Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange proposes $250 budget for FY19

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Montgomery mayor Todd Strange

During Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange asked for a budget increase in the upcoming fiscal year.

Strange proposed a $250 million budget — an $8 million increase from FY18 — that would fund public safety, merit-based raises as well as a one-time payment for retirees.

The mayor’s proposed budget includes:

  • $3 million for health care for those active and retirees called an “internal service fund”
  • $1.7 million increases to the Montgomery Police Department and $1.3 million for the Montgomery Fire Department, including a merit increase for “deserving employees.”
  • $1.2 million for public safety
  • $500k for a one-time payment to retirees
  • $1.5 million in additional neighborhood paving, intersection upgrades and striping (nearly $225k per district)

Strange proffered several ways the city will pay for the increase:

  • The city would raise $3 million with a 2-cent gas tax: from $0.04 to $0.06
  • $3 million from a general increase in sales and lodging taxes
  • $2 million of those dollars by reducing city sanitation costs by limiting the trash pick up days from three days a week down to two.