Congratulations, Jenny. It is now time for our featured speaker. Please join me in welcoming Mayor Jim Newberry as he delivers the 2010 State of the Merged Government Address. Mayor Newberry? Thank you. Thanks so much for all of you taking the time to be here today. And thanks to the forum for once again hosting such a wonderful event. It is, uh, remarkable what a great job they do year in and year out hosting the State of the Merged Government Address, and I am very grateful for that. And let me also say to all of you who are here today and those who may be watching through GTV3 or the internet, how very grateful I am to, uh, have this opportunity to serve as mayor of this city at this time. And thank you very, very much for allowing me to do so. Slightly more than three years ago, many of us gathered for the inaugural ceremony for a new mayor and a new council. We were united with the spirit of a new beginning, and we were committed to getting Lexington moving again. Since that time, Lexington has become a better community. During my inaugural address, I quoted Transylvania history professor, John Wright. In 1982, Professor Wright authored A History of Lexington, and in his epilogue he observed, "What we are and where we have been will determine where we are going and what we shall be. The early 19th century leaders of Lexington had some vision of what they wished their town to be and did remarkably well in fulfilling that goal." Professor Wright then raised the question which challenges us. Will Lexington, in its third century, produce leadership similarly cognizant of the total community in all its aspects, the human needs as well as the physical growth, cultural creativity, as well as economic expansion, and a shared sense of purpose in a burgeoning urban environment? Little did I realize at the time that Professor Wright's challenging question would provide such a useful framework for the work of my administration every day in the mayor's office. It's an exercise in trying to reach the right balance of resources committed to addressing our human needs, physical growth, cultural creativity, and economic expansion. That balance can best be achieved when you listen closely to what is on the minds of Lexingtonians, which is why from the beginning of my term, we scheduled numerous Mayor's Nights in and out of the office, council district tours with council members, meetings with neighborhood associations and their presidents and members, and countless visits throughout the community with all kinds of groups on a regular basis. Today is my opportunity to report to my bosses, the taxpayers of Lexington, about how we've tried to balance conflicting needs. Once again, I want to rely on Professor Wright's framework for my report to the citizens of Lexington. We will recount the progress we have made during 2009, focus on some challenges facing Lexington in 2010, and then talk briefly about what lies ahead of us after the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games conclude and we shift our focus away from the games. I am confident... I am confident that great opportunities, unlimited opportunities exist for us if we simply take the lessons we will learn in 2010 and use them to propel Lexington forward in the next quarter-century. Now before I go further, please understand that the progress we have achieved is not mine alone. It has always been the result of the efforts of many people working together. Time will not permit me to give all the credit that is due to those involved with each initiative, but I am very grateful to the dedicated urban county government employees, the council, the state and federal officials who have provided funding and other support, and most of all, the citizens who have been involved in and supported our many efforts. Without our having worked together, the list of accomplishments would be far shorter. And to all those who have participated, let me simply say, thanks for your help. In keeping with Professor Wright's observation that where we have been will determine where we are going, I cannot help but recall a little bit about the last three years. I remember the first few days in the government center when I learned that the roof was leaking so badly that one office had a tarp strung from corner to corner with a funnel in the middle so a garden hose could drain the water. At the same time, LFUCG was unable to generate any financial statements so that we could plot our financial court. We did not have a comprehensive list of our boards and commissions, let alone an accurate and current list of their members, and while we had a list of our real estate, no one could say it was complete, and we certainly did not know who was occupying our real estate or why. I could cite numerous other examples, but suffice it to say, in January 2007, despite the efforts of a number of dedicated employees to keep the wheels on, urban county government was hardly a smooth-running operation. Now, that little bit of where we have been- ... does reflect something about where we have been going the last three years. Unfortunately, since 2007, we have had to spend far too much time dealing with an accumulation of operating problems, but fortunately, with the steady and committed- committed help of many folks, we have worked together to make enormous progress toward improving the operation of local government, despite the stormy financial waters in which we have been sailing. For most people, few topics can be more boring than talking about operating efficiencies at local government. So, rather than me just talking about operating efficiencies, let me talk about how those operating efficiencies have- are saving your tax dollars and making things work faster and better for you. We are saving your tax dollars by hiring significantly more internal auditors in order to eliminate waste. We have expanded the internal audit staff at LFUCG from four auditors in January of 2007, to six auditors today, and the seventh is expected to arrive March 1st, so we can conduct more audits internally, and so that we can audit those statutorily created outside agencies where our auditors are authorized to work. We're