Montgomery council adopts new city flag, votes to delay implementation until October to spread costs

The Montgomery City Council approved a resolution adopting a new city flag after a debate over who would pay for replacements and how to phase implementation. Department staff said they did not have a citywide cost estimate available during the meeting, prompting concern from multiple council members.

"We don't have anything... we don't have a cost of how much this is gonna cost us," Council member (speaker 7) said during discussion, pressing the administration for numbers as the city faces other fiscal pressures. Another council member suggested making the change effective Oct. 1 to allow departments to include the expense in next fiscal-year budgets; finance staff supported that approach.

Council approved an amendment to set Oct. 1, 2026, as the effective date so departments could plan and phase purchases into their budgets. The amendment carried, and the resolution was adopted as amended on a 6–1 vote. The mayor's office and the sponsoring department said they will ask departments for counts of flags and uniform or plaque changes so staff can develop an estimate for future budget hearings.

The council did not adopt a firm total cost in the meeting; instead, members asked that the expense be handled through departmental budget entries and, if necessary, phased implementation. The resolution as amended requires staff to report back with implementation detail and estimated fiscal impact during budget discussions.