HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – The Huntsville City Council is expected to approve the city’s budget Thursday for FY 2023, which begins Oct. 1.
The city’s general budget was set at $281 million by Mayor Tommy Battle and his administrative staff. The city also has two capital improvement funds totaling $104.5 million under council review.
Mayor Battle said the City of Huntsville, the City of Madison and the Madison County Commission, is nearing the official announcement of a partnership with the Alabama Department of Transportation.
The four facilities will split the funding to build seven high-profile roadway properties expected to total nearly $800 million. Talks have been going on for at least a year to bring the funding to fruition.
The budget includes $15 million for Huntsville to contribute to the road construction projects, two of them to improve traffic flow, with more money set aside in future budgets.
The seven projects are as follows:
- Highway 72 east of I-565 to Shields Road
- Widening of Highway 53 in northern Madison County from Tauras Drive to Old Railroad Bed Road
- Widening of I-565 from County Line Road to Wall Triana Highway
- Improvements to Interchange I-565/Memorial Parkway
- Widening Highway 72 west of Providence Main to County Line Road in Huntsville and Madison
- Resolute Way Interchange (directly west of Research Park Boulevard) with access to the Arsenal
- East Arsenal Connector from the Sparkman Drive exit to Patton Road.
The budget also includes 24 new police posts and 19 new fire and rescue posts. The fire and rescue shock will be used largely to build a new fire station in West Huntsville.
Another item for the budget includes a 5% cost of living adjustment (COLA) for all employees in addition to any tier increases that some employees may be eligible for. It’s the largest raise Battle has proposed in his 14 years as mayor, beating last year’s hefty 3% mark.
In addition to plans to build new streets and widen other streets, the budget also includes a record $19.15 million for street resurfacing, according to Shane Davis, the city’s director of urban and economic development.
Davis said this represents an approximately 30 percent increase in road renewal over last year’s budget.
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