saving your tax dollars by developing more effective volunteer board members. We have implemented training for the members of our boards and commissions so they can perform their duties more effectively, and we've asked our major boards to rotate auditors on a regular basis so that fresh eyes will be evaluating the financial controls in place in those agencies. We're saving your tax dollars through more effective oversight of our government facilities. We now have a real estate database, which lists our 553 parcels of real property, tells us about the upcoming maintenance issues, identifies tenants and provides other information necessary to manage our real estate portfolio for the citizens of Lexington, the property owners. Our real estate portfolio consists of about 88 acres of floor space under roof, in buildings with a replacement bay of just slightly less than $500 million. Three years ago, we were forced to manage capital improvements in that portfolio on the basis of, essentially, a list that had street addresses. Now, with access to reliable data, we have started prioritizing our facility improvements so that we can address the most pressing needs first. While we certainly need more resources to tackle all of our deferred maintenance issues, we are making substantial progress with the limited available funds. We're saving your tax dollars by reducing our legal expense. Three years ago, our city was confronted by a large number of significant and costly court cases. The number of pending non-collection matters has decreased by 32% from December 2006 through December 2009, and the number of matters being handled by outside counsel has decreased by 47% over the same time period. So, in short, we have fewer lawsuits pending and more of those are being handled without the necessity of paying limited tax dollars to outside counsel. We're saving your tax dollars by creating a more competitive purchasing environment. We have funded a purchasing, uh, uh, position in our purchasing division to focus specifically on hiring more minority businesses as vendors. More vendors means more competition, and more competition means better prices for taxpayers. We're saving your tax dollars by evaluating potential problems early and dealing with them promptly, such as the external review of the hostile work environment claims at the jail, regardless of the outcome. The external review will enable us to more quickly and effectively assess and resolve those issues. These commitments to saving your tax dollars through more efficient and effective operation of local government have enabled us to have more resources to get Lexington moving again, despite the difficulties created by the national economic problems. As a result of the savings achieved by these and other operating efficiencies, we have redirected LFUCG resources in a number of ways so that we can keep Lexington moving regardless of the national economic challenges. Using Professor Wright's four areas of civic life, economic expansion, physical growth, human needs, and cultural creativity, I want to turn our attention to how Lexington is once again moving towards being one of America's preeminent cities. The development of our local economy has been a major focus throughout my administration, and that did not change in 2009. Certainly, we have continued our traditional economic development efforts through a public-private partnership with Commerce Lexington, the University of- and the University of Kentucky, known as the Bluegrass Business Development Partnership. That partnership has received an international economic development award, and it affords perspective businesses with a one-stop shop for all of our community's economic development assistance. The award and the convenience are important, but the real reward of the partnership is jobs. Since January 2007, the Bluegrass Business Development Partnership has directly created 2,351 jobs. Thank you. In other words, that partnership has created more than two jobs for every one of the 1,126 days of this administration, and the jobs were created during the worst economic times since the Great Depression. Now, of course, we have also had job losses along the way. Although, as you can see from the chart that's on the screen, our unemployment rate has stayed substantially below the regional, state, and national unemployment rates. In fact, our unemployment rates have been the lowest in the state during the course of this recession. And even though they are still far higher than anyone would wish, I am grateful that our rates are the best in the area. So, every day, the Bluegrass Business Development Partnerships helps one of our citizens find a job with a future. We are making good progress for Lexington. The partnership's efforts must be continued. And as they continue, our horse, healthcare, and high-tech sectors are the exact strengths upon which we need to build. Although our thoroughbred industry continues to struggle with the national economic trends, our long-term emphasis on the broader horse industry will yield unparalleled results in 2010, when horse enthusiasts from around the world join us for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. We have already seen two new national horse breed headquarters relocate at the Horse Park, and more are expected as we continue to enhance our reputation as the Horse Capital of the World. Significant capital construction projects are planned or underway at Central Baptist, St. Joseph, and UK, our acute care hospitals, and the design for a new facility for Eastern State Hospital is nearing completion. While the bricks and mortar and the construction jobs are important, the most exciting economic aspect of these projects, the permanent high-paying employment for our citizens, is yet to come. Today, we are joined by Central Baptist CEO Bill Sisson, Eastern States President and CEO Shannon Ware, Saint Joseph President Ken Haines, and UK's Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, Doctor Michael Carp. I'd like for all of them to stand, if you would. I wanna thank all of you for furthering Lexington's growing national reputation as a, as a national center