Hoover Council Offers Alternative To Mayor's Tax Proposal

HOOVER, AL - The Hoover City Council has proposed an alternative plan to Mayor Frank Brocato's sales and lodging tax increase proposed two weeks ago. Brocato proposed raising the city’s share of lodging taxes from 3 percent to 6 percent and raising sales and use taxes from 3 percent to 4 percent.

According to a report by the Hoover Sun, Council President Gene Smith on Tuesday substituted different ordinances that would keep the proposed lodging tax increase intact but cut the sales and use tax increase in half. The council’s new proposal would raise the city’s portion of sales and use taxes to 3.5 percent instead of 4 percent and put the overall sales tax rate in Hoover at 8.5 percent in Shelby County and 9.5 percent in Jefferson County.

The City of Hoover could finish the 2018 fiscal year in some serious debt, according to a financial consultant hired by the city. The council heard a report in April from Jim White, a consultant with Birmingham's Porter, White & Co., and learned the city could be facing a $2.8 million deficit by the end of the fiscal year.

According to a report by the Birmingham Business Journal, Brocato proposed the city raise its sales and use tax components and lease/rental tax rates to 4 percent — the same level as Homewood and Vestavia Hills — and increase the city's lodging tax rate to 6 percent. The move is estimated to generate approximately $20 million in additional revenue for the city. Brocato is proposing the Hoover City Council vote on the measure July 2.

Brocato is looking to increase the city's support for Hoover City Schools to $4 million every year for a total of $11.1 million. To provide better traffic management, he is asking for $22 million to match federal and state funds to build a new interchange on I-459 to serve western Hoover and make improvements to the Hwy 150 exit. He is also proposing $22.3 million to build a a facility for the fine and performing arts with an additional $1 million per year to operate it, as well as $1.7 million for a new library branch in east Hoover with an additional $700,000 per year to operate it. The city is also looking to fund $500,000 per year to implement bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in phases.

Photo by Michael Seale/Patch