How would you spend $3 million in Lexington County?

How would you spend $3 million in Lexington County?

That question will face County Council’s nine members as they begin work Tuesday on a $152.8 million budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

After county Administrator Joe Mergo finished his recommendations, he set aside $3 million and asked council members to mull how it should be spent.

Council members will hear pitches first from 11 agencies on how the $3 million should be spent before making decisions.

Another $2 million is set aside for pay increases for the county’s 1,700 workers, who have received one raise in five years. It’s not been determined how the money will be paid to employees.

No tax cut is likely given demands to reduce road congestion, improve stormwater drainage and add deputies, firefighters, paramedics and 911 dispatchers to keep pace with a steady influx of new residents, council members say.

“We don’t need to be cutting essential services when we have growth,” Councilwoman Erin Long Bergeson of Chapin said.

Among the items the council is expected to be asked to pay for from the $3 million are:

▪ Five more deputies and support staff for the sheriff’s department, estimated to cost about $800,000 for salary and equipment.

▪ A new fire station in the Dixiana area near the State Farmers Market staffed with 12 firefighters.

▪ Pay raises for the nine magistrates.

Some council members want to avoid a property tax hike.

“A tax hike has never really crossed my mind,” Bergeson said. “Reallocation of stuff has.”