for healthcare and for providing hundreds of great jobs in our cities. Thank you for all that you have done. We have a broadaway- array of high-tech businesses, many of which are quite small, but all of which are making significant contributions to our economy. Last year, in conjunction with Commerce Lexington, UK President, uh, Lee Todd and I announced that in 2008- there he is, live. In 2008, 68 high-tech businesses in our c- region received $68 million in financing or buyout funding while generate $37 million in revenue. They employed 532 people, and the full-time jobs at those companies averaged annual salaries of $65,000. The 2009 results will soon be released, and I am cautiously optimistic that we will see more reason for encouragement, even in a difficult economic environment. However, we are our most competitive when we combine our healthcare expertise with our high-tech research and development capacities, such as the announcement last year that Dr. Mark Evers would become the director of the UK Markey Cancer Center. As part of his moving to Lexington, he brought his research team with him, plus approximately $14 million in funding for cutting-edge cancer research. If you've not yet met Dr. Evers, today is your chance. Dr. Evers joins us, and I'd like for him to stand so that we can welcome him and his research team to our community. Thank you for being here. Dr. Evers and his, uh, team's contribution to UK's research mission and national reputation is enormous, but there is reason for great optimism about UK's further contributions to Lexington's reputation as a research center. Last year, UK announced that during fiscal year '09 it generated $337 million in research. Of that 337 million, $139 million were in paychecks that were added to our Lexington economy as a direct result of the research at the University of Kentucky. In 2010, I am confident that the faculty and staff at UK will top the fiscal year '09 results. In 2009, UK continued to grow as an incubator of high-tech ideas and know-how. Last October, UK's first entry in the US Department of Energy's 2009 Solar Decathlon Competition finished ninth in the overall competition and fifth in the energy efficiency competition. The 800-square-foot Net Zero Energy House was designed and built by 175 students, 175 students, from the Colleges of Engineering, Design, Agriculture, and Communications. A total of 20 leading universities from both United States and Europe competed, most of which had participated before. Today, Dr. Greg Luhan, one of the faculty advisors for the project, is here with us. Dr. Luhan, please stand, if you would, so that we can congratulate you, your colleagues, and the students who achieved the great success. Your team's efforts, Dr. Luhan, have enhanced Lexington's reputation as a center for research on energy and efficient design. ... and, uh, construction and all of those areas are going to be major wins for our country in the years to come. We're delighted for your efforts. Our high tech sector received another boost in April when Argonne National Laboratory announced that it will be locating its battery research lab at the Spindletop res- Spindletop Research Park. And later in the year, Summit Biosciences announced its decision to locate at Coldstream. Now, Summit develops and manufacturers generic prescription drugs and new over-the-counter pharmaceutical products administered to patients by means of a nasal spray. That company relies on technology developed at the UK College of Pharmacy. Last year, New Jersey businessman Edwin Cohen, the founder of Summit, spoke at a press conference announcing Summit's decision to locate in Lexington. And he had some interesting observation, observations about Lexington's capacity for doing high-end research. Watch the screen. Thank you, .It is really a pleasure to be here, to get the ball rolling again, uh, now. I've had, uh, a little over 10 years experience, uh, working with this community and, uh, every experience I've had has been a very positive one. Uh, I started out working with the university, uh, approximately 11 years ago using integrated spaces over there, eventually acquiring, uh, leasing this facility, building it out, and moving forward. Uh, the partnership with the university has been extremely productive. We filed, together with the university, uh, five or six patents, two of which have issued to the university. Uh, we filed a number of FDA, uh, applications, experimental new drug applications. All of them have been accepted by the Food and Drug Administration. All of that work, both legal and, uh, scientific was done down here in Lexington with the help of the university. Uh, the university is an enormous resource for us and, uh, the partnership going forward will, uh, assure the success of this operation. If you ever hear someone say that Lexington is not capable of being a high tech center, just suggest they consider Mr. Cohen's experience. His business success is tied directly to the success of the nationally acclaimed UK College of Pharmacy, which just yesterday dedicated its new state-of-the-art facility on South Limestone Street. Mr. Cohen and interim UK Pharmacy, uh, College Dean Patrick McNamara join us today. As they stand, please join me in thanking them for the public-private partnership they have formed to create jobs in Lexington. Clearly, 2009 was a year when we focused extensively on our traditional economic development efforts. However, beyond the traditional economic development efforts, one of the best things we can do to develop Lexington's economy is to maintain our quality of life. That goal requires efforts on many local government fronts; keeping our city safe, maintaining our parks, filling our potholes, creating a clean environment, building roads and sidewalks, and the list could go on. Urban county government's core function is maintaining and enhancing the quality of life for its citizens. And that is exactly what I hear when I listen to our citizens, regardless of their location. We have made progress on many fronts toward enhancing our quality of life, but there are two areas where special mention should be made. Downtown development has