Fire and police spending topped the agenda Sept. 3 as the Homewood City Council opened its first round of departmental budget hearings — a new process under the city’s council-city manager form of government that will shape the $128.5 million budget now under review.
The hearing was the first in a series scheduled through late September and the first departmental presentation of a budget crafted by City Manager Glen Adams, hired last year following a 2024 referendum that restructured Homewood’s government. It’s also the budget that will be inherited in November by Mayor-elect Jennifer Andress and a newly elected council following the city’s Aug. 26 municipal elections.
Adams has described the proposal as “one of the most vetted budget cycles I’ve personally been through,” crediting department heads and staff for narrowing requests ahead of the public process. “It is a balanced budget,” he said during the initial Aug. 25 presentation. “We don’t give [department heads] the things they need to be able to do their jobs — that’s not something I’m willing to do.”…