Louisville Metro Council chambers.Louisville Metro Council members released their proposed changes to the upcoming budget, which would reduce funding for affordable housing while adding new line items for parks, roads and solar energy projects.The council’s Budget Committee released a list Monday of proposed changes to the spending plan Mayor Craig Greenberg submitted to them in April. They’re the result of two months of hearings and negotiations between Metro Council Democrats and Republicans.Council members are proposing to cut $5 million from the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, reducing the city’s annual contribution from $15 million to $10 million. That’s less than the $12.5 million the city contributed during this current fiscal year.At the special meeting Monday afternoon, Republican Council Member Kevin Kramer, who chairs the Budget Committee, said their proposed budget changes are the result of input from 26 representatives and their competing priorities.“I feel sure that any one of my colleagues would tell you this is not the budget they would put forward,” Kramer said. “But it is a budget that, after a great deal of conversation, back and forth and recognizing the needs of the entire community, it is a budget that we believe meets the needs.”In addition to the cut to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, Metro Council members also want to slash $5 million from what the mayor wanted to set aside for the Belvedere redesign. Funding for that project would be reduced to $10 million from $15 million.Metro Council is also looking to trim funding for a new Highlands-Shelby Park Library, from $5.5 million to $2.5 million, with a promise to fully fund the project in the next fiscal year.All of these projects are part of the proposed capital budget, which is funded by borrowing. Some Metro Council members expressed concerns about Greenberg’s proposal to increase borrowing by more than $50 million next year.Metro Council’s proposed cuts to the capital budget amounted to $6 million, leaving a drastic year-over-year increase in borrowing that could impact future spending.Part of the reason for that is Metro Council is proposing to add new projects to the capital budget. There’s $1.5 million to acquire land for a new park in Southwest Jefferson County. There’s also $500,000 for solar energy projects to power city-owned buildings and street lights, $1.2 million for city-owned golf course improvements and roughly $200,000 for improvements at Highview Park.The millions of dollars Greenberg has proposed to spend on renovations to the Sun Valley Pool, Jefferson Memorial Forest and a new first responder training facility on Dixie Highway would be unchanged under the proposed amendments.The city has received pressure in recent months to invest more in public parks across Jefferson County. Metro Council has proposed moving an additional $1.4 million to deferred maintenance in public parks for a total of $4,450,000. That funding will go toward:$175,000 for two new tennis courts at Blue Lick Park$550,000 for a new HVAC at Iroquois Amphitheater$215,000 to replace lighting at Fern Creek ParkAnd $725,000 to replace restrooms at McNeely Lake ParkTo offset some of the cuts to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, Metro Council wants to increase funding elsewhere in the budget. They’re proposing $3 million for other housing-related programs, including $1.4 million to the city’s home repair program for low-income homeowners, $250,000 for down payment assistance and $500,000 for eviction prevention.On Monday, the Budget Committee voted 8-1 to send the proposed budget amendments to the full council, with District 15 Jennifer Chappell being the lone “no” vote.Chappell, a Democrat, said she was partially motivated by the cuts to affordable housing.“I have a real issue with us cutting money that would go towards building housing and then putting a Bandaid on the sinking ship that is people entering homelessness,” she said.Chappell also said that, as a member of the Budget Committee, she was only provided the amendments minutes before the meeting began.“I don’t feel like I would be a good steward to blindly approve things,” Chappell said.The full 26-member body will take a final vote on the 2026-27 budget at its next meeting Thursday night at City Hall. The budget goes into effect on July 1.While Metro Council members are making numerous changes to Greenberg’s proposed budget, his spending plan that he presented in April remains largely intact.The more than $1 billion proposed budget would increase funding for police, fund a senior meals nutrition program and support Dare to Care’s new Hunger Relief Center in west Louisville, among many other things.Under the proposal, the Louisville Metro Police Department’s budget would increase by about 6%, from $246 million to $260 million, mostly driven by employee raises, according to the mayor’s administration.There’s also funding in the budget for additional positions in the city’s library services, public health and gun violence intervention efforts.In his speech to Metro Council in April, Greenberg noted that the city is facing economic challenges as well, like a $13 million year-over-year increase in employee health insurance premiums the city will pay.“There’s a lot of uncertainty right now — rising costs, division and challenges families feel every day,” Greenberg said. “Here in Louisville, we’re not letting that uncertainty stop us from doing what matters.”Greenberg said that federal and state funding is lapsing for some programs, which the city had to decide to cut or fund with its own money. He proposed $500,000 to continue local support for the Meals on Wheels program and another half a million dollars for a community violence intervention site, which Metro Council did not touch.Greenberg’s budget also includes $8 million of funding coming to the city from lawsuit settlements with the pharmaceutical companies that fueled the deadly opioid epidemic. The mayor has proposed using that funding to cover ongoing expenses, like the city’s 911 call center.Housing and addiction advocates pushed back on the use of opioid settlement funds in this way, arguing they should go toward expanding services rather than plugging budget holes. Metro Council members did not address this in their amendments.This was the second year in a row where Metro Council chose to reduce the city’s contribution to the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which provides loans and grants to developers of apartments and single-family homes. It’s the city’s only tool for providing direct subsidies for affordable housing creation, especially for the lowest-income residents.Over the past two years, Greenberg has proposed an annual contribution to the trust fund of $15 million. The council lowered that to $12.5 million last year.Funding for the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund will drop even lower, if Metro Council approves these amendments Thursday. ...read more read less