been a topic of discussion in Lexington for the entire 36 years that I have lived here. But in the last three years, we have seen a remarkable renaissance downtown thanks to investments by your local and state government and by private citizens and businesses. Those investments include 560 million dollars at the UK Medical Center, 134 million dollars at the UK Pharmacy Building, 78 million dollars at the Show Prop Development on Angliana Avenue, 16 million dollars at the first phase of The Lex, 16 million dollars here at the Hyatt, 13 million dollars across the street at the Hilton, 17 million dollars on South Limestone, and six million dollars at the Lyric Theater. I am sure there are others that we could list. And if we started listing the new night spots, we would be here far too long. But clearly these and other investments downtown have made it the hot development site in our city. Our downtown's vibrancy will enable us to be an attractive location for young professionals, a key element in our long-term economic growth. Connected to our downtown development efforts is the gener- is the creation of the higher education triangle. When Bluegrass Community and Technical College moves to the corner of Newtown Pike and 4th Street, the current home of Eastern State Hospital, Lexington will have a higher ed triangle comprised of Bluegrass, UK, and Transylvania Universities on the cor- on the corner. In the middle of that triangle is the downtown area, home to much of our financial and business expertise, and of course, many of our arts and cultural offerings. When fully implemented, the higher ed triangle will bring our premier business, cultural, and educational assets within walking distance, a bike ride, or a short trolley ride of each other. This remarkable, remarkable configuration of assets connected by pedestrian and bike-friendly streets and sidewalks will enable us to integrate the intellectual resources of the campuses with our talented business community and with downtown's arts and entertainment venues. When that occurs- New businesses will inevitably begin to germinate as the seeds of ideas from our campuses are sown in the fertile soil of our business community. In the last year, we have taken three key steps towards making the Higher Ed Triangle a reality. First, the council approved the funding proposal brought to us by Governor Beshear last April, to pay Eastern State's relocation to Coldstream. Second, we began the redevelopment of South Limestone Street, the primary connection between UK downtown and the transit campus. And third, we started the construction of the Newtown Pike extension, and when that project is ultimately concluded, UK's campus and the Bluegrass Community and Technical College Newtown Pike campus will be connected by a boulevard that facilitates vehicular, pedestrian, and, uh, bike access. It has not been easy. Both South Limestone and Newtown Pike extension are projects that have been talked about in this community for years, and I am incredibly proud of the fact that we are getting these projects done while at the same time we have brought the Higher Ed Triangle closer to reality. So, as I hope you have seen during the last few minutes, our city's economic future is inextricably linked to the success or failure of our three institutions of higher education. With us today are the presidents of those institutions, Dr. Lee Todd, Dr. Charles Sheer, and Dr. Augusta Julian. Please stand and be recognized if you would. To all three of my friends, and on behalf of a very grateful community, let me say thanks for your support of our efforts, and for all that you and your colleagues have done to make Lexington the very special city that it is. More importantly, thanks to all of you for all that your institutions will do in the future to help Lexington continue to be even stronger in the future. The physical, economic, and educational aspect of the Higher Ed Triangle will profoundly affect Lexington throughout this century and beyond. Together in 2009, we have laid the foundation to enable our citizens to realize the maximum benefit from this remarkable transformation of our city. A transformation that is long overdue, and one which will finally put us on par, and perhaps even ahead of many of the cities we hold in high esteem. We are no longer just talking about what our- we want our community to be, we are making it happen, and that is good progress for us all. While the economy certainly dominated everyone's attention in 2009, urban county government also paid a great deal of attention to our physical environment. We continued our efforts to implement the consent decree with the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Those efforts are of historic proportion. If you look at the chart, since 2005, LFUCG's inspection and maintenance of the sanitary sewer lines has increased dramatically, and at the same time, we have refurbished four miles of pipeline and constructed 14 miles of new pipeline. There were approximately $60 million in projects of, in our sanitary sewer system underway in 2009, and the pace is expected to grow in 2010 as we receive payments for the water quality management fee, and begin to work on our storm sewer system. You know and I know that for decades, we did not manage our storm water well, and that meant we were polluting our streams. When the water quality management fee was adopted by the council last year, we set in ser- motion a series of events which will ultimately create the funding necessary for us to properly construct and maintain our storm sewers. Thanks to the EPA's enforcement action, courageous votes by many council members, and the cooperation of many, many citizens, we will now have the financial and human resources necessary to make sure our storm sewer works better and in an environmentally friendly way. As a part of the consent decree, the EPA also required us to implement a far more rigorous local enforcement effort so that we could require irresponsible citizens to follow local environmental laws. Those steps were taken by the council last June, so now for the first time in Lexington's history, we can effectively enforce the