Louisville leaders delay vote on spending plan as some voice hesitation

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There's no consensus yet on how Louisville Metro Council will spend millions of dollars leftover in the city budget, despite a plan publicized by Mayor Greg Fischer.

Because of funding Louisville was allotted in the CARES Act, the sweeping stimulus passed by Congress in March, many Louisville departments reaped big savings. While some of that money was already spoken for to fill a budget shortfall at the Louisville Zoo, another shortfall overall and account for various adjustments, about $26 million of it can be carried over to next year to help with the city’s pandemic response when CARES Act funding officially expires.

Tuesday afternoon, in a lengthy meeting, the council budget committee, chaired by Bill Hollander, D-9, discussed possibilities for the funds.

"I think we should use it to deal with issues that we have in this city that are related to the coronavirus," said Hollander.

Mayor Fischer and some council members have drawn up a spending plan for a portion of the funds:

$1,000,000 for the city’s Clean Collaborative effort, including funds to increase Public Works’ staffing for community clean-ups, street sweeping and graffiti removal, and funding to expand the Downtown Louisville Partnership’s cleanup work.
$600,000 for the Office of Resilience & Community Services to establish a mobile response team to address issues related to homelessness, and another $250,000 to address areas of need in homeless assistance efforts, as identified by a Louisville Metro Government gap analysis.
$750,000 to assist with Kentucky Science Center operations due to decreased attendance caused by the pandemic.
$583,700 for Codes & Regulations to increase vacant lot mowing and graffiti removal.
$350,000 for the Office for Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods to hire youth outreach specialists and to fund the Group Violence Initiative (GVI), in partnership with the US Attorney’s Office – in an effort to address the racial disparities and inequitable impact of violence in our community.
$10 million for utility assistance, which was already approved by the committee last week.

The plan, if passed by council, would leave $12.5 million for the city to spend in 2021.

"People are going to want to come out of their houses, and people are going to want to visit a community that is safe, and healthy, and clean," said Hollander.

But as the committee considered the spending plan Tuesday, there was no consensus but plenty of questions and hesitation from council members like Brent Ackerson, D-26.

"If we had all the money in the world, we could still figure out a way to spend it," a frustrated Ackerson said.

Even though he said he agrees with spending money on more utility relief and anti-violence measures, he said council needs to better vet the other purchases before moving forward. He argued the city should consider saving more of the money during a taxing pandemic instead of spending money on what he called a "buffet" of spending.

"It sounds good to say all this stuff, and I don't want to sound like the a*****e, and I know I do. 'The Mr. No,' you know. But somebody's gotta be realistic here," he said.

He also expressed doubt that the proposed expenditures, like those focused on cleaning up downtown, would have much impact.

"So you tell me that street cleanings or maybe removing some graffiti downtown is somehow going to revitalize it? Hell no it's not! You want to revitalize downtown? Give low interest loans to those business that are suffering, because downtown sucks!" an animated Ackerson told the committee. "Plain and simple."

Other council members also expressed a desire to have more questions answered before moving forward.

It was that uncertainty that ultimately delayed a vote in the Tuesday meeting and will likely prevent one until the end of the month.

Council is, however, expected to approve the utility relief portion of the spending plan on Thursday.