Birmingham City Council

Birmingham Seeks Dollars for Its Entertainment Venues

Birmingham will apply for federal relief for five city-owned concert spaces and museums that lost revenue during the pandemic. The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, established last year by the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venues Act, offers funding for COVID-impacted entities, public or private, including live venues, movie theaters, museums and live performing arts organizations. The city will seek SVOG funding for Boutwell Auditorium, Sloss Historic Landmark Furnace, the Southern Museum of Flight, Birmingham Botanical Gardens and Arlington Historic House. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

New Challengers Enter Birmingham City Elections

New challengers have emerged in Birmingham’s upcoming municipal elections, which will take place Aug. 24. Since late February, 10 additional candidates have announced runs for council seats, with some races growing rather crowded; one new candidate, meanwhile, has thrown his hat into the ring for mayor. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Woodfin Promises “Recovery and Restoration” With Proposed FY 2022 Budget

Looking at Mayor Randall Woodfin’s proposed budget for the 2022 fiscal year, it’d be easy to imagine that COVID-19 — and the havoc it wreaked on Birmingham’s city coffers — had never happened. This year’s budget had dropped by nearly $29 million, largely the result of diminished business tax revenues. Woodfin’s proposed FY 2022 budget, by contrast, is the city’s largest to date. At $455.5 million, it’s nearly $3 million more than the pre-pandemic, $452.8 million FY 2020 budget. In a call with reporters Monday afternoon, Woodfin said the budget “doesn’t have any pain points,” in contrast to the austerity of the previous year. And though city finance director Lester Smith stopped short of saying the city had made a full financial recovery — revenue from business licenses is down about $5 million from last year — the proposed budget casts a rosy light on the city’s post-COVID future. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham City Council Approves Incentives for HBCU Classic at Legion Field

Legion Field is adding another HBCU football classic to its schedule. The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to approve an agreement with Morehouse College and Tuskegee University to host their annual match-up for three years, starting this October. The deal calls for the city to provide up to $500,000 per year in incentives and in-kind services to host the event. The Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic previously has taken place in Columbus, Ga. — but Mayor Randall Woodfin, a Morehouse alumnus, told the council that organizers “have not felt the support they need” to stay there. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham Agrees to Sell Old Ensley High to Be Redeveloped as 244-Unit Housing

Plans are moving forward to redevelop the former Ensley High School property as a 244-unit housing development. The Birmingham City Council approved an ordinance Tuesday selling the campus, which has been abandoned since 2006, to the North Carolina-based Zimmerman Properties for $50,000. The city also will provide incentives for the project in the form of a grant of up to $1.5 million, some of which will come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Home Investment Partnerships Program. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham Council Stalls Smithfield Redevelopment, Wants Mayor to Share Plan

The Birmingham City Council has delayed plans for the city to purchase and redevelop the Smithfield Community’s defunct Hill Elementary School property. Mayor Randall Woodfin’s office has proposed that the city buy the school and renovate it for workforce housing. But several councilors argued that they had not been adequately informed of the city’s plans for the property and demanded more information. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Redevelopment of Southtown as Mixed-Use Property to Begin in June

The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to rezone the Southtown Court housing project, making way for a mixed-use redevelopment of the property. Now designated a “mixed-use downtown” district, the property, near St. Vincent’s Birmingham, will be transformed into a development that includes multi-family residential, hotel, office, retail/dining, medical office, parking garage and open space uses. Developers intend to turn the property into a “pedestrian-friendly corridor,” including pocket parks, green spaces and bike lanes. Plans to redevelop the property, near where a 455-unit housing project now stands have existed in some form since at least 2008. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham Council, Schools Extend Mask Requirements

Masks will remain mandatory in Birmingham through May 24. The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to extend the city’s face covering ordinance, requiring masks in all public places to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Exceptions are made for outdoor exercise and eating or drinking at restaurants or bars. Religious worship services are also exempt, though the ordinance still “strongly encourages” masks in those settings. The Birmingham City School Schools system also announced Tuesday that masks will be required in schools and all school-related events through the end of the school year to combat the threat from COVID-19. The city ordinance received the support of Mayor Randall Woodfin and most of the council, with the exception of District 2 Councilor Hunter Williams. Williams argued that the ordinance would make Birmingham an outlier in Jefferson County and the state of Alabama as a whole, placing “undue burden” on local businesses. The state’s mask ordinance is set to expire Friday, and Gov. Kay Ivey has said she will not renew it. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham Council Officially Backs City Pension Bill

A proposed bill to revise the city of Birmingham’s pension plan gained the official support of the City Council Tuesday. HB510, which is pending in the Alabama Legislature, would compel the city to fully fund its pension obligation and increase employees’ contributions to the fund. Not doing so, Mayor Randall Woodfin argued, could spell future financial disaster for the city. The city’s pension had been underfunded since 2002, and when Woodfin took office in 2017, the pension liability stood at $750 million. Since then, Woodfin has nearly doubled the city’s annual contribution to the pension. but its liability has continued to increase and as of 2019 stood at $900 million. It would still take the changes proposed in HB510 to put the pension fund “on solid ground,” Woodfin said. As reported last week, HB510 would increase current employees’ contributions from 7% to 7.5% and would reduce retirement benefits for new employees hired after July 1, 2021. The bill would also reduce disability allowances for new employees and replace spousal survivors’ benefits with the option for an “actuarially reduced retirement benefit.” Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham Loan ‘Saves’ Woodland Park Save A Lot

The Birmingham City Council approved a loan and incentives program Tuesday that will keep the Woodland Park neighborhood’s Save A Lot location from closing. The city will provide the store, at 873 Dennison Avenue SW, with a 24-month loan not to exceed $1,000,000 at 3% interest. It also will give the company up to $750,000 in tax rebates over the next 10 years. The money will go toward renovations, inventory changes and new staff positions. Read more.

by Sam Prickett