Money for more garbage trucks and help with street cleanup is on the way for Birmingham residents after council approved the mayor’s more than $500 million new budget. Council approved the new budget Monday night and back in May, Mayor Randall Woodfin told council the 2023 budget would bring in a total projected revenue of $517 million. That’s up from the $455 million in the 2022 budget.
The newly approved budget carves out more money for city employees, including public works crews. The budget includes a $7 million uniform trash bin initiative where roughly 100,000 residents to start will have the same bins and new advanced trucks will automatically get the bins, meaning the city can repurpose those workers in other departments. Council also previously approved $600,000 in surplus for the new trucks, but Woodfin said supply chain issues are slowing down the new bins and equipment getting here.
Woodfin said he knows they need to be more efficient in trash pick-up and hopes this will help cut down employee injuries and delays with the schedule. But, he said they are still battling staffing shortages. “We are facing the same thing with drivers in public works,” Mayor Woodfin said. “We are in the kitchen now cooking up creative incentives and trying to figure out how to entice and what we can provide to attract more drivers, but that is one of the current issues we are facing.”