Montgomery Council Reviews Record $353.2M Budget With Focus on Raises, Roads and Safety

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) — The Montgomery City Council held a budget hearing Tuesday to review the city’s largest-ever proposed budget, a $353.2 million plan that includes raises for employees, infrastructure upgrades and new public safety initiatives.

Council members spent several hours combing through more than 40 pages of departmental funding information. The proposal includes merit raises for all city employees, a replacement of the Police Department’s outdated communications system, and nearly $8 million for the city’s new sports and entertainment department.

One key discussion centered on the Fire Department, which answers more than 120 calls daily. A proposed 10% raise for firefighters would cost $4.2 million. Reallocating unused funds from the Police Department’s budget to the Fire Department’s budget is a possible solution.

“Our police department is budgeted at 400 police officers and we have way less than that,” Grimes said. “Someone suggested we move that number down to 300 and that would be more reasonable … there’s extra money in there.”

Grimes emphasized the importance of supporting Montgomery Fire Rescue since they provide assistance not just for fires, but car wrecks, heart attacks, and calls for routine medical assistance. “We’ve got a really good bunch over there and I personally want to keep those guys happy,” he said.

Infrastructure also took center stage. Council members highlighted the need to repave deteriorating roads such as Madison Avenue and Atlanta Highway, add speed bumps to slow neighborhood traffic, and improve roadway lighting.

“I hate speed bumps personally, but we don’t have an option,” Grimes said. We don’t have enough police officers to catch all the people who are speeding, so we have to have speed bumps. Everybody’s got to live with speed bumps because we cannot afford for some child to get run over in a neighborhood.”

District 3 Councilor Marche Johnson said residents are frustrated with damage to their vehicles from rough streets. “We’re increasing economic development and bringing tourists here, but the people of Montgomery need something too,” she said. “One thing I hear is, ‘We’re tired of getting new tires.’”

Johnson also pushed for more lighting on Northern Boulevard, saying the lack of visibility makes the area feel neglected.

“Light up the highways,” said Johnson. “That has been a huge push for me because it is very dark on Northern Boulevard. If you’ve ever ridden that way going from Congressman Dickinson Drive down into Wetumpka and even farther north from Wetumpka getting off by the zoo, it is so dark. It is almost like that side of the community in the city does not exist.”

In District 1, Grimes said priorities include strengthening the fiber network for crime cameras from Atlanta Highway to Taylor Road, addressing neighborhood flooding through a $1.5 million storm water survey, and adding creek monitors and rainfall gauges to pinpoint problem areas.

The proposed budget also allocates funding for new citywide cameras, updated sanitation and landfill equipment, and expanded signage across the city.

“I think the two main priorities are a safe and clean city,” Grimes said. “That means grass cut, roads paved, trash picked up, trying to do as much as we can with the homeless population, and keeping crime down.”

The council is expected to vote on the budget at its regular meeting next Tuesday.