By William C. Singleton III
Journal contributor
The Homewood City Council recently passed a $55 million 2014-2015 fiscal budget that includes bonuses for city employees.
The bonus totals about $350,000 and was from a surplus realized in the 2013-2014 budget that city officials rolled into this year’s budget. The city’s budget runs from Oct. 1-Sept. 30 of each year.
“I believe in profit-sharing,” Mayor Scott McBrayer said. “When our city has a surplus, I like to thank our employees by giving back. They do work hard year to year. It’s an incentive for them to help us all year long to do well and not spend money on things we don’t need and not waste money.”
Full-time city employees will be given a one-time bonus from between $300 and $2,000 depending on years of service. The city has about 360 full-time employees. Employees with one to three years of service will receive $350; four to six years of service will receive $500; seven to nine years, $750; 10-15 years, $1,000; 16-19 years, $1,500; and 20 or more years of service, $2,000.
McBrayer couldn’t say how much surplus from last year’s budget the city realized because the city hasn’t gotten total figures from September. But he said it’s the sixth year the city has had a surplus at the end of the budget year.
The $55 million budget anticipates about $52.3 million in revenue with the difference being made up from the previous year’s budget. The budget also includes $215,300 for merit raises.
The new budget also includes $3 million for capital improvements. The city plans to buy two new garbage trucks and 15 new vehicles for the police department to supplement 15 vehicles it purchased in last year’s budget, McBrayer said.
The 2014-2015 includes $600,000 to pave roads and $365,000 for sidewalk improvements.
The city also allocated $1.1 million for the expansion of the greenway along Lakeshore Parkway and $450,000 for the West Oxmoor improvement project.
To read more about the budget, visit www.homewoodal.net.
