Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Homewood Mayor Patrick McClusky presents his fiscal 2024 budget proposal to the Homewood City Council on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023.
Homewood Mayor Patrick McClusky on Monday night presented his fiscal 2024 budget to the Homewood City Council with proposed expenditures totaling $98.4 million.
That included $67.1 million of expenditures from the general fund, $14.6 million to pay down debt, $9.75 million for capital and infrastructure projects and expenditures from 11 other funds totaling about $7 million.
Some of the big infrastructure projects he proposes to fund with bond money include the Interstate 65 diamond interchange at Lakeshore Drive ($2.8 million), Green Springs revitalization ($850,000), Reese Street sidewalk ($430,000) and phase two construction of the Shades Creek Greenway ($170,000). The city sold municipal bonds, taking on long-term debt to finance those projects.
McClusky’s fiscal 2024 budget also includes about $5 million in proposed expenditures from the city’s capital projects fund. Some of those projects include a new playground at Central Park ($995,000), a sidewalk on Delcris Drive ($375,000), a sidewalk project on Central Avenue ($170,000) and sidewalk repair work ($50,000).
The capital fund has budgeted revenues of $3,356,136, so the rest of the money for those projects — $1,642,013 – would come out of the city’s overall fund balance.
McClusky said capital projects jump out to people because they generally come with visible construction.
“I think the capital project on Green Springs [Highway] connecting the Lakeview neighborhood is going to be something that's fantastic,” he said. “But I also want to certainly point out the fact that with the cuts that we were able to make, we're also able to add a 3% cost-of-living raise to all of our employees, take care of their health insurance benefits, the increase in benefits that they had.
“That's something that's incredibly important to me, making sure that all of Homewood's employees are taken care of,” the mayor said. “This is something that I've started since I've been mayor, and we've had a COLA every single year. As long as we're able to do it, we're gonna do it.”
His proposed general fund expenditures of $67.1 million represent a 6.24% increase from expenditures in the 2023 budget — a jump of about $3.9 million.
A big part of that was raises for police officers, firefighters and paramedics. The Jefferson County Personnel Board recommended pay increases to bring those public safety employees more in line with current market trends. Each police officer and firefighter will be bumped up at least two pay grades, effectively raising pay by 10%.
McClusky is proposing to do this in phases, giving those public safety workers a 5% increase on Oct. 1 and the other 5% increase on the employees’ employment anniversary dates.
Here are proposed expenditures from the city’s other funds:
- Insurance Fund: $1,619,500
- E911 Fund: $1,555,927
- Grants Fund: $1,443,342
- 7 Cents Gas Tax Fund: $1,083,028
- 4 & 5 Cent Gas Tax Fund: $449,792
- Corrections/Jail Fund: $ 315,969
- Corrections/Court Fund: $264,180
- Environmental Escrow Fund: $ 83,063
- Judicial Administration Fund: $80,182
- Inspection Tech Fund: $67,030
- Court Special Fund: $11,563
McClusky called the effort to put together his proposed 2024 budget “a labor of love.”
“We put a lot of hours into the budget,” he said after the meeting. “I have such a fantastic staff that gets so much of it done before I even look at it and have meetings with my department heads, and then we just trim it down from there and tonight presenting it to the council.
"Now it's in their hands,” the mayor said, “so we'll see how it goes.”
In other action Monday night, the City Council:
- Approved $1,000 for a pair of pedestrian traffic signs to attempt to reduce traffic speed and to promote safety on Seminole Drive near Trinity United Methodist Church.
- Voted to install a bollard at the corner of Oxmoor Road and St. Charles Street. The panel also amended the dumpster license agreement for city parking lots.
- Granted a sign variance to Advance America for the front of its building at 300 Oxmoor Road. The company withdrew its request for a sign on the Green Springs Highway side of its building.
