Birmingham
Neighborhood organizations, others take issue with Woodfin’s budget
Neighborhood officers, the Birmingham Sister Cities Commission, and others expressed concern over their funding being cut from next year’s budget.
Members of the Birmingham Sister Cities Commission address the Birmingham City Council with complaints regarding Mayor Randall Woodfin’s proposed FY 2019 budget. Photo by Sam Prickett/BirminghamWatch.
During a public hearing Monday night, representatives from several organizations complained to the Birmingham City Council that their funding had been been eliminated by Mayor Randall Woodfin’s proposed FY 2019 budget, BirminghamWatch reports.
Organizations including the Birmingham Sister Cities Commission and the Birmingham Urban League expressed concern over their city funds being zeroed out by the new budget. It’s possible, however, that both organizations will be able to receive funding from the newly created Department for Innovation and Economic Opportunity.
But neighborhood association presidents, however, said that their funding cuts were not only unfair, but the result of bureaucratic issues at City Hall. Woodfin had cut neighborhood budgets for the 2019 fiscal year, citing existing funds that remained unspent in neighborhood coffers. Neighborhood association officers argued Monday night that they had often attempted to spend that money, but that the interminable approval process made that difficult, if not impossible.
City councilors said they would advocate for all three organizations during budget negotiations with the mayor’s office.
