City of Hoover on track for another strong financial year, CFO says

The city of Hoover is having another strong financial year, with tax revenues for fiscal 2022 so far coming in $34.8 million over expenses, nine months into the fiscal year, Chief Financial Officer Tina Bolt shared with the Hoover City Council Monday night.

The city was expecting to generate $141 million in revenues in fiscal 2022 and as of the end of June (nine months into the fiscal year) already had collected almost $122 million, or 86% of that, Bolt said.

Meanwhile, as of the end of June, the city had only spent 65% of what it had planned to spend this year. That means there was a $34.8 million surplus at the end of June.

A big part of the strong revenues is sales and use taxes, Bolt said. The city had expected to get $93.8 million in sales and use taxes in fiscal 2022 and already has collected $79 million — or 84% — of that, she said. Also, sales and use taxes are $4 million ahead of what they were at the same point last year, Bolt said.

The city through the end of June continued to see an uptick in consumer spending, despite inflation, but Bolt said she expects to see a downward trend in the future.

Last year, the city ended fiscal 2021 with a $34 million surplus, boosting the city’s general fund balance from $47.8 million on Sept. 30, 2020, to $82.2 million on Sept. 30, 2021. Now, that fund sits at $117 million.

In other business Monday night, the Hoover City Council:

• Appointed Jeremy Wright of J. Wright Building Co. (a residential builder) and Jess Johnson of JohnsonKreis Construction (a commercial builder) to the Hoover Building Code of Appeals Board. Their term goes through Aug. 31, 2027.
• Renewed the city’s contract with Granular Insurance for stop-loss insurance, which provides protection against catastrophic or unpredictable losses. The insurance rates are going up 5.3% but were still the lowest rates offered by seven companies bidding for the contract, Human Resources Director Mike Lewis said.
• Agreed to accept up to $15,000 from the Jefferson County Commission for the nutrition program at the Hoover Senior Center, which is up from $10,000 last year.
• Agreed to pay Pacer.ai $35,000 a year for software that will help the city track actual usage of city parks at special events and provide the city information regarding health care trends in the area.
• Agreed to pay Axon Enterprise $47,101 for four in-car camera systems for Hoover police vehicles used to patrol the interstates. The money for the cameras is coming from money obtained as a result of seizure of drugs and vehicles used to transport drugs, City Administrator Allan Rice said.
• Agreed to pay CGS Vinyl $4,000 for new logo designs for Hoover Police Department Tahoes.
• Declared properties at 534 Atvonn Drive and 896 Alford Ave. as nuisances due to high grass and/or weeds and agreed to pay to have high grass and/or weeds at three other properties — 1618 Russet Crest Lane, 2337 Tyler Road and 2406 Gawain Drive — cut and then have the property owners billed for the service.
• Rezoned property with a single-family residence at 299 Shades Crest Road from a single-family estate district to a legacy single-family district, which will give the property owner more leeway with setbacks.
• Set a public hearing for Sept. 6 to consider the annexation of property with a single-family residence at 3449 Ridge Crest Drive.
• Set a public hearing for Sept. 6 to consider modifications to the city’s ordinance prohibiting the possession, sale, use, storage, distribution or manufacturing of pyrotechnics and fireworks in the city to provide what fire Chief Clay Bently said is a more clear definition of what fireworks are.