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Anniston opens public hearing on fiscal 2026 budget as resident urges 1% sales tax increase
Summary
City staff presented the city manager's recommended FY 2026 budget — including a proposed $51.7 million in general fund expenditures, a $20.9 million reserve and a heavy reliance on sales tax — and the public hearing drew a resident call to raise the local sales tax by one cent to generate new revenue for pay raises and services.
Anniston city staff opened a public hearing on the city manager's recommended fiscal 2026 budget and outlined projected revenues, expenditures and reserves while a member of the public urged a 1% increase in the city's local sales tax.
City staff said the recommended general fund spending plan for fiscal 2026 would total $51,700,000 and that the city's fund balance is currently $20,900,000, about 41% of expenditures. Staff described sales taxes as the largest single source of general fund revenue, reporting sales tax receipts of $28,800,000 (about 57.6% of general fund revenue) and property tax projected at $4,200,000 (about 8.5%). Staff also noted the budget includes a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment for general employees and step increases for public safety positions and described allocations for public works, community services, internal service funds and special funds such as the fire tax and fire training funds.
The recommended budget would spend slightly more than projected revenues in the general fund, staff said; the gap would be covered from the existing fund balance. Staff gave line‑item figures for internal services ($5,230,000, including $859,000 for liability insurance, $4,040,000 for health insurance and $338,000 for workers' compensation), a museum contribution of $846,750 (about 55% of the museum's operations, per staff), and planned capital and maintenance investments including roadway resurfacing, vehicles, equipment and facilities. Staff described transfers out reduced from the prior year's one-time allocations.
A public commenter urged the council to approve a 1% (one-cent) increase in the local sales tax, saying the change would raise an estimated $5,800,000 in recurring revenue and could be used for employee pay increases and to eliminate certain resident trash bills. The commenter said raising the combined sales tax rate by one percentage point (from 10% to 11%, as described by the speaker) would produce "significant resources" and argued the increase would be "barely felt by individual families, yet millions will be yielded for critical needs." The speaker added, "I understand that no politician wants to be the person that broke the subject, so allow me to be the villain in this," and quantified the potential revenue and hypothetical uses during the allotted three-minute public comment period.
The council closed the public hearing after receiving comments. No final adoption vote on the budget was recorded in the transcript excerpt.
The public hearing portion of the meeting included standard procedural instructions for speakers and staff follow-up requests for residents with specific property or service questions.
