Birmingham council hails $6.5 million neighborhood package in newly adopted budget

The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday celebrated passage of the 2015–16 budget, highlighting a $6.5 million package aimed at blight removal and neighborhood cleanup.

Council President Austin presented the funding package and said, "a check for $6,500,000 for our neighborhood," with "$3,000,000 of that will go towards demolition" and "$3.5 [million] will go towards weed abatement." Council members emphasized that the allocation is an initial step and urged the mayor and city staff to put the money into action quickly.

The budget also includes $655,000 earmarked for community schools programming and a 3% cost-of-living increase for city employees alongside 5% merit adjustments, measures council members said were aimed at addressing rising costs for staff. "We insisted on doing [a 3% COLA] because we knew that our employees are picking up more of the cost of health care and pensions," a council speaker said during remarks.

Several councilors said the council united behind the neighborhood focus. Pro Tem Roberson and Councilor Scales praised the collaborative effort, and Councilor Abbott — speaking from experience as a former neighborhood officer — said the changes mark a shift toward implementing long‑promised neighborhood investments.

Council members repeatedly urged the mayor’s office to follow through on scheduling, demolition plans and weed abatement so residents see tangible results. "We responded to your action call, and now we're just waiting on the man and all of his staff to implement what we did today," one councilor said, calling for visible implementation in target neighborhoods.

The funding message was reinforced by community and clergy speakers who described neighborhood cleanups, upcoming events and concerns about illegal dumping and enforcement. Council members also noted related steps such as community tours and district-level outreach to determine project sequencing.

Next steps: council members said departments will work with neighborhood officers to identify high-priority lots for demolition and abatement and return with implementation details and schedules. No specific implementation timetable was stated in the council record; councilors asked the mayor and staff to report back if neighborhoods do not see the promised activity.