rules we have adopted to protect our environment. That council action was a landmark event that received very little media attention, but it will yield enormously positive results as we start taking the steps necessary to improve the quality of our water and air. Our Department of Environmental Quality, created in 2007, has made huge improvements in the Division of Waste Management in 2009. First, in August, we rolled back the garbage tax by 10%. We had been accumulating surpluses in that fund, and it was time to provide Lexington citizens with some relief on their property tax bills, especially in an area of urban county government where we have the chance to generate some significant recycling revenue through improved management practices. In May, we completed a study of our waste stream, the materials that individuals and businesses, uh, put in their garbage. That study confirmed what we all expected. We are paying to transport large quantities of recyclable materials to landfills, and we are paying huge fees to bury those valuable recyclable materials in landfills. In fact- 75%, or so, of the materials in our Herbies is recyclable. Armed with this information, my administration requested that the council authorize us to purchase equipment for our recycling facility that will enable us to nearly triple our recycling capacity by June of this year. We project that within one year, we will be able to take 80,000 pounds of recyclable materials out of the landfill stream each day, saving Lexington taxpayers approximately $1.5 million annually in labor, transportation, and landfill fees. In addition to those savings, we sold about $1.4 million in recyclables last year. If we triple that amount, we'll have about four million dollars in recyclable sales in a couple of years, an increase of roughly $2.6 million in new revenue. In short, we have enormous recycling potential. Our citizens believe in it and practice it. We continue to look for ways to expand our recycling opportunities such as the new recycling containers which we're installing downtown. We believe that our operating results will be such that we will soon need to further increase our recycling capacity beyond that which our current tops- Thompson Road facility can accommodate. To prepare for that event, during 2009, we acquired property along Old Frankfort Pike for a new facility when operating results justify an expansion. That is, uh, good news. And we should be able to, to make good headway in building that building strictly on the basis of the cash flow generated by that facility. After three years at Urban County Government, I can assure you that financing a building on the basis of positive cash flow is a novel approach. I am pleased to report that we are now employing, or will be employing some state of the art technology that will enable us to route our garbage trucks this summer in a vastly more efficient manner. Like all technology, the front end cost is significant, but if other cities are any guide for us, we will spend far less money to collect the same amount of garbage or we will spend the same amount of money and collect far more recyclables than garbage. Either way, Lexington taxpayers will win. And speaking of trash, our code enforcement officers have contributed in their own fashion to waste management by removing some 40,000 signs from our rights away over the last three years. Community corrections has also worked with waste management to provide inmate crews that have cleaned 345 sites and collected 109,000 pounds of trash since 2007. During 2009, we also received two and three quarters million dollars in Recovery Act funding to make LFUCG buildings more energy efficient, and we have hired our first energy manager. We're preparing to solicit requests for proposals for energy service companies to provide assistance in accelerating our drive towards greater energy efficiencies, and when we reduce our greenhouse gases, we will save significant amounts on our utility bills. Again, Lexington taxpayers will win as we do the right thing for our environment in 2010. Despite the economic challenges which confront us, 2009 has been, uh, a year for enormous progress on environmental initiatives, and I want our city to know that we have an extraordinarily talented group of individuals in our Department of Environmental Quality who are working hard to make Lexington a far more environmentally friendly city. Especially for an agency that did not even exist three years ago at this time, I am elated with her progress. Throughout 2009, we have taken a variety of steps to improve our fiscal environment that are beyond those steps in our Department of Environmental Quality. We completed an inventory of our downtown buildings in which each building's historic significance was evaluated and that inventory has now been adopted by the Historic Preservation Commission. Our law department, working in conjunction with fire department and the Division of Building Inspection helped make landlords more fully aware of their obligations under both the fire code and the zoning code. Our Department of Public Works and Development has utilized stimulus funding from the Recovery Act to provide financial sport- support for the Newtown Pike extension, for our proposed streetscape improvements, and for the building of the Legacy Trail from the Horse Park. And speaking of trails, what a year. In 2009, we completed 4.5 miles in new trails in Lexington, approximately 33% of the total of the 13.6 miles which have been built in Lexington since 2000. We have an interesting history of trail construction. We started out with a bang, building 3.8 miles of trails in 2001, but from 2002 through 2006, we built only 1.1 miles. Since January 2007, we have constructed a total of 8.7 miles, or 64% of all the trails in Lexington. This year we're slated to build 11 more miles for a total of 24.6 miles. So by the close of this year, Lexington will be home to one of the most appealing arrays of off-road trails in the country, 80% of which have been built since January 2007. Along the way, the state completed the new stadium and the indoor arena at the Horse Park, and the entrance to the