Lexington County staff presents $366.1 million requested budget, cites roughly $71.2 million shortfall vs. projected revenues

Lexington County staff presented the county’s requested budget for fiscal year 2025–26 at a council meeting in March, laying out a $366,116,648 total appropriation request and describing a gap between that request and projected revenues.

The county’s requested ordinary general fund total is $131,817,371, up $29,350,931 from the current-year approved general fund. County staff said projected revenues — based on the current fiscal-year revenue with an assumed 4.5% growth rate — total $294,899,192 for the county overall, leaving a shortfall of $71,217,456 against the requested appropriations.

The presenter described the budget as a three-phase process: the requested budget submitted at this meeting, a recommended (balanced) budget to be presented April 22, and subsequent work sessions to reach a final adopted budget by June. Staff provided council members with two binder volumes (general fund and non-general fund) and said an electronic copy would appear on the county website the following day.

Key figures cited by staff: - Total requested appropriations (general + non-general): $366,116,648; current-year approved: $301,404,161; difference: $64,712,487. - General fund (including fire and law enforcement): requested $245,753,273 vs. current-year approved $201,281,574; shortfall versus projected general-fund revenues: $57,458,844. - Non-general fund requested: $120,363,375 vs. current-year approved $100,122,587; shortfall versus projected non-general revenues: $13,758,612.

Staff also identified new program requests totaling 105 items countywide, with a combined requested cost of $19,672,156: 92 new programs in the general fund totaling $18,478,111 and 13 new programs in the non-general fund totaling $1,194,045. Specific departmental tallies presented included 56 new general‑fund programs ($13,129,940), 16 new fire‑service programs ($3,283,733), and 20 new law‑enforcement programs ($2,064,438).

On potential tax-rate impacts, staff reported an illustrative maximum allowable roll‑forward equal to CPI (2.95%) plus population growth (1.26%) for a combined 4.21% figure and showed the approximate effect of a 4% and 6% millage increase on a $100,000 home: $15.43 and $23.14 annually, respectively. Staff emphasized that any millage change would be a policy decision later in the process.

County staff said the budget package includes department-level detail and that staff and departments were already working on reductions and prioritization ahead of the April recommended budget. The presenter invited council questions and offered to provide hard copies to any council member who requested one.

The presentation occupied the council’s opening agenda items and was followed by council questions about line‑item specifics and non-general fund items such as airport operations.