
Photo by Erin Nelson.
Remodeling of the former Rite Aid pharmacy off Montgomery Highway in Vestavia continues on July 7.
Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the city of Vestavia Hills is still experiencing strong showings from each of the city’s top four major revenue streams, meaning there will be no cuts to city services, City Manager Jeff Downes said.
Those revenue streams — sales and use taxes, real estate property taxes, business licenses and utility franchise fees — are all performing very well, seeing an increase in revenues over last year, Downes said.
Despite businesses closing for a time during the spring and some losing revenue, Downes said some businesses actually grew revenues, including grocery stores and other retailers that sell essential goods and perform essential services. This helped maintain a solid performance from sales tax revenues, though Downes said he does expect a hit in that department as collections catch up to the impact of COVID-19.
While city finances are generally in good shape, Downes said he and the rest of city leadership are fully aware and sensitive to the fact that many people, and many businesses, are not as fortunate.
That’s why Downes and other city leaders continue to ask residents to support Vestavia businesses, many of which are small businesses, and to follow health guidelines.
The city had issued 134 building permits for the first nine months of fiscal 2020, ending June 30, including 121 residential building permits and 13 commercial building permits. The total number of permits is the highest in city history, passing the 128 issued in 2017. The city also has benefited from a strong AAA credit rating from Moody’s Investor Services.
Utility franchise fees, which are based on energy consumption, are also up, Downes said. That’s a sign that the city is growing despite the impact of COVID-19.
“Despite us recognizing we are going to take a hit in sales tax ... we still anticipate a surplus,” Downes said.
All of the numbers seem to indicate that the city is growing and will continue to grow in the future, Downes said.
CITY OPERATIONS
With the city’s finances still on stable ground, Downes said there have been no cuts to city services.
The city spent about $1.48 million because of the COVID-19 outbreak, including increased payroll costs and the purchase of cleaning equipment and other items meant to mitigate the spread of the virus, such as hand sanitizer stations and personal protective equipment, but the city has received $1.5 million in reimbursement funds from the federal government through the CARES Act, Downes said.
Moving into the future, as the fight against the virus rages, Downes said the city has instituted many employee safety protocols and changed the way employees interact with the public, from using drop boxes to encouraging phone calls to avoid face-to-face interaction.
All of these efforts are “tools to help us and the public get through this pandemic,” Downes said.