Northport Leaders Tout Reserves, Metropolis’s Monetary Stability

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NORTHPORT, AL — The Northport Metropolis Council throughout its common assembly Monday will vote on a number of measures that officers consider underscore town’s monetary stability and progress made towards boosting its reserves in recent times.


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Maybe essentially the most impactful transfer will see metropolis leaders vote for a $1 million allocation of Northport First Funds to town’s Common Fund reserves — an quantity that can see its reserves rise to fifteen%.

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Northport First Funds are collected because the income from town’s 1-cent gross sales tax. That is notable given previous monetary turbulence for Metropolis Corridor and the suggestion by town’s bond score company to make it a precedence to spice up reserves to fifteen% for each its Common Fund and the Water and Sewer fund.

The 1-cent gross sales tax, whereas initially acquired with skepticism by some, has confirmed fairly profitable, with the metropolis gathering greater than $19 million during the last three years. The income has been used for every little thing from instructional grants to paving initiatives, standing out as a serious supply of satisfaction for elected officers trying to make a tangible affect of their districts.

Discover out what’s occurring in Tuscaloosawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Northport’s reserve funds can, at the very least on paper, even be in comparison with the Metropolis of Tuscaloosa, which reported being at 20% of the prior yr’s Common Fund working price range and 30% for Water and Sewer. Nonetheless, the development for Northport stands in stark distinction to the financial tumult and uncertainty skilled by town previous to the present metropolis council.

It additionally represents an instance of the optimistic inhabitants development skilled in recent times, with Patch beforehand reporting when Northport grew to become Alabama’s seventeenth largest metropolis within the information revealed following the 2020 census.

Metropolis Finance Director Darren McGee instructed Patch that town’s present monetary state and enhancing reserves have been made doable by conservative administration, together with a neighborhood financial system that’s rising and a dedication to a strong reserve fund.

“It reveals that metropolis management is dedicated to conservative fiscal administration practices and that strategy is paying dividends for town,” he stated. “Sturdy funds together with the conservative fiscal strategy has allowed town to not solely present top of the range, increasing providers for residents however accumulate sturdy reserve balances for future wants.”

Metropolis Council President Jeff Hogg agreed, saying the previous few years of adhering to town’s budgets and projecting future expenditures has allowed town to set itself up to have the ability to capitalize on these measures for quite a few massive initiatives — amongst these are three new main leisure initiatives that goal so as to add a water park, journey sports activities park and large-scale upgrades to Kentuck Park.

ALSO READ: Northport Takes Huge Steps On Three Main Leisure Tasks

“This confirms that the residents of Northport are in good fingers with their management and have set the usual of what a Metropolis needs to be like,” Hogg stated.

The Metropolis Council can even take into account a capital initiatives price range of $2,715,000 for Water & Sewer, together with a $5,753,732 capital initiatives price range for its Common Fund.

One other measure that shall be thought of that underscores town’s give attention to whittling down debt shall be a $825,000 allocation to repay an interfund mortgage to town’s Water & Sewer Fund after town in 2016 borrowed cash from the Water & Sewer Fund to cowl town’s Common Fund.

Hogg stated this may pay again the mortgage in full after a earlier timing challenge prompted the interfund mortgage as town modified to a fiscal yr schedule versus a calendar yr.

McGee went on to say that rising town’s reserve balances, together with a powerful and rising native financial system, are optimistic traits for a metropolis which can be seen favorably by score companies, which is a optimistic signal as town has quite a few large-scale initiatives within the works.

“These are a few of the objects included in consideration for retaining or enhancing our bond score,” he stated. “The upper or higher a bond score, the decrease the borrowing prices.”

When trying on the metropolis’s speedy inhabitants and increasing tax base, McGee stated that Northport has confirmed a gorgeous place to reside.

“Low crime charges, good roads, inviting residential developments and neighborhoods, employment alternatives, enhancing leisure services and different sturdy high quality of life areas are all positives and causes for individuals to decide on Northport as their place to reside and work,” he stated. “Environment friendly and conservative administration of metropolis assets, sturdy management, wonderful employees, ongoing public involvement in resolution making are all a few of the causes Northport is flourishing.”

However whereas McGee was fast to tout town’s sturdy funds and its capacity to supply the wanted providers to residents, he defined that there are nonetheless wants that should be met.

“Most [needs] are associated to development and are due to this fact optimistic challenges,” he stated. “We’ve got selections to make associated to how and the place we will and may develop and the way we accomplish that job. We’ve got infrastructure wants that can have to be addressed in addition to extra high quality of life additions. Metropolis management is conscious of our wants and is at present engaged on plans to handle these objects and extra.”

Because the Northport Metropolis Council appears to be like forward to the long run and the probabilities that abound from sturdy funds, Hogg was additionally fast to thank those that made it doable.

“I need to thank [former councilmen] Rodney Sullivan and Jay Logan for beginning this imaginative and prescient from our earlier finance committee and for present committee members, Christy Bobo and John Hinton, for persevering with these practices in our present time period,” Hogg stated. “By being financially disciplined and taking this strategy, we have now set ourselves as much as doing a lot extra that Northport ever thought was doable. The perfect is but to return.”


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