Lexington’s next city budget is beginning to take shape. Tuesday, he Urban County Council made some provisional changes to Mayor Jim Gray’s $323 million dollar spending plan.
Council members dived deep into the details of the 2015-2016 budget during a marathon four-hour work session this week, making two major additions – one increasing money for neighborhood paving by $2.4 million and another upping a proposed three percent raise for city employees to four percent.
Councilman Richard Moloney told his colleagues government workers have shouldered much of the financial burden during lean budget years and deserve to be compensated.
He argued for "one percent added on to this three percent for what these employees went through with the medical change and not having raises over those few years," adding that he felt employee morale is low and sizable administrative raises might not sit well with lower-level staff.
The council put a tentative stamp of approval on the idea, as well as a plan to boost the number of summer youth employees from 225 to 300.
Budget talks are set to resume next Tuesday.
