Citizen Portal
Sign In

Mayor Reed touts modest revenue gains and urges action on state bill that could shift police chief appointments

Montgomery City Council · February 18, 2026

Loading...

AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Mayor Mary Reed reported modest January revenue increases, highlighted tourism growth and urged residents and council members to contact state legislators over a proposal that would allow state officials to appoint local police chiefs under staffing shortfalls.

Mayor Mary Reed opened the meeting with a tribute to the late Rev. Jesse Jackson and then gave the council a financial and legislative update, urging local engagement on a state bill she said would change who can appoint a police chief under certain staffing thresholds.

On the city's finances, the mayor said January collections showed a modest year-over-year increase of about 1.3 percent for sales and use tax, a 21 percent increase compared with the prior month, and a 10.5 percent year-over-year increase in lodging tax. She also noted gas-tax revenue increased 33.1 percent compared with January 2025 and predicted a revenue uptick beginning in March as consumer activity returns.

On public-safety legislation, the mayor described a committee proposal that would permit state officials to assume appointment authority for a police chief for up to six months if active-duty officer counts fall beneath a specified level. She told the council the measure "would shift appointment authority from local leadership to state officials for up to 6 months, changing accountability and reporting structures," and said she did not feel the legislation was needed.

The mayor singled out Senator Will Barfoot as a sponsor and urged constituents to contact him and the local delegation. "Senator Barfoot is a sponsor of that bill. I think he ought to be the first one you call," she said, adding that the League of Municipalities and several mayors were not supportive of the proposal.

Mayor Reed also promoted Black History Month activities, community events and a city business-resource fair. She asked the public to view the State of the City online and pointed listeners to experiencemontgomeryal.org for a list of events.