City budget peek
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Mayor Tommy Battle unveiled the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year at City Council's Sept. 11 meeting.
Why it matters: The city is growing, and so is its budget.
Catch up quick: Huntsville's fiscal year runs Oct. 1-Sept. 30. The next step in the process is a budget workshop Friday, Sept. 19. at 2pm.
- Council is expected to vote on passing the budget Sept. 25.
By the numbers: More than half of Huntsville's total revenue comes from sales and use taxes. For 2026, that's budgeted at $313.8 million.
- Second is ad valorem, or property taxes, set to raise just under $125.5 million for the city in FY26.
How it works: The city's operating budget totals $343.7 million, and doesn't include money for other areas like capital and enterprise funds or debt service.
- Total operating revenue for FY26 is budgeted at $333.5 million, with the $7.8-million gap covered by savings rolled over from the FY25 budget.
Zoom in: Police and fire and rescue take up the bulk of the city's departmental expenditures, together accounting for around 47.4%.
- Total general fund expenditures are up almost 4%, more than $13 million, compared to FY25.
- The biggest dollar-amount changes are a $3.6-million increase for fire and rescue and a $3.5-million increase for police, 5.8% and 4.6% jumps respectively.
What they're saying: "Sales and use taxes, our largest revenue source, are projected to remain stable," says Battle in the budget's intro. "We budgeted conservatively, with no growth assumed, in line with the national outlook."
- He says public safety, economic development and infrastructure are the focuses, and also highlighted road projects, park improvements and tourism efforts.