Hoover Mayor Proposes $146 Million Budget For 2020

HOOVER, AL — Mayor Frank Brocato proposed his fiscal year 2020 budget to the Hoover City Council last week, a $146 million budget that features a focus on traffic management, education and public safety.

The budget includes $124.6 million from the general fund, $14 million from special revenue funds and $7.9 million from the capital projects fund.

Traffic management is the mayor's main focus on the coming fiscal year, which begins October 1. According to a Hoover Sun report, one of the largest capital expenditures in the budget is to make $2 million available to purchase more land needed to create a new Interstate 459 interchange just west of South Shades Crest Road, plus potentially another $1 million in 2021.

The mayor also proposes to make another $1.25 million available for a project to add a second northbound lane on South Shades Crest Road.

Some other highlights of the mayor's 2020 budget:

• Continue to give $5 million to the Hoover school system and spend $2 million to provide school resource officers for Hoover schools.
• $248,000 to hire three new emergency communications officers
• $1.4 million worth of step pay increases for public safety workers
• $365,000 for the 2020 city election and an expected citywide vote on a 2.4-mill property tax increase for schools
• $200,000 increase for transit services provided by the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority
• $3.1 million for street paving, striping and patching
• $585,000 for improvements at Hoover parks and recreation facilities
• $150,000 for drainage improvements
• $150,000 for a sidewalk on Alford Avenue
• $125,000 to renovate part of the Hoover Public Safety Center for a Municipal Court referral program
• $500,000 to the city’s reserve fund

Council President Gene Smith said he believes the council should be able to vote on the budget by Oct. 1.