Budget presenter Miss Lopez told the Hoover City Council in a late-December meeting that the city's operational budget for fiscal 2026 includes a 1% cost-of-living allowance for employees, 10 new positions and restored department operating funds, and other modest increases.

"The 1% COLA ends up being right around $900,000," Miss Lopez said, summarizing the mayor's transmittal letter and the detailed budget binder provided to council members. She said the 10 new positions — seven firefighter/paramedic roles, two police officers and one court magistrate — and several position upgrades together total roughly $1,000,000.

Miss Lopez said the operational book does not include the full capital program; however, it notes $2,000,000 in capital for 27 police vehicles. She also cited proposed enhancements of about $200,000 for marketing and $60,000 for tourism. The presenter told council the general fund starting reserve in the book shows about $89,200,000 against estimated revenue near $180,000,000 and estimated a likely transfer to the capital projects fund of roughly $7 million to $9 million.

Council members pressed for specific follow-up figures. Council Member Murphy asked for the dollar increase in employee insurance; Council Member (unnamed) and others asked for the exact cost tied to additional judicial personnel and the amount of restored departmental operating cuts. Miss Lopez agreed to provide those figures by email and to help council members interpret the departmental comparatives in the binder.

Miss Lopez also described municipal court staffing changes: two judicial analysts to help process records and video requests, a new magistrate position and an additional public defender to cover expanded court dockets. The municipal court handles a high caseload, which the city attorney suggested was about 14,000 cases last year.

Mayor Nicholas C. Dersis and council members emphasized that capital requests would be considered separately in early 2026. The council set a special call meeting for the operational budget vote at 11 a.m. on the coming Monday.

Next steps: staff will furnish the requested follow-up numbers by email; the council will reconvene on the scheduled special call to vote on the operational budget, and a separate capital budget review will follow in early 2026.