Fairhope, Alabama
DELAYED DUE TO MUNICIPAL ELECTION
Adoption of the FY 2021 municipal budget is on the agenda for Monday's city council meeting; the budgetary fiscal year ended last October 1st but the council chose to delay implementing a new budget to allow the newly-elected representatives to weigh in.
CITY OPERATIONS FLAT
Both total revenue and expenditures are projected to be relatively flat in the draft, reflecting current economic uncertainties related to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic.
Sanitation Department Shortfall
The sanitation department (garbage/trash/recycling pick-up services) will continue to operate in the red, unless the city council decides to make adjustments ($900K shortfall).
Councilmen Brown, Conyers, and Boone have already publicly indicated they thought the department should be self-supporting, break even.
Boone called it simple economics, "if you want to do it twice a week ... and you are losing money ... have to go up on rates ... or cut back."
Brown: "We shouldn't be losing money ... should be breaking even."
Conyers: "Look at cash flow ... try to break even."
Councilman Burrell observed the city actually picks up 4 times a week now: garbage twice, trash/debris, and recycling once weekly.
He alluded to a $3 fee increase implemented over a three-year span last term ... but said revenues still "look a little low" for the coming year. (The city charges $15.80/month now.)
UTILITY OPERATIONS STABLE TOO
Expensive Upgrades Continuing
Total revenue from the city's three utilities (electric, water, natural gas) is projected to be slightly higher at $46 million; expenses about the same as last year, $34 million.
Just over $1 million is to be transferred out for other
city purposes ("pilot fee" for community development, various charitable
contributions, etc.)
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| Sanitation finances FY 2021. |
Comments
For multi-family developments, this Impact Fee would need to be significantly more substantial because while those residents only use some of the City (electric/water) and County (schools) services, these developments present significant actual "costs" to the City and their neighbors. Obviously, each of the families living in these multifamily housing do not pay property taxes and because of the tax classification, the owner of these apartments pays a proportionally lower rate than the average homeowner/tax pay payer. All the while, the homeowners taxes are ever increasing to pay for road expansion, to help manage the traffic challenges these apartments create, portable classrooms because we're continually outgrowing the capacity of our schools and for city/county services such as utilities, police, fire, etc. because the growth/size of those services aren't growing at the same rate as the completely unbridled and unsustainable growth.
They can afford it. If they couldn't, do you really thing 68 Ventures/Truland/Bellator would be trying to build multifamily developments all over our area.
Fairhope is fortunate. It has too much money.