Montgomery City Council Members Voice Concern Over Budget

Is the city of Montgomery over spending? Some city council members think so and say if it doesn’t stop, there could be 750 thousand dollars worth of consequences.

There’s been a shortfall on what was projected so far and some city leaders say they can do better.

The city of Montgomery could be in the red by September if they don’t get back on track financially. Just weeks ago, the city was several hundred thousand dollars behind where they were projected to be. City Councilman Glenn Pruitt says the situation makes him uneasy.

“Very scary,” he says. “We’re about several hundred thousand dollars short. We think we’re going to be able to make it up. Possibly counting on another furlough day.”

The city has already mandated one furlough day and has the option to take another before September. Each one saves the city 450 thousand dollars. But other expenses are adding up, like employee healthcare, which is costing the city 100 thousand dollars a month more than expected. Mayor Todd Strange says they’re looking at ways to reduce that cost.

“We did ask Jackson Thornton to look and make some recommendations to us,” he says. “We’re evaluating that. We want to make sure that we have a competitive healthcare plan.”

During preps for the current budget, the municipal courts gave city leaders an estimate of how much money traffic tickets would bring in. But the money generated from tickets has been less than expected

“The big line item that’s down is our municipal courts and fine and forfeitures,” says finance director Barry Crabb. “So, speeding tickets, other traffic tickets are down. It’s a good thing for the Chamber of Commerce and promoting the city but certainly it’s an issue that we’ll have to deal with with the budget.”

The budget does have some bright spots, with both sales tax and business tax being up but still, Pruitt and others say that’s not good enough.

“We continue to nickel and dime people to get where we want to get and at the end of the day, that’s not a good thing,” he says. “People hate paying taxes. I hate paying them. And we have to live within our means like everyone else.”