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The Selma City Council passed a balanced budget totaling $20.36 million in expenses and projected revenues.

Council President Billy Young Jr. said he is grateful for passing the balanced budget especially as the city faces a number of fiscal challenges.

“In these days of high inflation, labor shortages, lack of new revenue and other economic difficulties, I am very pleased that we approved a balanced budget,” Young said. ‘This budget like all budgets for all municipalities is not perfect, and when necessary, we will make amendments. Nevertheless, the Council was able to adopt a budget, which included funding for an increase for E-911 Services; a potential agreement with the County for Liter Control; a City-Wide surveillance system; raises for employees based on the White Collar Threshold as required by the Federal Law; funding for capital improvement projects throughout the City; increases for employees in the Fire and Police Departments; grant matches for several projects previously approved; and allocations for all of the City’s financial obligations.”

Mayor James Perkins Jr. said he was concerned about the short period of time he had to review the final budget to implement it by the beginning of the fiscal year, which is Tuesday.

“That is technically and physically not possible,” Perkins said. “Additionally, today (Friday) is the first time department heads and I have had an opportunity to see a document and analyze the city council’s version of the budget they passed.  We will review it over the weekend, and I feel pretty sure there will be a lot more to say after this initial review.”

Just under half of the budget will go toward salaries at $10.65 million. That is also accounting for a potential of $665,000 in potential overtime. The largest number of salaries are in the police and fire departments totaling $3.67 million with $400,000 in projected overtime and $2.9 million with $200,000 in overtime respectively.

Council Pro Tem Clay Carmichael said he appreciated the cooperation to get a working budget that takes care of employees.

“I appreciate everybody working together on this to pass a balanced budget with some small pay increases, especially in our public safety departments,” Carmichael said. “I’m glad to see the city-wide camera system and the E911 and Litter Control contracts with the county funded as well. These are agreements that will move Selma forward.”

Young applauded Finance Chairman Councilman Troy Harvill and the other members of the Council for their work on the budget while meeting the needs of the city. He said the council plans to continue monitoring the expenses of the city. He said he was thankful for the input from the public and department heads in development of the budget.

“As Council President, I am concerned about the financial well-being of Selma 24-7,” Young said. “Therefore, I am always concerned about everything that economically impacts our city.  Although I am concerned with rising costs and other factors, I am cautiously optimistic that Selma will continue to move in the right direction in the area of financial health. If Selma continues to pay our obligations, make financial adjustments to support a healthy workforce, and approve budgets that are within our means, we will see better days for our beloved city.”