Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
The Planning and Development Committee heard May 15 from Bryson Stephens of the Red Mountain Cut Foundation, who was seeking a resolution supporting a TAP grant from the Jefferson County Commission.
Walter Jones, chairman of the Homewood City Council’s finance committee, summed up a positive mid-year financial review at Monday’s meeting.
“To me,” he said, “it’s all good news. Overall, we’re in great shape.”
Finance Director Robert Burgett echoed that assessment, saying that the city is in a very good cash position.
“We do have reserves,” he said. “The reserves we do have I feel we're ... maximizing our potential with interest income, and still being very safe with our money. We don't have anything out there beyond 30 days. A majority of it is an overnight swamp so it's available to us the next morning. That's good for the city in that regard.”
Burgett acknowledged the city had a little more than $1.5 million in bond funds dating back to 2016. He said that money was used to refund the capital project fund from what was spent on the 18th Street East Project.
“That gets us into compliance by completely liquidating prior years’ bond money,” he said. “It was best for us to go back and (use) this older bond money and get it spent and off the books.”
City Clerk Melody Salter said the audit draft is not yet ready as work on the audit began later this year. Among highlights of the mid-year review:
Sales tax for the first six months of fiscal 2023 are up 7.49%, or $996,204, for the general fund compared to the first six months of fiscal 2022.
Preliminary unaudited fiscal 2022 shows the general fund ended the year with a $194,129 surplus (income over expenses) after paying more than $300,000 in employee bonuses.
Also from the audit, expenses for fiscal 2022 compared to fiscal 2021 were up 10.65% and revenues up 10.47%. While revenues were up, Salter said, expenses are up slightly higher. “We have to monitor them because a city needs to worry if expenses outpace increases in revenues unless it’s for one-time expenses like capital.”
Property tax mainly comes in during the months of December, January and February so most of that revenue has been received for fiscal 2023. “We have already exceeded our budget by $435,000,” Salter said. “Property tax at mid-year fiscal 2023 exceeds the entire fiscal year 2022 collections by $627,000.”
Business licenses are also mainly received during January, February and March. Salter said the city has already exceeded budget by $291,000.
Fiscal 2023 expenditures are up because the city gave employees a 5% cost of living adjustment, converted employees to RSA Tier 1 pension, which was requested by the Police and Fire departments, and the city absorbed the health insurance increase for employees in fiscal 2023.
In committee action:
The finance committee also heard from Tom Walker, president of Village Creek Development, who is seeking an incentive package in the redevelopment of the Econo Lodge property at 195 Oxmoor Road and 536 Cobb Street.
The agreement would provide for the city to pay a $1.5 million tax incentive package to the developer over no more than a 10-year period. These tax incentives would come from business licenses and the non-educational portions of sales and use taxes.
The developer in turn would agree to spend at least $33 million within the first two years of the contract for land and site prep work. The committee moved the matter to the full council without a recommendation pending a 6 p.m. public hearing on June 12.
The Planning and Development Committee heard from Bryson Stephens of the Red Mountain Cut Foundation, who was seeking a resolution supporting a TAP grant from the Jefferson County Commission.
The grant would fund the installation of sidewalks and bike lanes from Birmingham’s Vulcan Park along 21st Avenue South to English Village in Mountain Brook. The committee sent the matter to the full council with its recommendation.
Mountain Brook previously passed a similar resolution.
The committee considered the 18th Street Revitalization Project. Jones asked about the opening of the new right turn lane for eastbound traffic on Valley Avenue. He was told that the city is awaiting the arrival of yield signs; the lanes will open at that time.
“We’re close on that,” Jones said, “so we’ll carry it over, pending the yield sign, the arrow and opening that lane. It’s been a long time coming.”
The finance committee also carried over setting a bid date for the City Hall parking deck repair and restoration project. The consultant is still completing the bid package.
“Hopefully,” Jones said, “we’ll have all that by the next meeting.”
