On Monday, the Hoover City Council approved a $15 million fiscal year 2026 capital budget with elected leaders stressing that the wait-and-see approach used by the last administration, which included juggling millions in maintenance repairs at the last minute, wasn't sustainable.
“The City of Hoover is not in a crisis, but this should absolutely be viewed as a call to action,” Mayor Nick Derzis said in a written statement. “The real risk would be ignoring the financial realities in front of us. Responsible cities don’t wait for failure; they plan for durability.”
The new budget focuses on long-range financial planning and strengthening Hoover’s infrastructure, public safety assets and public facilities.
“These requests are not wish list items or projects we would simply like to do,” Derzis said in a press release. “These are real capital needs with real costs that we must address in order to maintain our current facilities, replace aging equipment, and proactively address the infrastructure that our residents rely on every day.”
Derzis made capital improvements, including stormwater repairs, a centerpiece of his campaign to unseat former Mayor Frank Brocato.
In April 2025, the city council voted to use bond money originally allocated for a Performing Center facility for "critical" sewer repairs. That money was later pulled from the city's reserves to replenish the amount earmarked for the Performing Arts Center.
According to the release, Departmental submissions identified approximately $150 million in capital needs over the next five years, illustrating the scale of infrastructure, facility and equipment investments facing the City.
That total equals about 80 percent of the City’s annual general fund operating budget and is roughly twice the size of Hoover’s $74 million general fund reserve balance. The identified needs total does not include any potential additional costs associated with the I-459 Exit 9 interstate project, which is scheduled for bid in 2026.
Priority projects identified by the city include:
- Repairing and replacing aging facilities, including roof replacements across multiple city buildings
- Stormwater infrastructure improvements
- Road resurfacing and reconstruction
- Improvements to athletic fields, public parks, and public-use facilities
- Upgrades to public safety communications and dispatch systems
- Replacement of aging fleet vehicles, including police patrol units, fire vehicles, and new fire apparatus
“When assets are pushed beyond the point of failure, taxpayers ultimately pay more,” Derzis said. “Planned investment is always more efficient than emergency replacement, and it prevents unnecessary disruptions to the services our residents depend on.”
During the City Council meeting Monday evening, Councilman Robin Schultz said that he and Councilman Gene Smith met with the city's chief financial officer, Melinda Lopez, for three hours to discuss the state of the City's budget.
"It's evident that over the past five years, the fiscal stewardship of the prior administration fell short of the transparency and prudence our residents deserve," Schultz said. "Significant bond obligations were undertaken without sufficient long term capital planning. Leaving this council constrained in our city financially restricted in projects we'd like to do, equally concerning was limited communication with the Full Council, which resulted in votes on complex financial matters without adequate information or deliberation."
"Those days are, thankfully, over with. As we consider a restricted capital improvement budget today, we're confronting the consequences of decisions that lacked both collaboration and sustainable financial discipline," he explained.
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