airport has been upgraded so that our visitors will have a good impression of our airport as they enter their facilities off Man O War Boulevard. I think it is safe to say, in short, that 2009 has been an incredible year for physical improvements throughout our city. Well, Professor Wright recognized our city's need to address our human needs, while at the same time we build our economy and we develop the physical aspects of our city. Especially in difficult economic times, our community must attend to the very real human needs which many of our fellow citizens are experiencing. In some instances, those who need our assistance now are families who never thought they would need help from our community. We simply cannot let those needs go unattended. In our recent expense reduction efforts, we reduced our general fund spending by $12.5 million, but we made no cuts to those partner agencies that provide food, clothing, and shelter to those in need. We will continue to look for ways to reduce government spending, but we will also continue to do all that we can to help the Hope Center, the Salvation Army, and our other wonderful partner agencies to make sure that the least among us are helped to the fullest extent possible. In addition, safety and security is a basic human need. Our Department of Public Safety does a superb job of keeping our city safe. And the recent round, in the recent round of expense reductions, I am pleased that we were able to maintain current staffing levels by avoiding any layoffs of our public safety officers. We need more of them. And as revenues improve, adding public safety officers will be a high priority. In the meantime, in 2009, we took the first steps in Urban County government history to reduce the unfunded liability in our police and fire pension fund when we sold $70 million worth of bonds to start the process of funding the liability at a level where those pension payments will be secure. There were a number of initiatives, both inside Urban County government and in the community, to improve the lives of those in need in 2009. Our Department of Social Services has used Recovery Act funding to move 50 homeless families into safe, affordable housing. The department also used Recovery Act funding to expand the Summer Youth Employment Program from 184 youth and 83 businesses in 2007 to 291 participants at 101 businesses in 2009. Not only were we able to help the summer youth participants' job skills and help them explore possible career paths, but I can assure you that their summer program paid much to both the young people and their families in a time when jobs are hard to find. This past year also marked a major transition at our Family Care Center, a wonderful facility that provides low-income families with one-stop access to childcare, education, healthcare, and a variety of other social services. Beginning in 2007, our Department of Social Services started looking for ways to make the medical clinic at the Family Care Center work better. And last summer, those efforts culminated in an agreement with the University of Kentucky's College of Medicine in which the college assumed responsibility for operating the medical clinic, a clinic long used by UK to train their medical residents. In addition, we took a much more businesslike approach to both billing and collecting funds owed to the clinic from Medicaid and other payers. As a result, we have collected an additional $168,000 from accounts that had historically been left uncollected. And at the same time, UK is seeing a 30% increase in patient visits. UK is reestablishing dental services at the Family Care Center, and that is a major improvement in the level of service being provided there. In fiscal year '07, LFUCG was required to subsidize the Family Care Center by covering a number of overhead costs. And now, after increasing patient visits and expanding services, we are anticipating that the payment from UK under its operating agreement will result in 106,000 coming to the Urban County Government's general fund in fiscal year 10, a remarkable turnaround. Finally, let me compliment the private sector for its efforts to address our human needs in these tough times. There are many examples to which I could point, but let me share just two. As most of you know, the United Way of the Bluegrass is the umbrella organization used to channel our community's resources to those in need. In 2009, the United Way brought Bill Farmer to Lexington as its new CEO. Now, I'm still working my way through the fact that he is a North Carolina basketball fan. But despite that, Bill is an outstanding addition to Lexington's substantial network of social service agency leaders. Bill is here today representing both the United Way and LFUCG's many partner agencies who provide our community social service safety net. Bill, please stand, if you would. Join me. On behalf of the community, I want to thank you and all of the other leadership at our social service agencies for all that they do to help us address the multitude of human needs in our community. Thank you. Someone once said that the, uh, best welfare program is a job, and I agree with that assessment. Some members of our community have a particularly tough time getting a job because of low skill levels, criminal records. ... lack of interviewing skills, or- or other reasons. Jubilee Jobs of Lexington is a new nonprofit job placement agency which specializes in finding entry level jobs for the chronically underemployed and unemployed at no charge to either the applicants or the employers. They do it without monetary support from urban county government. That is the sort of private sector initiative which compliments our public sector efforts. And when the public and private sectors work together to address our citizens' problems, good things always happen in Lexington. I am also excited about the progress that is occurring these days and times in our arts community. Funding for the arts is always a challenge, and it is particularly so in tough economic times. However, the last year has seen the arrival of Scott Terrell as the new music director at the Lexington Philharmonic, substantial investment