Prattville council holds budget work session; departments defend proposed spending and ask for clarifications

Prattville City Council met in a budget work session to review the mayor’s proposed fiscal-year budget and hear department-level explanations and requests. Department heads walked the council through tabbed sections of the draft budget; the session was held as a working meeting and not open for public comment.

The meeting covered personnel costs — including a 3% pay-plan adjustment, merit increases, and proposed reclassifications — group health fund increases and higher Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA) contribution rates. Council members pressed for clearer breakdowns of website-related spending, allocations for community initiatives and how long-term 1¢ allocations will phase in or free up for reallocation in 2026. Department directors also described budget increases driven by inflation, contract costs and planned capital work.

Why it matters: the work-session review gives council members a chance to flag items for change before the full council votes on the budget at a later regular meeting. Staff repeatedly said the document is a working budget that can be adjusted before adoption.

Discussion highlights included human-resources explanations of how pay adjustments are calculated and when pay-plan changes are brought to council; finance staff described rising health-care expenditures and higher RSA rates; engineering and public-works staff outlined sharp cost increases for stormwater and traffic-related work; parks and recreation and library representatives requested additional funding for operations and staff pay; sanitation leaders described staffing and equipment needs; and information-technology staff explained that website costs are split between executive and IT budgets for functional reasons.

No formal votes or final budget actions were taken at the meeting. Councilors asked staff for additional detail and follow-up — including historical spending reports, written allocations for community organizations, and clearer line-item consolidation — before the item returns for a formal vote.

The session concluded with each council member offering closing remarks thanking department staff and encouraging continued follow-up on outstanding questions and requests for documentation.