City Beat: Budget woes, World Games update, Birmingham Promise

Welcome to another installment of City Beat, a regular feature we began recently.

City Beat is designed to be an eclectic, entertaining recap of recent Birmingham news items and will cover topics such as sports, entertainment and community, as well as news from city hall.

This month, City Beat provides an update on the city budget, The World Games 2022, Birmingham Promise and fundraising efforts at the Birmingham Zoo.

BUDGET DIGEST

March 10, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Birmingham, seems like another era.

That was the day Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin told the Birmingham City Council the city had a $16.3 million surplus from the fiscal year that ended in 2019.

That surplus included sizable increases in revenue from business licenses and occupational taxes.

The Council voted that day to give city employees a cost-of-living adjustment and proceed with some capital projects, including a new cell at the Eastern Area Landfill.

The next step for Woodfin was to present his proposed FY 2021 budget to the Council by May 20, in advance of the new fiscal year beginning July 1.

However, “that will not happen,” Woodfin told the Council on May 19, citing the “uncertainty surrounding the current financial impact” of COVID-19.

Woodfin said he would present his budget Aug. 20 and, should the council approve the budget, it would go into effect Oct. 1.

In the meantime, Woodfin said, the city would roll forward with the FY 2020 budget.

On Aug. 19, Woodfin presented his proposed $412 million FY 2021 budget to the council. The 2020 budget was $451.4 million.

The mayor told the Council the city faces a projected $63 million shortfall in business tax revenue through June 30, 2021, due to COVID-19.

Among other cost-cutting measures, the mayor announced the city would furlough about 7% of the city’s workforce.

“These are difficult choices to make,” Woodfin said in a statement. “These actions ensure no reductions take place in the basic services the city provides to the people.”

Woodfin said that such services as police and fire would not be cut.

He also said priorities such as neighborhood revitalization would continue, including street resurfacing. In late August, the administration — after receiving “several inquiries about the budget” — released a statement in which it tried to clarify the budget’s effects.

“We want to assure the public that basic city services such as public safety and general government will not be reduced,” the statement said. “We have worked closely with the Library Board and Parks and Recreation Board to identify enough funding for those boards to provide residents the current services that had previously been reduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” it said.

City Council members have since submitted written questions about the budget.

The Council’s Committee of the Whole met on Sept. 8 to hear presentations from the Parks and Recreation and Library boards.

This was to be one of several meetings members would hold about the budget, according to a Council news release.

“We’re going to continue having these discussions so that we can get the complete picture,” said Council President William Parker.

At press time, no vote has been held on the budget.

For more information, go to birminghamal.gov/2021budget.

TWG2022 NEEDS YOU

The World Games 2022 Birmingham got a boost recently from BBVA USA, a bank headquartered in the Magic City. BBVA will serve as the presenting sponsor of the event’s official volunteer program.

The event — set to take place July 7-17, 2022 — will feature 3,600 athletes from 100 countries competing in 25 Birmingham-area venues.

More than 2,000 volunteers will be needed for a variety of tasks, including hospitality and transportation.

Birmingham is “a city on the rise” and will be the first U.S. city to host the World Games since 1981, said BBVA USA Birmingham CEO Andrea Smith.

“We can’t wait for this program and its volunteers to show what the Iron City has to offer on an international stage,” Smith said.

For details, go to twg2022.com/volunteer.

KEEPING THE PROMISE

Birmingham Promise — a Birmingham City Schools initiative providing tuition and fees for students entering Alabama’s public colleges and universities — recently provided updates regarding its first year.

Roughly 500 students who graduated from Birmingham City Schools this spring will receive college tuition support during the fall 2020 semester.

This is the first time that Birmingham Promise has provided tuition support since its inception.

“We are extremely excited about the progress we’ve been able to make in getting Birmingham Promise launched in such a short time frame and under such trying circumstances,” said Rachel Harmon, the program’s executive director, in a Sept. 8 news release.

For more information, call 205-843-5967 or go to birminghampromise.org.

KEEPING THE ANIMALS FED

The Birmingham Zoo — a nonprofit in need of funding due to the COVID-19 pandemic — has received three large grants.

The zoo announced recently it would receive operating support from the Wells Fargo Foundation ($65,000) and Robert R. Meyer Foundation ($50,000).

In June, the Alabama Power Foundation awarded a matching grant to the zoo to help the facility kick off its fall appeal to raise $500,000 for the Emergency Animal Fund.

The Birmingham Zoo projects an operating loss of $2.7 million for 2020, said Karen Carroll, vice president of development.

The facility lost most of its ticket revenue for the spring during a 10-week closure due to the pandemic.

The zoo is also accepting contributions to its Emergency Animal Fund at birminghamzoo.com/donate.