in art at both St. Joseph Hospital and the new UK Medical Center Hospital, national recognition of Lexington's Children's Theater by the Chase Community, uh, Giving Program, the reestablishment of a professional dance troop at the Lexington Ballet, and the expansion of public art at LexTrans Shelters and the Transit Center. Over the last five years, public support for our local artists has increased by 50%, from 300,000 to 450,000 this last year. In addition, local grant funding for local arts programs has increased from 501,000 to $803,000 in the same period, a 60% increase. I am very pleased that we have been able to maintain that level of commitment despite the current challenging economic environment. And the future looks bright too. LexArts, in the last year, just established the Lexington Youth Arts Council with 24 young people from six public and private high schools. In all probability, these young people and their successors will be the keepers of our arts in the years to come, and I commend LexArts for encouraging our young people to appreciate and support our artists and performers. Last but not least, in the arts realm, I am so very, very pleased to see that after 20 years of effort, the reconstruction of the Lyric Theater is underway. And this fall, the Lyric will reopen as Lexington's newest and one of its most historic arts venues. So, if I had to summarize 2009 in one word, it would be wow. What a year it was. Despite all the storms in the financial markets, we made remarkable progress on multiple fronts in our city. But now, the long awaited 2010 is upon us. Even though 2009 was an exceptionally productive time for our city, 2010 is likely to surpass it. So let's just get to the heart of it real quickly: How about those Cats? What a season. And, you know, believe it or not, we will probably even have a few things to do after the NCAA Tournament concludes in March or April. If, uh, you consider the- the- in intricate detail, the challenges of 2010, it can seem almost overwhelming. But let me offer some comfort to those of you who may be concerned about our city's ability to pull off all that lies ahead. As a result of the planning and progress which has occurred in prior years, I am confident that we are well-situated not only to make 2010 successful, but fun. Incredible work has already been done in preparation for 2010. And as a result, if we simply maintain our focus and finish the work that is already in progress, 2010 will be the most significant and successful year in Lexington's history. Permit me to suggest three broad categories of activities on which we should focus during the balance of this year. First, after years of planning, the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games are almost here. I am confident that the games will meet its goal of producing the world's preeminent equestrian event in a technically, artistically, and financially successful way. The game staff has been working hard to prepare for the arrival of teams from around the world, and they are on schedule to produce an event of which we can all be proud. I am particularly glad that a Lexington company, Everett McCorvey's Global Creative Connections, will be producing the opening ceremonies. And based upon what I have heard, the opening will be well worth the price of admission. If you plan to attend and you haven't gotten your tickets, go get them. Now's the time. However, the events at the Horse Park are not the only opportunity for us to showcase Lexington's longstanding ties to the horse industry. These days provide us with an opportunity to showcase the strength of our local arts and culture. Spotlight Lexington will be Lexington's downtown celebration. Its events will be free and fun, thanks to the help of many sponsors, including our presenting sponsor, St. Joseph Healthcare. Mark your calendars now so that you can join us for Spotlight Lexington starting on the night of September 24th and continuing through October 10th. Second, 2010 will be a year when many infrastructure projects are completed and put to work. The list is long. A badly needed nature center at Raven Run, the Newtown Pike extension, South Limestone, the Lyric Theater, terminal improvements at the airport, the completion of the airport's runway, a wireless broadband network for our public safety officers and others, Cheapside Park with the Fifth Third Pavilion, 11 miles of trails, streetscape improvements along Main and Vine Street, new recycling equipment, and more sewers to comply with the Clean Water Act. Just last week, we learned that Governor Beshear has proposed 173 million dollars in Fayette County road projects during fiscal years 10, 11, and 12. Now, we need to be cautious about that number because there is much legislative work to be done before the General Assembly approves that plan, but I am grateful for the governor's inclusion of those key projects in the road plan. If our local legislative delegation can keep those projects in place during the legislative session, 2010 will be a time when we make substantial progress towards addressing some of our most difficult and longstanding traffic problems. A discussion of 2010 would not be complete without some consideration of the national economic trends which have impacted us over the last two and a half years, and especially during the last 16 months. As I have listened to people who have lost their jobs, to business owners who are struggling to survive, and to ordinary people on the street, we have all been affected by the economic downturn, the worst in 80 years. LFUCG is no different. As many of you know, 83% of our general fund revenue is derived by tax revenue tied directly to the economy, such as the payroll tax and the net profits license fees. So, when our economy experiences a downturn, LFUCG sees a drop in tax receipts. Recently, we had to reduce our expenses for this fiscal year by 12.5 million dollars, and on January 8th, I proposed a series of expense reductions to enable us to have a balanced budget by June 30th. The expense cuts were painful. Good people and good programs were adversely affected. None of those cuts was easy. The citizens of, and