Record $139 Million Budget Approved By Hoover Council

HOOVER, AL - The Hoover City Council this week passed - narrowly - a record $139 million budget, with $117 million being spent out of the general fund. The budgets passed 4-3 with council members John Greene, John Lyda and Mike Shaw voting against.

A report by the Hoover Sun said city also plans to spend $12.1 million out of a special revenue fund and $9.9 million out of its capital projects fund in 2019. Greene, Lyda and Shaw said they had concerns about the increase in spending in the budget, but other council members said they felt the spending was justified "for a growing city with growing needs."

The increased spending from the general fund was made possible due to increases in sales and personal property taxes and a $2 nightly room fee for lodging facilities that were approved by the City Council in July. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Patch morning newsletter.)

Related story: Mayor Proposes $139 Million Budget For 2019

Some items included in the record-high budget include:

• $2 million for street paving
• More than $1 million for the previously mentioned vehicles
• About $1.2 million in improvements at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex (including a new scoreboard at the stadium)
• $960,000 in additional money for widening Valleydale Road
• $500,000 in additional money for improvements on South Shades Crest Road
• $463,000 for information technology improvements
• $450,000 for a virtual critical incident simulator and furniture at a planned police training facility
• $420,000 for phase two of a new street lighting system on U.S. 31 between Patton Chapel Road and Interstate 65
• $250,000 for building maintenance at the Hoover Public Safety Center
• $200,000 for drainage improvements on Marywood Lane
• $150,000 for intersection signal modifications at U.S. 31 and Deo Dara Drive
• $130,000 for a new playground surface at Veterans Park
• $120,000 to complete an upgrade of an Inverness sewer pump station
• $100,000 for improvements at Georgetown Park

Photo by Michael Seale/Patch