Louisville City Wire

Louisville, KY: Last week the Louisville Metro Council unanimously approved an ordinance (O-274-23) that allowed for the transfers of operating funding between departments as part of closing out the 2022-2023 Fiscal Year Budget. This ordinance not only funded $9,315,900 in new capital projects and $2,500,000 in additional FY23-24 operating budget, but it also marked the beginning of a new effort members of the Metro Council made when making amendments to Mayor Greenberg’s budget proposal.

During the deliberation of the FY23-24 Budget, Committee Chairman Rick Blackwell (District 12) and Vice-Chair Kevin Kramer (District 11) proposed that rather than wait until the winter, to determine if additional revenues would materialize, the members of the Metro Council would include within the budget document a list of projects that would receive funding should Metro Revenues exceed revenue projections. This document would allocate additional revenue to Public Works and Parks projects as well as assistance to non-profits. This proposal also included language that directed additional funding beyond that which was identified to go towards the reduction of debt that was planned as part of the Mayor’s proposal.

As a result of $16,584,989.82 in new revenue collected, the following allocations have been approved:

• Reduction of $4.8 million in planned new debt
• Operating funds increased by $2.5 million
• $250,000 Additional for California Park and Community Center Improvements for a total of $1,250,000
• $1,000,000 Additional for Sidewalk Repair for a total of $4 million
• $315,900 Additional for Pavement Markings for a total of $1,480,700
• $135,000 new project D12 Romania Drive paving
• $115,000 new project D11 Paving at Blackacre Historic Home and Nature Preserve
• $500,000new project Traffic Signal Communications and Controller Upgrades
• $2,000,000 new project Harbor House Intergenerational Life Center
• $5,000,000 new project VOA Veterans Housing on Dixie Highway
• $9,315,900 total new appropriations approved

“Knowing there will never be enough funding to meet all identified needs in the community, the budget committee believed it prudent to identify the Council priorities for the fiscal year while we were engaged in the budget process. We then funded what we could in the original budget and committed to do others as funding became available. Of course, there needs to be flexibility in the process, and we honored the administration’s request to set aside funds for contract negotiations. I hope we are able to continue the practice in next year’s budget proceedings.” – Councilman Rick Blackwell, Metro Council Budget and Appropriations Committee Chair

“The Metro Council spends more than 50 hours each year conducting budget hearings and setting priorities. This year we decided to build on that information and create a plan that would help guide us in the event of increased revenues or even just guide us as we would begin the next year’s budget preparations. The decision to set aside a portion of new revenue to reduce debt will save our community more than $2 million while also allowing for those projects that we deemed needed to get the funding necessary to move forward. I thank my colleagues for their support for this and hope that it will be something that we continue to support in future budget deliberations.”  - Councilman Kevin Kramer, Metro Council Budget and Appropriations Committee Vice-Chair

Original source can be found here.