Still shot from city of Hoover YouTube video
The Hoover City Council meets at Hoover City Hall on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026.
The Hoover City Council this week approved about $15 million worth of capital expenditures for fiscal 2026, including more than $6 million for vehicles.
The capital budget also includes $3 million for stormwater improvements, $3 million for road paving, an additional $1 million toward a project to widen Valleydale Road, an additional $800,000 for the National Computer Forensics Institute expansion, upgrades to public safety communications and dispatch systems, and improvements to athletic fields and city parks.
Hoover Mayor Nick Derzis noted that much of the capital expenses are not going into new facilities, but rather maintenance and upkeep of existing facilities and replacement of aging vehicles.
“The deferred maintenance led to a lot of repairs,” Derzis told the City Council on Monday night. “The assets have been used until they failed, which is crazy. Reactive spending is more expensive and disruptive than planned. We must plan. We’ve got maintain what we own. Tonight is just a call to act responsibly and strategically.”
Each department head was asked to submit a list of needs for the next three to five years for review by the mayor’s office, city administrator and Finance Department, and that list totaled about $150 million, including more than $27 million worth of requests for fiscal 2026, interim Chief Financial Officer Melinda Lopez said.
That list also did not include any additional money they might be needed for the construction of a new Exit 9 Interstate 459 interchange other than $61 million already borrowed and set aside for that project in 2023, Lopez said. That project is scheduled to be put out for bids by the Alabama Department of Transportation in 2026, city officials said.
Derzis said his recommended capital project budget takes care of the most immediate needs, but there are a lot more needs that must be addressed.
“We’ve got to get to a disciplined multi-year capital plan,” he said.
The $150 million in capital needs that were identified by department heads equal about 80 percent of the city’s annual general fund operating budget and are roughly twice the size of Hoover’s $74 million general fund reserve balance.
“These requests are not wish list items or projects we would simply like to do,” Derzis said.
“These are real capital needs with real costs that we must address in order to maintain our current facilities, replace aging equipment and proactively address the infrastructure that our residents rely on every day.”
The city of Hoover is not in a crisis, but this is a call to action, Derzis said.
“The real risk would be ignoring the financial realities in front of us,” he said. “Responsible cities don’t wait for failure; they plan for durability.”
Derzis said proactive investment now helps avoid significantly higher emergency repair costs in the future and allows Hoover to prioritize projects strategically and maintain public assets at the high standard residents expect.
Hoover Councilman Robin Schultz said that over the past five years, the fiscal stewardship of the prior administration fell short of the transparency and prudence that residents deserve.
“Significant bond obligations were undertaken without sufficient long-term capital planning, leaving this council constrained and our city financially restricted in projects we’d like to do,” Schultz said. “Equally concerning was the limited communication with the full council, which resulted in votes on complex financial matters without adequate information or deliberation. Those days are thankfully over with.”
Here are some of the higher-dollar capital expenses approved for fiscal 2026 by the City Council on Monday night:
- Drainage maintenance - $3,020,000
- Road paving - $3 million
- Additional money for Valleydale Road widening - $1 million
- Contingency money for National Computer Forensics Institute expansion - $800,000 (Shelby County also contributing $800,000)
- Police body cameras (payment for years 2-5) - $350,000
- Physical security system updates at multiple buildings - $330,000
- Equipment for 911 Center - $313,055
- Improvements at Shades Mountain Park - $275,030
- Fire Station No. 6 roof replacement - $250,000
- Technology tablet replacement - $240,000
- Cabling relocation for National Computer Forensics Institute expansion - $150,000
- Hoover Recreation Center elevator update/replacement - $120,000
- Improvements at Hoover Sports Park East - $120,000
- Improvements at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium - $110,896
- Hoover Public Library restrooms update - $110,000
- Public Safety Center roof replacement — $100,000
- Traffic signal battery backups - $100,000
- Traffic signal maintenance and fiber optic repairs - $100,000
- Dam safety program development - $100,000
- Sidewalk materials and maintenance - $100,000
Vehicle purchases included in the 2026 budget and their amounts were:
- 27 Tahoes for Police Department - $2 million
- Fire engine - $1.2 million
- Fire pumper - $750,000
- Bucket truck for engineering - $260,000
- Three vehicles for police investigations - $162,200
- Three trucks for building inspections - $135,000
- Dump truck for public works - $100,000
- F250 truck for park maintenance - $85,000
- F250 truck for public works - $85,000
- F350 for Fire Department - $80,000
- Tahoe for police administration - $75,000
- Truck for police sergeant - $75,000
- Tahoe for mayor’s office - $74,000
- 14-pasenger shuttle bus for Senior Center - $65,000
- 14-passenger shuttle bus for Rec Center - $65,000
- F150 truck for police animal control - $65,000
- F150 truck for fire inspector - $65,000
- Radio truck for E911 center - $65,000
- Tahoe for police lieutenant - $64,500
- SUV for city planner - $58,000
- Reel mower for park maintenance - $55,000
- SUV for engineering - $50,000
- SUV for parks and recreation - $50,000
- Forklift for fleet department - $50,000
- Ford Explorer for E911 center - $50,000
- Ford Explorer for court - $48,000
- F-150 truck for building services - $45,000
- Ford Explorer for risk staff - $45,000
- Ford Explorer for technology department - $45,000
- Kubota mower for park maintenance - $36,000
- Polaris for Fire Department - $35,000
- 6-passenger golf cart for Aldridge Gardens - $14,000
- Dump bed golf cart for Aldridge Gardens - $14,000
