Selma Mayor Johnny Moss III said his team is working on a new budget for the city.
“We’re working from the previous budget that was wrong and out of whack,” Moss told the Selma City Council Jan. 27. “We’re working to repair that budget as we speak.”
The current budget was approved by the city council as the term of Mayor James Perkins Jr. came to an end in fall 2025. Although the council and the mayor were barely speaking to one another as Perkins closed out his administration, the council approved a budget before the fiscal year started on Oct. 1.
Perkins left office on Nov. 3 after failing to make the runoff for another term. Moss has since been revising the budget he inherited.
Councilperson Jannie Thomas expressed concern that the council still doesn’t have an updated budget to work from, but Councilperson Lesia James said that the council shares some of the blame.
“Before the election, we did not have one (finance) meeting,” James said. “We came in in a hurry and approved the same budget. It’s all out of whack. Now the city’s finances are messed up. We need to take full responsibility as the council, people.”
“We’re working on that,” Moss said. “We’re going to get together and get it straight.”
Council President Kennard Randolph assured the council that the council and the mayor will work “in a spirit of unity” to create a budget “that works for us.”
The council voted to send applications for two huge grants to Washington. The city is seeking a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Discretionary Grant Program to support transportation improvements that enhance safety, connectivity, resilience and economic growth.
The city will also file for a $20 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to repair damage from the January 2023 tornado. The grant would fund street repair, storm water and drainage improvements, sanitary sewer repairs and improvements, and job workforce development to maintain roads.
City Planning Director Danielle Wooten asked council members to tell her what streets in their wards they would like to see included in the grant.
The council finalized an agreement with the Alabama Department of Revenue to administer and collect the city’s sales, use, rental and lodging taxes starting in May. The city has been working with Avenu Insights and Analytics, a private company that administrates taxes for many cities and counties.
The council paid an invoice for $13,000 to dump the trash that the public works department picked up around the city in November.
Moss presented information about OpenGov, a financial management system he would like the city to use. He said the new system would improve efficiency and oversight. A representative of the company will speak to the council at their next meeting, Moss said.
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