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Lexington's NCAA Celebrations Come With Hefty Price Tag

Celebrations during the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team’s NCAA run this year cost Lexington close to $150,000.

That’s according to numbers released by the city Tuesday.

Police, fire, and other public safety departments say they budgeted ahead of time for the events, making it unlikely they will need to request more money from the city. Still, taxpayers will foot the bill for over $113,000 in police overtime, $14,000 in stolen street signs, and more than $10,000 in fire and emergency services overtime.

All told, the tally is actually an improvement over previous years.

"It was actually just about the same, I believe, as 2012 and given that this actually extended into two weekends, we've been more efficient at how we handle things. We've been able to plan ahead a little bit better, to do some schedule adjustments, and actually cut down on some of the overtime dollars," says Public Safety Commissioner Clay Mason.

The city also had help from university police and the Kentucky State Police.

Josh James fell in love with college radio at Western Kentucky University's student station, New Rock 92 (now Revolution 91.7). After working as a DJ and program director, he knew he wanted to come home to Lexington and try his hand in public radio.
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