Lexington Making Big Budget Cuts
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Lexington city aldermen finally came to an agreement on a city budget Monday night, just in time to run it in the paper for two weeks and get it sent to Nashville by the legal deadline. The budget passed four to two and includes a 42 cent property tax increase, which is the first increase in five years. Mayor Bobby Dyer says it could have been higher but the aldermen instead voted to make several major cuts. Some of those cuts include bonuses and raises for city employees, one police position, and $92,000 from the street paving account. Dyer says the part of the budget he is most disappointed in is the 80 percent cut in industrial development. “I never like seeing any money taken out of industrial development because that is the life blood that’s investing in the future of our community,” said Dyer. Of the two aldermen that voted against the budget, Jerry Bingham said it was because he did not agree with the tax hike, and Emmitt Blankenship said he believed it was not high enough.
