Birmingham City Council adopts Fiscal Year 2021 budget

The Birmingham City Council — at its regular meeting for Tuesday, Sept. 29 — voted to adopt a $412 million budget for the city for Fiscal Year 2021, according to a city news release.

The budget, proposed by Mayor Randall L. Woodfin, is much smaller than the $451 million budget the city adopted for Fiscal Year 2020.

It sought to address a projected $63 million revenue shortfall for Fiscal Year 2021 caused by economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new budget protects such essential services as trash pick-up, fire and police protection and continues to invest in infrastructure and neighborhood revitalization, according to the administration

“This has been a budget of difficult choices. None of our decisions were taken lightly,” Woodfin said in a statement. “I want to thank the council for working with me to maintain critical, essential services for our residents with the revenue available to the city. The economic impact of COVID-19 has put every city in a similar position. Together, we will work through this crisis to revitalize our neighborhoods.”

The impact of COVID-19 created a $17 million loss in revenue for the final three months of Fiscal Year 2020 due to lower receipts of sales tax, use tax, occupational tax, lodging tax and business licenses, according to the city release.

About 80% of the city’s revenue comes from these sources.

Woodfin presented his Fiscal Year 2021 budget to the council on August 18.

Among other cost-cutting measures, the mayor said the city would furlough about 7% of the city’s workforce, defund more than 400 vacant positions and cancel some paid holidays.

Woodfin cut his own salary and those of his appointees.

His budget also reduced funding for some non-city boards and agencies, reduced economic incentives and restructured some debt.

The furloughs of city employees “are indefinite and based on the economic situation due to the pandemic,” according to the release.

The city would normally seek to adopt its budget by July. The Fiscal Year 2020 budget was adopted by the council on July 23, 2019.

However, Woodfin — citing the “uncertainty surrounding the current financial impact” of COVID-19” — told the council on May 19 that he would wait until August to present his new budget.

In the interim, the city continued operating using the Fiscal Year 2020 budget.

Both the operating and capital budgets may be reviewed at birminghamal.gov/2021budget.

The council meeting this week fell on the fifth Tuesday of the month, so it was held at 5:30 p.m. rather than the regular meeting time of 9:30 a.m.