Louisville budget chair says $4M surplus should go to city savings account, LMPD

Chad Mills

Chad Mills
Reporter
Nov 16, 2019
Nov 16, 2019 Updated Nov 16, 2019

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There's not a day that goes by that Juanita Williams doesn't think about her late son, Aaron Williams.

"Aaron was energetic," she said while holding a picture of the 26-year-old. "Had a heart of gold."

Aaron Williams was found shot to death in a car on Old Manslick Road in 2016. To this day, his case hasn't been solved.

"Knowing that we are walking amongst these murderers that's able to commit more crimes, something has got to be done," said Williams, who is worried the case will never get solved as the Louisville Metro Police Department shrinks during a series of tough budget cuts brought on by a pension crisis.

"They're just so overworked," she said, "and there's no money there."

But this week brought a dose of good news. Louisville has an unexpected $4 million surplus from last year's budget. On Monday, 9th District Metro Councilman Bill Hollander will introduce a plan to essentially divide the money in three ways.

Hollander's plan would put some of the surplus away in Louisville's rainy day fund, which would boost the city's credit rating, and save another portion of it to pay bigger pension bills in future years.

"To use this relatively small amount of money to plan for the future is the right thing to do, and I think the council will agree with that," Hollander said. "We know pensions are going to be increasing year after year after year. Let's put aside a small amount of money to help us deal with that for the next three years."

Hollander would also like to use some of the surplus to move up an LMPD recruit class from June 2020 to May 2020.

"We had one class that was cancelled," he said, "and we did not find enough savings in the budget to restore that class."

Williams, however, thinks all the surplus should go to LMPD to help solve cold cases like her son's.

"Not only for me, it's mainly for my grandbaby," she said. "That's why it's so frustrating. She deserves justice for her dad as well as me."

Meanwhile, a union for Louisville firefighters thinks some of the surplus should be used to rehire firefighters cut from this year's budget. Hollander, however, doesn't think it's wise to pay for a recurring expense with a one-time surplus.

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