Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.
The Shelby County Commission unanimously approved the FY24 budget during the Sept. 11 meeting.
The Shelby County Commission unanimously approved the proposed budget for fiscal year 2024 at $143,972,106 during its Sept. 11 meeting. This budget saw a decrease of just over 8% from FY23’s revised budget of $156,722,432.
The county’s expected revenues are $148,055,941 and the total proposed expenditures are $147,446,379.
The projected revenues for the year are an 11% decrease from the revenues of $166,610,288 in FY23. Part of the decrease is due to the $28 million jail expansion budgeted in FY23.
The general fund revenues increased almost 12%, from $77,149,179 in 2023 to $86,346,416 in 2024. The planned general fund expenditures for FY24 total $85,916,854, 14% higher than the general fund budget of $76,231,782 in FY23.
The largest revenue increases were in real and business personal property taxes, along with the one-cent sales tax account.
“We think it’s a very solid budget,” County Manager Chad Scroggins said. “It’s conservative on revenues. We will always be conservative on revenues because if it comes out in our favor and it’s better than the conservative policy we have, we have the ability to reinvest those funds back into the community.”
Projected county revenues
- Real property tax: $21,089,957
- Highway department: $22,413,938
- County sales and use tax: $20,769,097
- Water services: $14,915,000
- Landfill: $9,536,500
Top FY24 budget expenditures
- Public safety $41,544,559
- Highway department: $24,913,937
- Water Services: $18,371,136
- Landfill: $9,198,427
The highest priorities receiving county funding continue to be public safety, roads, bridges and infrastructure projects.
The Sheriff’s Office will receive vehicle replacements ($1.1 million) and five new full-time positions for contracted deputies. Two deputies are being funded by the Town of Vincent and three positions are being funded by the commission’s general fund.
The budget also included additional funding for park and recreation grants, from $300,000 to $500,000. One full-time position is expected to be added for a landfill equipment operator.
More funding will be provided for volunteer fire departments and emergency transport services, to address the ongoing needs for more medical transport throughout the county.
“The additional support for fire and EMS, we’re going to lead the state of Alabama in this. We’re going to solve this problem we have with emergency medical transport,” Scroggins said.
Other major projects for FY24
- Construction of improvements at the Shelby County Jail ($27.5 million)
- Emergency medical services capital and operating initiatives ($2.3 million)
- Support for school resource officers, otherwise known as SROs
- Emergency communications coverage and capacity improvements
- Construction of a water service operations office
- Double Oak Park trail expansion
- Dunnavant Valley Greenway Phase 2 extension
For FY24, there will be a 3.5% increase on health insurance for county employees, 92% of which is covered by the commission, and employees will also receive a cost-of-living payment from the FY23 savings.
Scroggins said there is already work going on with the Interstate 65 expansion, although the project will be part of the FY25 budget.
Scroggins said the staff work begins on the budget in May and capital expenditures come to the commission in June.
“We’ve actually started a little bit earlier, so you could see that budget earlier in the process than we have before,” he said. “We’re proud of the staff that’s helped us put this together.”
