Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has announced his city has an $81 million budget surplus for the fiscal year that began July 1, 2021, and ended June 30, 2022. He already has plans for how to use it.

“Thanks to our responsible budgeting process & a huge boost in tax revenue, our city has a lot of extra money for investments in our city’s greatest strengths: our people, our neighborhoods, and our facilities,” Woodfin said in a Twitter thread on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

I'm proud to announce Birmingham has an $81 million budget surplus.

Thanks to our responsible budgeting process & a huge boost in tax revenue, our city has a lot of extra money for investments in our city's greatest strengths: our people, our neighborhoods, and our facilities.

— Randall Woodfin (@randallwoodfin) January 31, 2023

Woodfin noted his administration would use the excess funds to invest in libraries, parks, recreation centers, its vehicle fleet, Legion and Rickwood Fields and more. According to him, it’s just the beginning becuase they also plan to give city workers raises, create new firefighter jobs and invest in family venues and theaters.

“City employees are getting a 5% cost of living raise, we’ll be expanding the Birmingham Fire Department by 37 positions to improve our services and response times, putting $5m into the the new amphitheater in North Bham, and putting $15m into the new Crossplex Family Fun Center,” Woodfin concluded.

In a follow-up interview with Alabama.com, Woodfin thanked his city’s residents for helping them accomplish the goal. “I’m going to send a big shout-out to our citizens as well as guests and visitors coming into our town,” Woodfin said.

He credited a significant increase in shopping, dining out, and attending sports and entertainment events with adding to their budget.

“Just from a sales tax standpoint we saw a significant increase in revenue,” Woodfin said. “We also saw the struggle in our ability to hire, which we believe this year will be better.”

Thus far, the city has approved $60.4 million of the surplus for use in the current fiscal year. It is a stark difference from the outcome Woodfin was concerned about at the start of the covid-19 pandemic.

To weather the economic storm, Woodfin and the City Council made the difficult decisions to furlough 259 full-time and 114 part-time employees and cut funding to transportation, schools and libraries.

At the time, Birmingham’s Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Kelvin Delcher noted city employees’ “unprecedented sacrifice and unprecedented service.”

It’s one of the reasons Woodfin is so excited to see his city thriving financially. “Things change,” Woodfin said. “Things can be positive. I think it’s a net win for the area.”

PHOTO: Birmingham, Ala., Mayor Randall Woodfin, moderates a conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris at the National Urban League Annual Conference, on Friday, July 22, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)