New auditing firm scanning Lexington government figures

The fiscal year is just a few months old and finances for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government are prompting a few questions. The report this week to Council Budget Committee members included word that payroll withholding is underperforming. Lexington Revenue Director Wes Holbrook said that's not a major concern.

“Really with just a couple months, it’s really hard to know if that’s any kind of trend without a full quarter. It’s something to be mindful of as we go in and start to see some more months of the year,” said Holbrook.

Holbrook added the current flow of payroll tax dollars is not too far off and one good month could turn that around. The City does rely heavily on payroll dollars to support the budget. Budget Director Melissa Lueker reported savings thus far in personnel, professional service, and software accounts.

The financial books to operate the Urban County Government are getting reviewed. The City is working with a new firm that’s conducting the audit. Erin Hensley is the finance commissioner. She opened this week’s monthly financial update before Council members. Hensley said auditors will be reviewing figures for a while.

“We’re really getting into the meat of the work right now and they’ll be with us for several weeks, going into the real bulk of the audit right now,” said Hensley.

Just a couple months into the new fiscal year the local government’s budget shows a $12 million deficit. Hensley stressed that’s no reason for alarm, adding there’s not a whole lot of revenue coming in at this point. The finance administrator said this is where she and her office staff expected it to be at this time of the year.

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