Recently, Hoover chose not to reduce its grocery tax from 3.5% to 3%, citing "complex state statutes" as the reason. This excuse came from the city’s CFO, who earns over $250,000 annually. Yet cities with much smaller budgets, like Clay, Ala., have successfully implemented grocery tax reductions. Even the state of Alabama reduced its grocery tax from 4% to 3% in 2023, proving that cutting the tax is not impossible.
The truth is, Hoover’s leadership either couldn’t figure it out – or worse, didn’t want to. Instead, they’ve chosen to prioritize other interests. While the city plans to spend over $3 million this year alone on attorney fees, the same leaders claim they can’t manage a grocery tax cut of just half a percent. This raises a critical question: What are Hoover’s real priorities?
Take Clay, for example. With a budget of just $6 million, Clay cut its grocery tax in half. It’s clear that cities like Clay, and even the state of Alabama, are making real efforts to ease the financial burden on residents. Meanwhile, Hoover’s leaders are choosing to serve other agendas.
At the heart of this issue are the personal priorities of a few Hoover leaders, particularly Mayor Frank Brocato and City Council President John Lyda. Their decisions consistently favor apartment developers and real estate deals over the needs of everyday residents. This isn’t about bureaucratic red tape – it’s about who these leaders are serving.
Hoover’s residents, meanwhile, face a host of unresolved issues: unreliable garbage pickup, contaminated stormwater runoff, and a lack of transparency in government meetings. For example, city leaders have held a record number of private (i.e., secret) sessions and have failed to restore transparency rules or even record resident comments during council meetings, allowing them to conveniently ignore community concerns. Worse, thousands of emails and documents related to a forensic accounting investigation have mysteriously disappeared. That investigation, hidden from the public until revealed in court, also uncovered a $36 million overstatement in the city’s general fund – this detail and others, Hoover’s leadership fought hard to keep quiet.
This pattern of evasion continues when it comes to development projects, where leaders like Brocato and Lyda consistently push for real estate deals in the face of strong resident opposition. And while land development and revenue growth are critical for any city’s growth, it doesn’t make sense to speculate with the city’s general fund to bail out existing developments or, worse, cover a private developer’s legal fees. This is particularly concerning in the case of the redevelopment of the Regions Bank Headquarter Campus, now known as Riverwalk.
In this costly deal, Hoover will pay $8 million over three years in ground rent for a vacant Regions Bank tower, without first securing a tenant or defining its use. Even worse, the city neglected to budget $3 million in maintenance costs over the 10-year lease. Despite these glaring issues, Lyda declared this development his “personal priority.” Supporting growth is important, but not at the cost of fiscal responsibility and transparency. Meanwhile, Hoover residents are fighting to protect their communities:
● The Preserve: A beloved residential community where residents are fighting to “Preserve the Preserve.” Yet, despite their efforts, Lyda is pushing to develop apartments and a hotel at the entrance to Moss Rock Preserve – one of Hoover’s most cherished natural areas.
● Inverness: Home to many residents who strongly opposed rezoning commercial space for new apartments, citing already unbearable traffic on Highway 280 during rush hour. Despite these concerns, Lyda led the charge to rezone the property for hundreds of new apartments, further straining local infrastructure.
While Hoover’s leaders are busy cutting ribbons and attending groundbreakings, they are neglecting the needs of the very community they are supposed to serve. Cities like Clay have shown that it’s possible to put residents first. Hoover, on the other hand, seems intent on putting developers above the people.
As residents, we need to take note: Elections have consequences. Our leadership is shaping the future of our neighborhoods, schools, and quality of life. It’s time to prioritize the people who live here – not just those looking to profit from it.
Ken King, of Our Hoover, is a founding board member of Leadership Hoover. Most recently he served as the Business Partnership Manager for Birmingham Promise, Director of Community Engagement for Birmingham Strong/Birmingham Corps, and Community Engagement Manager for the Foodbank of Central Alabama.
Our Hoover is a group of concerned and engaged residents committed to building the Hoover its people deserve and dedicated to advocating for transparency, accountability, and common-sense policies that propel our city forward. To find out more about Ken or Our Hoover, please visit www.ourhoover.org.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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