with what Gorton called “fiscal restraint” amid slower payroll tax revenue growth and rising operational costs. The complete city budget totals $847 million when including restricted funds for dedicated purposes such as property taxes and utility operations. “This year, our budget is challenging,” Gorton said in remarks delivered to the Urban County Council at the Government Center. “Our city has staying power. We have grit. We prevail.” The most dramatic budget increase addresses winter weather preparedness. Gorton is allocating $5.1 million for snow and ice response, an increase of nearly $2 million from the previous year. The boost follows heavy criticism over the city’s response to recent ice storms that left roads treacherous for weeks and prompted the resignation of the public works commissioner in March. The additional funding will support contracts with multiple regional contractors equipped with heavy machinery, additional salt and de-icing supplies, new trucks and spreaders, overtime for crews, and expanded staff training. “Changing weather patterns have brought more ice into our forecasts,” Gorton said, noting the city is adopting a “Midwest-style” approach to winter preparedness. Public safety spending dominates the budget, claiming 54.6 percent of the general fund. This includes a $2.6 million police technology contract for unlimited digital evidence storage, updated Tasers and expansion of the Fusus real-time intelligence platform that integrates license plate reader and traffic camera footage. The budget also allocates $230,000 to renovate a police gymnasium and funds design work for a new police training center at the University of Kentucky’s Coldstream Research Campus. The fire department will receive $1.5 million for equipment replacement and continued design work on a training center, while $700,000 addresses emergency medical equipment updates. Parks improvements total $7.5 million in the budget’s second year of dedicated funding, including $1.1 million for replacing sports courts at the city’s Dirt Bowl facility and improvements to nine other park locations. Infrastructure projects include trail expansions and roadway work on North Limestone between Withers Avenue and New Circle Road. The budget creates only three new positions, the lowest number since 2021, including a development liaison to streamline the permitting process for housing and other projects. Gorton cited a 4.8 percent increase in recurring expenses as evidence of restraint compared to last year’s 5.4 percent increase. Gorton is seeking her third term as mayor and faces six primary challengers. The Urban County Council begins formal budget discussions April 21 and must adopt a final budget by June 15. This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from CivicLex, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://news.civiclex.org/lexington-mayor-proposes-new-budget-whats-in-it/. The post Lexington Mayor Proposes $546M Budget With Focus on Winter Response appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less