At its final meeting of 2014, the Prichard City Council approved a revised $11.4 million budget for the current fiscal year, ending months of negotiation over the small Mobile County city’s finances. The plan passed over the objection of the council’s newest member, who cast the only vote against it.
Councilwoman Severia Campbell-Morris, who took office in October, said she saw no reason to rush the vote. “I don’t see the house on fire here with the city of Prichard,” she said shortly after the Thursday meeting. “When we have the opportunity to stop and take a deep breath and get things in order, we should get things in order.”
Since taking her seat, Campbell-Morris had repeatedly called for a certified public accountant to review the spending plan before adoption, citing the city’s revenue projections and what she described as a lack of budgeting expertise. She found little backing among her colleagues.
Officials had been adjusting the budget since August. Because the fiscal year began in October without a new plan in place, departments had been operating off the prior year’s $10.6 million budget. Council President Ossia Edwards had argued at an earlier finance committee meeting that adopting a current budget was essential, because ongoing spending from outdated line items made it impossible to track expenses accurately.
A major sticking point was the city-owned High Pointe golf course. Campbell-Morris and Councilman Lorenzo Martin objected to roughly $148,730 earmarked for the course, which was projected to generate only about $48,600. Finance Director Cyndy Norwood responded by trimming the course’s budgeted cost to about $93,100 and shifting the remainder into the city’s real estate overhead. She noted that, apart from the court, no city department is supported by its own revenue, and that deeper cuts to the course would have meant layoffs.
The council also found savings by setting Police Chief Bernard Parrish’s salary at $65,000 a year, some $20,000 less than his predecessor earned. About $2.4 million of the budget was directed toward overall city overhead. Officials expected roughly $8.4 million of the city’s funding to come from taxes and license fees.
With the plan adopted, the council was not scheduled to meet again until after the new year, bringing a close to a budget process that had stretched across most of 2014 and exposed sharp divisions among Prichard’s elected leaders.