On Thursday, Mayor Greg Fischer delivered his twelfth and final budget address to the Metro Council proposing a $1.3 billion budget for Metro Louisville for the upcoming fiscal year. This comes after an announcement from the Mayor and a bi-partisan group of Metro Councilmembers on Tuesday proposing a fourth round of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for Louisville.

The 2022-2023 budget represents an increase over the $1.1 billion total from the previous year, bolstered by an boost in general fund dollars and significant funding from federal, state, and other sources.

Highlights of the Mayor’s budget proposal include:

• Investment in public safety, including funding three LMPD recruit classes to increase staffing, funding for the Office of Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods, continued investment in the Group Violence Intervention programming, and increased hours and programming at Metro Community Centers, as well as funding to implement recommended law enforcement reform and accountability measures.
• $10 million investment in affordable housing, $3 million in down payment assistance, and $3.4 million to repair and maintain home ownership in low-income areas.
• Investment in Evolve 502 scholarships to enable all JCPS 6^th graders and up to attend two years of community college for free and investment in Code Louisville and SummerWorks programs.

In addition to these priorities, the proposal includes a $343 million capital budget which includes investments for the Kentucky Trails exhibit at the Louisville Zoo and Phase IV expansion of Waterfront Park. $30 million is also set aside to provide the local match as Louisville plans to compete for federal grants available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act as Louisville.

The Louisville Metro Council will review the Mayor’s proposed budget hearings with all Metro departments over the next two months. A complete schedule of the Metro Council  budget hearings can be found here. The Metro Council will make changes and adopt the final budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year at the Metro Council meeting on June 23, 2022.

Fourth round of ARPA spending proposed

On Tuesday, Mayor Greg Fischer was joined by a bi-partisan group of Metro Councilmembers to announce a proposal for $87.4 million of Louisville’s remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA):

• $22 million in funding for Louisville Free Public Libraries, including the expansion of the Main branch downtown, an expansion of the Portland Library, and opening of new libraries in Fern Creek and Parkland.
• $8.5 million to the Office of Youth Development as a public safety investment to help youth better access services and programs.
• $7.5 million for early learning and childcare projects to expand access and improve program quality.
• $1 million for lead abatement efforts, including the development of a lead registry for rental properties built before 1978.
• $12.6 million to continues the city’s response to COVID-19 pandemic, including continuation of vaccination efforts.
• $2.5 million for re-entry employment services for previously incarcerate residents impacted by the pandemic.
• $7 million toward construction of student housing at Simmons College.
• $2 million to improve and expand broadband capacity in underserved and underutilized areas of Jefferson County.
• $10 million for the Rhodia brownfield site remediation in Park Hill to make it ready for future development possibilities.

$53 million in ARPA funding would remain of the $388 million allocated to Louisville if the current proposal is approved. Metro officials have stated that the focus on remaining funds will be on workforce development and they hope to have a proposal by the end of November.