Hoover City Council, school board set 2022 budget hearings

The Hoover City Council and Hoover Board of Education both have scheduled meetings regarding their budgets for fiscal 2022, which begins Oct. 1.

The Hoover City Council’s Finance Committee has scheduled a meeting for 1 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 2, in the William J. Billingsley Council Chambers at Hoover City Hall. The Finance Committee plans to hear from various city department heads about their requests for fiscal 2022, including capital projects, new personnel and requested increases in operational costs, City Administrator Allan Rice said.

Some increases in operational costs are being requested because city departments had to cut out some regular expenses the past couple of years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on city revenues, Rice said. As revenues recover, some city departments will be asking for some of those funds to be restored, he said.

Mayor Frank Brocato plans to present his 2022 budget proposal to the City Council at a council work session at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 7, Rice said. The hope is that the council will have enough time to review it, ask questions and make any desired changes in time to vote on the budget by Sept. 20, Rice said.

The 2021 budget approved by the Hoover City Council in November 2020 included $134 million in expenditures.

Meanwhile, the Hoover Board of Education has scheduled the required two public hearings regarding its 2022 budget. They are set for Wednesday, Sept. 8, at 7:30 a.m. and Tuesday, Sept. 14, at 4:30 p.m. The school board likely will be asked to vote on the 2022 budget at its official meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 14.

The school board’s budget for 2021 included $214 million in expenditures.