Times staff report
After concerns about possible cuts to the police department and parks and recreation department, the Birmingham City Council on Tuesday delivered a $428 million revised fiscal 2018 budget to Mayor William Bell that fully funds both departments.
Both the mayor and council agree on $97,232,222 in funding for police in the budget. The council adds $500,000 for fleet renewal. Both sides also have proposed $18,486,532 for parks and recreation.
The two sides held dueling press conferences to discuss the 2018 spending plan.
In one conference room on Tuesday at City Hall, Council President Johnathan Austin and Councilors Stephen Hoyt, Marcus Lundy and Sheila Tyson told media that their revised budget contained no cuts to police and parks and rec.
At the same time, less than 50 feet away Bell held a press conference with Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper and more than a dozen neighborhood leaders and residents expressing alarm at what proposed reductions would mean to public safety and services.
A draft budget with some cuts to departments was prematurely released last week, councilmembers said.
“We’ve increased the police department. We’ve increased the schools. We’ve increased the libraries. We’ve increased the neighborhoods and we’ve added a new Office of Minority and Women Inclusion” with $500,00 in funding, said Austin. “The council cut its own budget to make sure the budget for the city was reflective of the needs of the citizens and not the body. We are representatives of the people and . . . this budget represents the needs of the citizens.”
April Odom, director, Mayor’s Office of Public Information, said, “We haven’t seen the council’s revised budget yet, but look forward to reviewing it.”
Last week Roper and Kevin Moore, director, parks and recreation department released memos expressing concern about cuts to their departments that were outlined in the draft budget. Roper’s budget would have been reduced by $750,000 and Moore’s by $5.6 million in that budget.
The police department can only function at the level of its resources, Roper said. “We can have the best strategies, the best leadership, the best officers and citizen support but the budget drives the operations and without the proper budgeting we would be limited in our impact in our community and our support to our citizens,” he said.
Councilors said Tuesday their budget includes $6.5 million for neighborhoods, $5.1 million for employee raises, $4.6 million for public schools and $2.1 million for libraries.
In the revised budget, cuts are made to the mayor’s office, human resources, equipment management and information management services.
