
Illustration by Sarah Owens
The Homewood City Council held its first meeting of 2025 on Monday, approving tax incentives for The Edge, authorizing contracts with the Birmingham Zoo, One Place, and Meals on Wheels, and approving a switch to Synovus Bank.
The Edge is a multi-use development in West Homewood. Owner J.J. Thomas attended the meeting to request the council's approval of a tax incentive for the recently completed project.
Thomas said they recently signed a lease for the final tenant space and expect the businesses in the development to have 16 full-time and 71 part-time employees, with a combined payroll of more than $3 million a year.
He also said the development is projected to generate more than $3.6 million in direct and indirect sales, as well as property and business license tax revenue, over the next 10 years. This includes an estimated $200,000 annually in tax revenue for the city.
"We're here before you respectfully requesting a tax incentive consisting of, and it's a pay-as-you-go tax incentive, 50% of the city's non-educational sales and use tax," Thomas said. "That would be 1.5% of that 3%, and again, that's only from sales that we bring to the city. It would be capped for a period of five years, and over that five years, the max benefit would be capped at $375,000, and during that five-year period, we would propose a cap each year of $75,000."
The resolution passed 10-0, becoming the council's first resolution of the year.
The council also approved requests to authorize Mayor Alex Wyatt to sign contracts and pay Fiscal Year 2024-25 budget appropriations to the Birmingham Zoo, One Place, and Meals on Wheels. Additionally, the council approved a resolution to ratify the use of Synovus Bank as the city’s bank depository and authorize the signatures of Wyatt, Council President Walter Jones, and City Clerk Bo Seagrist.
Watch the full meeting below: