Louisville Metro Government operates on an annual budget that unlike the Federal Government, must be balanced and must be passed prior to the start of the new Fiscal Year on the first day of July. Mayor Greenberg delivered his third budget proposal to the members of the Louisville Metro Council, outlining approximately $1.2 billion in spending ($960 million for the Operating Budget and $240 million for the Capital budget). The mayor’s budget proposal begins working from as positive a position as has occurred in many years. According to the Mayor’s Office, Louisville Metro is working from a position of strength and has a surplus of approximately $50 million. This funding will be used to increase our investment in infrastructure, technology for fighting crime, as well as finding ways to streamline permitting and application processes for persons looking to invest within our city. The mayor also used our positive position to propose levels of paving and other deferred maintenance that will help us continue to make significant improvements to our roads, sidewalks, as well as the general upkeep of our community assets.
Next Steps
We will now spend the next few weeks looking through the hundreds of pages of detail to get a better grasp of what it being proposed. Starting Thursday, May 8th the Metro Council’s Budget Committee will begin the hearing process with an overview of the entire proposal from Metro’s Chief Financial Officer, Angela Dunn and Budget Director, Aaron Jackson. Over the course of the next two months, we will have nearly 30 hours of budget hearings covering a at least 20 departments and government agencies.
Many Good Things to Talk About
Mayor Greenberg seems to have listened and worked many of our ideas into his budget proposal. Fully funding road paving, the police headquarters construction and helping to complete funding for new libraries are a few examples of what can be liked about this proposal.
The willingness to invest not only in downtown but now in areas outside of the Watterson Expressway give me hope we can begin to make real progress and improvements in all parts of our city. There is $122 million proposed to be managed by our Public Works and Assets Department for 41 projects including $30 million for paving throughout Metro, $2 million in sidewalk repair, $29 million to continue the Louisville Loop in over 10 areas of Metro, $18 million for the Cooper Chapel Road project and many new sidewalk and road projects.
$26.8 million is proposed to be spent for affordable housing projects, home repairs and homeless shelter projects.
The Mayor has included $33.3 million throughout Metro for grants or contracts to non-profit organizations to supplement the activities and objectives of Louisville Metro.
A few concerns heading into Budget Hearings:
Lack of Funding for a Police Training Facility: While the Mayor’s budget does adequately fund the continued work on a new police headquarters, it fails to support an equally needed new police training facility. This project has been needed for nearly a decade and was one of the top projects that I and members within the Metro Council listed in our meetings leading up to the Mayor’s speech. I will continue to pursue funding for this facility as it is needed to help us bring in more officers as well as improve training for police, fire and other safety officers working in our community.
Growth of Metro Personnel: There are 69 new positions as well as salary increases listed within the Mayor’s Proposal. Some of those proposals are needed to keep and retain needed positions such as engineers and project managers. Even though we are in good financial times, we want to be sure that we are still evaluating the usefulness of all persons so that our government is operating in the most efficient way possible. Understanding the hiring, growth and other factors within this budget will take some time, but that will be an aspect of this budget that I will be carefully reviewing.
Planning for the Future: Over the past decade the Metro Council has helped to fund more proactive approaches towards issues by increasing funding for preventative maintenance within our parks and public works departments. We need to make sure that this budget not only continues that work, but also creates proposals that will help to address traffic problems, improve safety, and deliver services as they are needed instead of making promises and failing to deliver. As a member of the Metro Council, I will be looking to fund the work that will lead to projects such a connecting a multi-use trail along Shelbyville Road, completing sidewalks on Stony Brook Drive, funding library books and materials, and construction of the new Fern Creek library. By funding this type of project, we will have a game plan for bringing real improvements to our area.
Big Picture Highlights of the Budget Proposal:
- $30 million for paving/repairing streets. This marks the ninth year in which the Metro Council would meet or exceed our goals for addressing needed paving within the community.
- $1 million for additional cameras and license plate readers to continue our efforts to reduce crime.
- $9.2 million for continued work towards a new LMPD Headquarters
- $3 million for a new and innovative program established with the goal of bringing new businesses and restaurants to the South End.
- $3 million for addressing overdue infrastructure needs within the fastest growing areas of eastern Jefferson County
- Additional Funding for 24-hour shelter service to assist with our community’s homeless population.
- Additional funding to offer medical assistance to homeless persons recently released from hospital treatment.
- $15 million in funding to support the Affordable Housing Trust Fund
- $2 million to support efforts to use Artificial Intelligence to reduce regulations, improve the permitting process and streamline the delivery of government services.
You can read, review, and make comments on the proposed budget
to see the full schedule Metro Council FY26 Budget Committee hearings planned during the months of May and June use the following link: 2012 12-Month Basic Calendar (any year)
If you would like to review the Mayor’s Proposed FY25-26 Budget you can view it using this link: Approved Budgets by Fiscal Year | LouisvilleKY.gov
If you would like to make a comment, suggestion or have a question about the budget, you can fill out the following form and your submission will be collected and shared with all members of the Metro Council. 2025 - 2026 Louisville Metro Budget Comment Form
Thank you again for allowing me the opportunity to serve as your representative on the Louisville Metro Council. Please feel free to reach out to me via phone at 574-1111 or e-mail at Kevin.Kramer@louisivlleky.gov should you have any questions or ideas related to local government, and please have a happy and safe Derby Week!
Sincerely,
Kevin Kramer
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