Lexington, Kentucky
| Lexington, Kentucky | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of Lexington
Linda Gorton | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2022 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2026 |
| Last city council election: | 2022 |
| Next city council election: | 2024 |
| City council seats: | 15 |
| City website | |
| Composition data (2019) | |
| Population: | 320,601 |
| Race: | White 74.9% African American 14.6% Asian 3.8% Native American 0.2% Pacific Islander 0.0% Two or more 3.8% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic 7.2% |
| Median household income: | $57,291 |
| High school graduation rate: | 91.2% |
| College graduation rate: | 43.6% |
| Related Lexington offices | |
| Kentucky Congressional Delegation Kentucky State Legislature Kentucky state executive offices | |
Lexington is a city in Fayette County, Kentucky. In 1974, the governments of the city of Lexington and Fayette County were combined to create the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government.[1] The city's population was 322,570 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government
The city of Lexington utilizes a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.
Mayor
The mayor is the city's chief executive. The responsibilities of the mayor include proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors , and overseeing the city's day-to-day operations. The mayor also holds veto powers and represents the city on the state, national, and international levels.[2][3]
The current Mayor of Lexington is Linda Gorton (nonpartisan). Gorton assumed office in 2019.
City council
The Lexington City Council, which is more commonly known as the Urban County Council, is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for adopting the city budget, approving mayoral appointees, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances.[4]
The city council is made up of 15 members. Three are elected at large to serve four-year terms, while the other 12 are elected by the city's 12 districts to serve two-year terms.[4]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Fayette County Constable
Fayette County Commission
Fayette County Soil and Water Conservation District
- See also: Special districts
Special districts are a form of local government that exist to fulfill a specific purpose within a certain geographic area. This region can be as large as a county or smaller than a city block. Special districts have the power to tax their local residents in order to fund operational expenditures. Although a special district may be formed for any stated purpose, the most common examples include library, hospital, transportation, airport, utility, conservation, sanitation, fire control, and flood control districts.
The Fayette County Soil and Water Conservation District is an agency tasked with assisting and educating landowners about the environment.[5]
Other elected officials
Mayoral partisanship
Lexington has a Republican mayor. As of November 2024, 63 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 25 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, four are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
2024
The city of Lexington, Kentucky, held general elections for commonwealth’s attorney, circuit clerk, city council, and soil and water board on November 5, 2024. A primary was scheduled for May 21, 2024. The filing deadline for the primary was January 5, 2024, and the filing deadline for the general election was June 4, 2024.
2023
The city of Lexington, Kentucky, held general elections for county clerk and commonwealth's attorney on November 7, 2023. The filing deadline for this election was June 6, 2023.
2022
The city of Lexington, Kentucky, held general elections for mayor, urban county council, coroner, county attorney, county clerk, county judge/executive, county surveyor, sheriff, property valuation administrator, county commission, constables, magistrates, soil & water conservation district, district court judges, and circuit court judges on November 8, 2022. A primary was scheduled for May 17, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was originally scheduled for January 7, 2022, but was moved to January 25 due to redistricting.
2020
The city of Lexington, Kentucky, held general elections for urban county council districts 1 through 12 and four soil and water supervisor positions on November 3, 2020. A primary was scheduled for June 23, 2020. The filing deadline for urban county council candidates was January 10, 2020, and the filing deadline for soil and water supervisor candidates was June 2, 2020.
2019
2018
The city of Lexington, Kentucky, held general elections for mayor, city council, county commission, other county positions, and local judgeships on November 6, 2018. The primary was on May 22, 2018. The deadline for candidates to file to run in this election was January 30, 2018.
2016
The city of Lexington, Kentucky, held elections for city council on November 8, 2016. Since no more than two candidates filed for any given district, there were no primary races. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was January 26, 2016.
2014
The city of Lexington, Kentucky, held nonpartisan elections for mayor and city council on November 4, 2014. A primary election took place on May 20, 2014. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was January 28, 2014.[6] All fifteen city council seats were up for election.
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
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| Demographic Data for Lexington | |
|---|---|
| Lexington | |
| Population | 322,570 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 283 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 71.8% |
| Black/African American | 14.7% |
| Asian | 4.1% |
| Native American | 0.2% |
| Pacific Islander | 0% |
| Two or more | 6.4% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 7.4% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 92.2% |
| College graduation rate | 46.5% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $66,087 |
| Persons below poverty level | 8.7% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2017-2022). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
The city's budget process operates by fiscal years running from July 1 to June 30 of the next year. The mayor is responsible for proposing the budget. The city council must then approve the budget. The city council also holds hearings to allow for public input in the budget process.[7]
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[8]
| “ |
FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[9] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[10] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[8]
Lexington, Kentucky, salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Contact information
Mayor's office
200 E. Main St.
Lexington, KY 40507
Phone: 859-258-3100
Click here for city council contact information.
Ballot measures
- See also: Fayette County, Kentucky ballot measures
The city of Lexington is in Fayette County. A list of ballot measures in Fayette County is available here.
Noteworthy events
2020: Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including Lexington, following the death of George Floyd. Events in Lexington, Kentucky began on Friday, May 29, 2020, at the Fayette County Courthouse.[11] No curfews were issued. The national guard was not deployed.
2015: Study on city's nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described Lexington, Kentucky, as a city or county that prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of gender identity via ordinances that apply to public and private employers. At that time, a total of 71 of America's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[12]
Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Lexington-Fayette Urban County City Charter, "Sec. 1.01. - Merger of County and City Governments; Creation of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government; Name.," accessed September 9, 2014
- ↑ Lexington-Fayette Urban County City Charter, "Article 5. - The Mayor," accessed September 9, 2014
- ↑ City of Lexington, "Mayor's office," accessed September 9, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 City of Lexington, "Urban County Council," accessed September 9, 2014
- ↑ Fayette County Conservation District, "About us," accessed February 19, 2019
- ↑ Kentucky State Board of Elections, "2014 Kentucky Election Calendar," accessed January 31, 2014
- ↑ City of Lexington, "Adopted Budget - FY 2023-2024," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ WKYT, "People protest in downtown Lexington against police brutality," May 29, 2020
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
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