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Finance committee forwards FY26 budgets, agency funding and transfers to council; vape tax tabled
Summary
The Tuscaloosa City Finance Committee approved a package of FY26 budgets, agency funding agreements and fund transfers and forwarded them to the City Council; a proposed vape tax ordinance was tabled for one week.
The Tuscaloosa City Finance Committee approved a package of fiscal-year 2026 budget items, funding agreements and facility-fund transfers and forwarded them to the City Council for final action. Committee members also voted to table a proposed amendment to Chapter 7 related to a vape tax for one week to allow more information to be provided.
Among items the committee approved were the renewal of the city engineer’s professional liability insurance, a funding agreement that routes a portion of the mayor’s Project Warrior capital allocation to the Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports Commission, general-fund budget adoption as revised, the Elevate fund budget, water and sewer operating and capital budgets, and multiple transfers into facility renewal and reserve funds. The committee also approved pay-plan provisions discussed during budget hearings, including stipends for employees and step adjustments discussed earlier in the process.
Key approved amounts and adjustments discussed at the meeting include a stated reduction in the engineer liability premium of roughly $1,600 to about $18,700; a transfer of $40,000 from the airport operating budget into the airport development fund to await delayed access-control purchases; a stipend package described as “just under $500,000” overall that includes a $500 stipend for employees paid under the public-safety pay plan and $250 for employees under the non-public-safety pay plan; and set-aside transfers for equipment buys and longer lead-time vehicle orders, including $1,146,000 for public works and $126,000 for the fire department.
Committee members approved the use of opioid settlement funds to cover the final annual payment to Freedom Farm of $250,000 and to continue the annual agency amount for Phoenix House. The committee also approved agency funding contracts for FY26 that include programs with the Tuscaloosa City School System (pre-K summer learning, dual enrollment and an athletic excellence fund) and agreed to add $50,000 more to the Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports funding line and $150,000 to the Tuscaloosa County District Attorney’s office to be paid from opioid settlement funds; staff said they will coordinate with the DA’s office on compliance with opioid-funding rules.
The committee recorded its approvals as voice votes; routine phrasing in the record is “All in favor say aye,” followed by unanimous “aye” responses. Specific individual roll-call tallies or names of movers and seconders were not listed for many items in the committee transcript.
The committee tabled the proposed vape tax ordinance for one week at the request of council members seeking more information; members directed staff to place the item on the agenda next week and to allow it to be double‑booked with other business.
The committee’s votes move the mayor’s recommended FY26 budget—together with the committee’s stated changes—forward to a full council vote in the coming week.
