City of Montgomery’s proposed FY 2025 budget $20.3 million more than last year
Montgomery’s City Council met Tuesday night at city hall, and there were several issues that came up that were either carried over to the next meeting or moved to committees. One is an ordinance that would give the go-ahead for site development plans for solar electric power generation facilities, and the other is a resolution that would repeal legislation that created the Montgomery City/County Personnel Board, allowing the city to create its own personnel board.
Tuesday night Mayor Steven Reed did not attend the meeting, but he presented the city’s proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget via a video that played on a big screen. Reed is proposing a budget of almost $332 million dollars, which is approximately $20.3 million more than last year’s budget. He says that more services will need to be provided because companies like Meta and Amazon are coming to the city. He says more staff will need to be hired and equipment will need to be purchased to meet citizens’ needs.
Mayor Reed says, “Let me explain to you how the city can afford the increases in this proposed budget. In addition to stable growth of certain revenue streams, an increase in business license fees has been included in the revenue projections for FY 2025 which will need council’s approval by passage of an ordinance.”
Another topic discussed was a resolution that would prohibit Mayor Reed from entering into contracts above $25,000 without the council’s permission. It has been carried over to the next meeting, and is sponsored by Councilman Andrew Szymanski.
“What we’re talking about tonight is compliance, good government and accountability and that’s all we’re trying to do. We’re looking at the other cities and making sure that the council is well informed about how we are spending taxpayer dollars. We keep talking about being good stewards of the city’s budget – this is one way for us to do that, and I think this is a really important opportunity for us to show this is how we can be accountable to our constituents as well,” said Szymanski.
We will have more about other changes in the city’s proposed budget in the coming days. A public hearing is scheduled to discuss the budget and it will be voted on in September. This year’s proposed increase over last year’s budget amounts to 6.5 percent.
