City Council sends Mayor's budget amendments back to committee

Mayor Randall Woodfin and several of his department heads appeared before the Birmingham City Council on Tuesday, Jan. 22, to request that members amend the city’s budget for the current fiscal year and appropriate an additional $5.5 million for various projects.

However, members voted to send the item back to committee, meaning the mayor will need to wait at least until the next council meeting on Tuesday, January 29, to see it approved.

The council did approve a few smaller budget amendments as part of its consent agenda.

Members also approved zoning changes to allow a new apartment complex near Regions Field to move forward.

BUDGET REQUESTS

Woodfin and his administration requested that the the council approve amendments to the city’s general fund and capital fund budgets for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019, and appropriate about $5.5 million for about 10 city projects.

The funding sources are additional revenues of about $4.2 million from the city’s use tax and $1.27 million from the occupational tax, according to the administration.

The single largest item proposed is $3,361,470 to purchase or repair various vehicles for the fire and police departments.

The administration also wants to spend about $1.24 million for various information management projects or upgrades.

About $500,000 would go to the Office of Innovation and Economic Opportunity for use in economic incentives, particularly efforts to attract more grocery stores to the city.

However, some councilors, including Steven Hoyt and Hunter Williams, complained that the administration had not properly consulted or informed the council regarding the request.

“If we are going to have a spirit of cooperation, we should have conversation about items like this — and some of these are not small items,” Hoyt said.

Decisions about how to spend additional monies should not be made just by the administration, according to Hoyt. “It needs to be a collective act,” he said.

After a motion by Williams, the council voted to send the item to the Committee of the Whole.

There was a meeting of that committee scheduled for Wed., Jan. 23, according to City Council President Valerie Abbott.

“There are only a couple of items on the agenda right now, so there will be room to consider this,” Abbott said regarding the committee meeting.

OTHER BUDGET ITEMS

Members voted to approve a few other smaller budget amendments as part of its consent agenda.

They voted to amend the capital fund budget for fiscal year 2019 and appropriate a little over $585,000 for various park improvement projects. The money is to be transferred from the budgets for Fountain Heights Recreation Center and Cooper Green, Lowery, Vulcan, George Ward, Kelly Ingram, Memorial and North Birmingham parks.

In another amendment to the capital fund budget for fiscal year 2019, the council voted to transfer $335,000 from demolition and debris removal to equipment management to make it possible for the Department of Public Works to purchase one limb loader and one tree truck.

Members also voted to amend the capital fund budget to transfer $350,000 from street resurfacing and use it for sidewalks.

The council voted to amend the city’s grants fund budget for fiscal year 2019 and appropriate about $45,704 to Municipal Court to pay for a court referral officer, using a grant the city has received.

NEW APARTMENTS IN PARKSIDE

The Daniel Corporation plans to build about 224 apartment units in a new complex near Regions Field in Parkside on property currently owned by UAB.

And to make the project possible, the council voted to change the zoning on the properties — located at 306 and 308 15th St. S. and 1401 3rd Ave. S. — from B-6, Health and Institutional District, to MU-H, Mixed-Use High District.

The request was made by Joseph Adams of the Daniel Corporation on behalf of UAB and The UAB Educational Foundation.

Adams told members that Daniel will buy the property from UAB. He also said that the apartment complex will have some retail on the first floor.

Katrina Thomas, a planner with the city, said that the parcels measure about 1.27 acres.

The developer will demolish the existing structures on the site and will provide all the parking required for the complex, according to Thomas.

She said that the Five Points South Neighborhood Association voted unanimously to approve the development, and that it was also approved by the Zoning Advisory Committee and recommended by the Council’s Planning and Zoning Committee.