The Montgomery City Council approved Mayor Steven Reed’s budget for fiscal year 2025, marking a 6.5% increase from the previous year’s budget.
The council voted for a budget of $331,625,628 at Tuesday’s meeting that includes raises for police and city workers. “I have confidence that this proposed budget will allow the city to move forward in building a better Montgomery for its citizens,” Reed said.
The city council is paying for the increased budget partially by raising in business license fees, a move they also made official at Tuesday’s meeting. The council amended some of the code to appease homebuilders in the area. The council will address this portion of the code at a later date.
City Councilman Andrew Szymanski was the lone member who voted against the increase to business licenses. He was also the only member who did not vote for the budget. Szymanski abstained from the vote.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the budget.
Raises for police and city workers
Under Reed’s proposal, all city employees will receive a cost-of-living-adjustment raise at 5%. A cost-of-living-adjustment raise has not been provided to the city employees since before 2012.