2020 Birmingham budget

The 2019-2020 Birmingham budget includes the operating budget for the City of Birmingham for the fiscal year July 1, 2019–June 30, 2020 as well as a capital projects budget.

Mayor Randall Woodfin presented his proposed budget at a meeting of the Birmingham City Council on May 14, 2019. The Council approved the budget on July 23, 2019 by a 7-1 vote.

Woodfin's proposed budget

Woodfin proposed an operating budget of $451 million, an $11 million (2.4%) increase over the $440 million 2018-2019 budget which was approved for on June 19, 2018. The budget includes a projected increase of $6.5 million in revenues from taxes and fees.

Woodfin's budget includes a $5.8 million increase in the city's contribution to its pension fund, which had been cited as a factor in the decision by Moody's and Fitch to downgrade the city's bond rating. The budget proposal steered two thirds of the $3 million in annual funding that had been given directly to Birmingham City Schools into the Birmingham Promise Initiative, a city-funded scholarship and workforce training program.

The budget proposal included $14.2 million for "Neighborhood Revitalization", including $8 million for street paving, $4.7 million for demolition and weed abatement, $1 million in funding for the Birmingham Land Bank Authority, and $300,000 for recycling programs. Funding for economic development incentives was increased by $1,000,000, with the mayor's office focused on recruiting grocery stores to underserved areas of the city.

For the second year in a row, Woodfin drastically cut city appropriations to non-profit organizations. The proposal included $362,896, down from $1,032,896 in 2019. Discretionary funds for each City Council representative were doubled to $100,000.

Public hearings

The mayor hosted a budget presentation for the public at the Birmingham CrossPlex at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, May 14. The City Council held their public hearings on the council chambers on Thursday, May 30 at 5:30 PM.

References

• Beahm, Anna (May 14, 2019) "Woodfin: Millions more for pension, paving." The Birmingham News
• Coker, Angel (July 24, 2019) "Birmingham City Council approves $451M budget." Birmingham Business Journal

External links

• 2020 Budget at birminghamal.gov