How Lexington is run
Who runs Lexington, what it costs, and where your money goes
The city manager, council pay, the budget, your property tax bill and who provides each service, from Lexington's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Lexington
The elected mayor heads the city government and appoints its top administrator and department heads. The council passes laws, adopts the budget and sets the tax rate.
What they are paid
Lexington city staff
3,056 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police officers 610, Firefighters and officers 657. FY2025. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government: FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Statistical Section, LFUCG Employees by Function/Program, p. 193 · Dec 11, 2025
Lexington publishes pay by budget line in its adopted budget. We did not find a public list of employee pay by name. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Lexington in the red?
Cities must pass a balanced budget, so "profit" and "deficit" mean something different here. The useful questions: does the city's everyday money (the general fund) cover its everyday costs, how much does it keep in savings compared with its own target, and how big are its pension and debt bills.
Savings against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $24.4M (2025-06-30). The city's own target: Build a Contingency Designation (Economic Stabilization) Fund equal to 10% of general fund revenues, budgeting a $75,000 monthly deposit until the goal is met. On June 30, 2025, $46.2M was committed for economic stabilization, separate from the unassigned balance. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government: FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Balance Sheet, Governmental Funds, and Note on fund balance policy · Dec 11, 2025
Why we skip the "budgeted deficit": many cities plan to dip into savings, then spend less than planned. The audited result tells you what really happened.
Where the money comes from and goes
The general fund only: the city's everyday money for FY2026-27.
Comes from
- Employee payroll withholdings (license fee)$305M · 56%
- Business net profits returns$71.5M · 13%
- Insurance premium license fee$52M · 10%
- Property taxes$35.3M · 6%
- Franchise fees$32.3M · 6%
- EMS fees$21.5M · 4%
- Other$29.5M · 5%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Public Safety (police, fire, corrections, 911)$299M · 55%
- Debt payments$55.2M · 10%
- General Services (parks, facilities, fleet)$50.5M · 9%
- Partner agencies (mostly the library)$27.9M · 5%
- General Government$18.6M · 3%
- Environmental Quality and Public Works$17M · 3%
- Housing Advocacy and Community Development$16.5M · 3%
- Other$62.1M · 11%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
The city's tax booklet lists these rates for a property with all urban services. Urban services rates apply only where the city provides trash pickup, street lights or street cleaning. Of the $1.2638 total, about 21 cents per dollar goes to the urban county government and 63 cents to the schools.
21¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Lexington
- Fayette County Public Schools0.798 · 63%
- State of Kentucky0.106 · 8%
- LFUCG, refuse collection (urban services)0.137 · 11%
- LFUCG, general services0.075 · 6%
- Lextran (transit)0.06 · 5%
- LFUCG, street lights (urban services)0.027 · 2%
- Board of Health0.0243 · 2%
- LFUCG, parks fund0.0225 · 2%
- LFUCG, street cleaning (urban services)0.009 · <1%
- Extension service0.004 · <1%
- Soil and water conservation0.001 · <1%
- Total ($ per $100 of assessed value)1.2638
2025 (FY2026) real estate tax rates for a home in Lexington's urban services area. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government: FY2027 Ad Valorem Tax Rates booklet, Comparison of Realty Tax Rates, p. 11 · Aug 1, 2026
See what a Lexington home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Lexington is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityLexington Police Department (Division of Police)Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government: FY2027 Budget in Brief, General Services District Fund, p. 8 · Sep 1, 2026
- FireThe cityLexington Fire and Emergency ServicesLexington-Fayette Urban County Government: FY2027 Budget in Brief, General Services District Fund, p. 8 · Sep 1, 2026
- SewerThe cityLFUCG Sanitary Sewer systemFunded mainly by sewer user feesLexington-Fayette Urban County Government: FY2027 Budget in Brief, Sanitary Sewer Funds, p. 43 · Sep 1, 2026
- Trash collectionThe cityLFUCG (Urban Services Districts)Paid by an extra property tax in the service districtsLexington-Fayette Urban County Government: FY2027 Budget in Brief, Introduction to the Budget, p. 4 · Sep 1, 2026
- LibraryAnother agencyLexington Public LibraryBoard appointed by the mayor; funded by an annual appropriationLexington-Fayette Urban County Government: FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Note 1, Reporting Entity · Dec 11, 2025
- ParksThe cityLFUCG Division of Parks and RecreationLexington-Fayette Urban County Government: FY2027 Budget in Brief, General Services District Fund, p. 8 · Sep 1, 2026
- StreetsThe cityLFUCG Division of Streets and RoadsLexington-Fayette Urban County Government: FY2027 Budget in Brief, Environmental Quality and Public Works, p. 15 · Sep 1, 2026
- Public healthAnother agencyLexington-Fayette Urban County Department of HealthLexington-Fayette Urban County Government: FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Note 1, Reporting Entity · Dec 11, 2025
Compared with similar cities
The cities in this state closest in population that we cover. Read it for scale, not as a ranking: cities provide different services.
| Per city | OwensboroKY | Bowling GreenKY | LexingtonKY | LouisvilleKY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 60,892 | 78,505 | 329,751 | 641,962 |
| Top administrator's base pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | $202,701 |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | Not current (2023) | Not confirmed | $59,372 |
| General fund per resident | $1,316 | $1,403 | $1,658 | $1,443 |
| Debt per resident | $2,125 | $883 | $1,630 | $1,098 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $1,349 | $1,289 | $1,959 | $1,476 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 7.2 | 7.1 | 9.3 | 9.2 |
Figures as shown in each city's section, divided by its population. Years differ by state, and pension figures are measured differently in each state (each city page says how).
What Lexington publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted onlineThe FY2027 adopted budget and a Budget in Brief are posted on the city's Division of Budgeting page. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government: FY2027 Adopted Budget, cover · Jun 10, 2026
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineThe chief administrative officer is appointed by the mayor with council approval. We found no contract or stated salary online. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government: FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, transmittal letter, Form of Government · Dec 11, 2025
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member online Lexington Urban County Council · Jun 9, 2026
- Partly: Council pay stated in a public documentThe adopted budget shows $649,619 for elected officials' pay in the Council Office, but no per-member salary. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government: FY2027 Adopted Budget, Council Office Administration budget detail · Jun 10, 2026
- No: Employee pay publishedThe adopted budget shows pay only by budget line. We found no list of employee pay by name on the city's budget pages. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government: FY2027 Adopted Budget, Mayor's Office Administration budget detail · Jun 10, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Unassigned general fund reserves were $24.4 million on June 30, 2025, with another $46.2 million committed for economic stabilization. Is that enough for a $546.7 million general services budget that relies on payroll taxes?
- Payroll withholdings are budgeted at $304.8 million in FY2026-27, more than half of the $546.7 million general services budget. How would the budget respond if they slow?
- Public Safety is budgeted at $298.9 million of the $546.7 million FY2026-27 general services budget. How will the council judge results from that spending?
Help decide what comes next
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