Homewood council accepts city manager's budget brief outlining $128.5 million plan, sets schedule for hearings

Homewood City Council on Aug. 25 accepted a budget briefing from City Manager Glenn Adams that outlined a preliminary all-funds total of $128,511,652 and an operational budget of $75,593,637. The council voted 9-0 to accept the report and move into the public budget hearing process.

Adams told the council the budget as presented is preliminary and will be refined in the weeks ahead as staff receive updated revenue and expenditure information. The proposed budget assumes a 2% revenue increase, a 3.5% Consumer Price Index baseline used for planning, and includes a 5% merit pay pool plus a tiered bonus that would be paid from surplus funds if available.

Why this matters: the briefing sets the framework for the council's September budget hearings and signals city priorities including school support, stormwater projects and infrastructure work such as the Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) on Lakeshore/I-65.

Key details from Adams' presentation include: - Total…