businesses of Lexington, however, have had to do the very same thing in their homes and offices, and they should expect no less of their local government leaders. Fortunately, we were able to make a proposal that requires no new taxes and no layoffs, and I hope you will know that members of my administration will continue to closely monitor receipts and expenditures so that we can end fiscal year 10 with a balanced budget while continuing to provide local government services which are so essential to maintaining the quality of life in Lexington. And then starting in July, there's fiscal year 11 and all of the financial challenges it may hold. What will the next budget provide? That's hard to predict. I have often wished that the mayor's office came equipped with a crystal ball that would enable mayors to see the financial future, especially when it comes to revenue forecasts. But until we find that crystal ball, we have to make the most careful, economic forecasts we can. Our best estimates are that unemployment rates will continue to decline, to uh, uh, grow from the, the high levels... decrease from the high levels we experienced last summer. And we expect that our employment roles will be restored, but we expect that restoration will occur slowly. If those estimates of slow economic growth are accurate, fiscal year 11 will be challenging, and as a result, it will be important for us to keep our operating expenses under tight control. Even if we did find a way to have a surplus in fiscal year 10, by continuing to manage in a fiscally responsible way, we must constrain our desire to incur operating expenses until we see clear evidence of payroll tax receipts trending upward. Even in the best of circumstances, constraining spending is not easy, and it is particularly challenging in a year when all urban county government officials are up for election. Undoubtedly, political opponents will attempt to seize upon every expenditure or cut for their political advantage, so this financial environment will require strong, committed leadership to keep Lexington on the move in these difficult times. Rest assured, our administration will continue to provide that leadership in the future, just as it has in the past. When we do, a year from now, we will have a city that continues to provide government services well while managing our city's finances in a responsible way. Both 2009 and 2010 will be viewed by historians as extraordinary years. In fact, I can make a pretty compelling argument that 2010 will be the most significant year since Lexington was founded in 1775. In what other 12-month period have we had the world's attention in the fashion we will in 2010? In what other year have we had more improvements to our infrastructure? In what other year have we been required to deal with such national economic trends? But whenever major events occur, there's always a risk that a community will wake up the day after those events and, and wonder, "Now what? Where do we go from here?" Fortunately, our city has an answer for that dilemma. During 2008, our community went through the process of developing a common sense of direction and vision that will guide us over the next three decades. Destination 2040 involved approximately 3,000 Lexingtonians in an effort to chart our co- a course for our community between now and the year 2040. Destination 2040 makes clear that the key to Lexington's prosperity is balancing competing demands to address our human needs, our arts and cultural needs, our economic development needs, and our physical development needs. As Professor Wright helped us to understand, all four of those needs must be balanced by our community if we are to achieve our maximum potential. In each of those four areas, Destination 2040 provides specific guidance as to the steps we must take in order to keep Lexington on the move in the years to come. I am sure all of us can find some aspects of the report with which we do not agree, but it is, in large measure, a fair reflection of where the vast majority of our citizens think our city needs to go. We have already begun to implement some of Destination 2040's goals, such as the creation of the Bluegrass Diamond concept. The Bluegrass Diamond is the geographic area comprised by Lexington and the surrounding counties. Destination 24 encourages Fayette County and its neighbors to think of themselves as a singular unit. We are linked economically, culturally, and geographically, and by working together, we will have more political and economic clout than any of us will have if we simply go it alone. There are many steps to take in the coming months and years, but if we take those steps, Lexington and the Bluegrass will be one of the most exciting places in the entire country. I hope you will catch that dream and play an active role in making it a reality. The state of our merged government and the state of this city is much improved. Remarkable progress has been made in the last 12 months, and 2010 is poised to be the single most significant year in Lexington's history. Yes, we do have our problems that we need to address, and yes, we can and will do better. But for today, please know that Lexington is moving steadily in the right direction. When we began today, I quoted the question posed by Professor Wright. Will Lexington, in its third century, produce leadership similarly cognizant of the total community in all its aspects? The human needs as well as the physical growth, cultural creativity, as well as economic expansion and a shared sense of purpose in a burgeoning urban environment. I am confident that Lexington has produced that kind of strong and committed leadership all across the community, and many of those leaders are here today. Please know that 2010 will test our community's leadership in ways it has never been tested before. But I am confident that together, we will meet the challenges of 2010 and that historians will one day view 2010 as the year when Lexington took major strides towards becoming America's preeminent mid-sized city. It's an exciting time, and it's the best time to be a Lexingtonian. May God bless this city and our efforts in 2010. Thank you.