Vestavia Hills has another record year of revenues in 2022, CFO says

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The city of Vestavia Hills had another record year financially, with a 6% growth in revenues for fiscal 2022, according to a preliminary report given to the City Council Monday night by Chief Financial Officer Melvin Turner.

Total revenues for the year ending Sept. 30 were $60.3 million, compared to $56.7 million in fiscal 2021, Turner said. That’s a $3.6 million increase and $8.3 million better than the amount of revenues projected in the 2022 budget.

Sixty-five percent of the year-over-year growth came from sales taxes, records show. The city collected $27.9 million in sales taxes, up from $25.5 million in fiscal 2021.

“Sales taxes have just exploded,” Turner said. “We’re doing extremely well.”

The city also took in $17.1 million in real estate property taxes, up from $16.6 million, and almost $2 million in personal property taxes, which was only $1,715 less than in 2021.

Revenue from business licenses increased $243,000 to $3.75 million, and utility franchise fees were up $113,000 to $2.35 million.

Expenditures also increased from $51.7 million in fiscal 2021 to $56.3 million in fiscal 2022. But expenditures stayed below revenues by almost $4 million, Turner shared.

Councilwoman Kimberly Cook said a lot of the growth in sales taxes is because of the city’s economic growth and great potential the city has moving forward, but some of it is due to inflation.

“Even though revenues are up, our expenses are also inflated somewhat because of inflation,” Cook said.

Final financial numbers for fiscal 2022 won’t be ready until the city’s audit is completed, Turner said.

In an update on the new Civic Center, Raynor Boles with TCU Consulting Services shared that city employees have been in the new Vestavia Civic Center about two weeks and the center should be ready to be open to the public by the end of this week.

Also on Monday night, the City Council approved a lease agreement for space for the city’s public works and park maintenance crews. The city will pay $11,651 a month to Longford LLC for 15,280 square feet of warehouse and office space in the Acton Center at 3224 Cahaba Heights Road.

The space will serve as the home base for the city’s public works and park maintenance crews, giving them a place to park trucks and store tools and other equipment, City Manager Jeff Downes said. There also will be some office space for supervisors, he said.

The space has been used by Acton Flooring, which will continue to maintain a retail space on the first floor of the building that is there, Downes said. The city is just taking over office and warehouse space, he said. The lease agreement is for five years, but the city has the option to extend that lease another five years, Downes said.

The city’s public works and park maintenance crews have moved around in recent years after being moved from Wald Park for the construction project there, Downes said. The crews at first moved to the former Gold’s Gym location for about 1 ½ years, but for the past two years, they have been on property owned by the Vestavia Hills Board of Education as the Gold’s Gym site has been transformed into Vestavia’s new Civic Center.

The plan is to move into the new space on Cahaba Heights Road in mid-January, Downes said.

Cook asked if people living near that site would experience any inconveniences because of the city crews moving there, and Downes said he doesn’t anticipate any noise nuisances. There actually probably will be less traffic because Acton’s flooring business has frequent tile floor deliveries there now, Downes said.

In other business Monday, the City Council:

  • Heard more from Boles, who also shared that the final coat of asphalt will be going down on the city’s portion of Crosshaven Drive this week, and the road should have temporary striping down by Friday. About 95% of the sidewalk work is done, and it should be completed in the next couple of weeks, leaving only grass installation to be done, Boles said. Jefferson County is continuing work on its portion of Crosshaven, he said.
  • Amended the master plan for Liberty Park to allow for single-family development in areas previously zoned for businesses, among a few other changes.
  • Rezoned property at 901 Montgomery Highway for office use that had never been put in a Vestavia Hills zoning category since being annexed by the city. There currently is an office on the site, and Dr. Melanie Petro, a plastic surgeon, plans to move her office there from adjacent property, Downes said.
  • Gave approval for a small cell tower to be put on right of way next to 2701 Anna Steele Lane.
  • Declared some furniture at the Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest to be surplus so the city can sell or dispose of it. The library added some study carrels and no longer had space for the furniture, Daniel Taggart said.
  • Recognized Vestavia Hills resident John Michael Chandash for rescuing a woman from a burning home in Mountain Brook on Aug. 29.
  • Accepted a park bench built by Girl Scout Troop 30688 out of wood salvaged from the old Wald Park playground.
  • Heard a report from Mayor Ashley Curry that the city is accepting applications to fill upcoming vacancies on the city’s Parks and Recreation Board and Library Board. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. on Nov. 14. The council plans to interview all applicants and make a decision on Nov. 28. Applications are available on the city’s website.