For most municipalities September is spent preparing the coming fiscal year’s budget and while many of Cullman’s municipal officials are preparing to tighten their belts after experiencing a county-wide dip in tax revenues, the city of Good Hope’s budget reflects revenue increases in nearly all of its funding streams.
The $5.9 million budget approved Monday, Sept. 9, received its largest assist from the $3.7 million in grant funding — a 2,796 percent increase during last year — earmarked for several of the city’s ongoing capital improvement projects.
However, the city also showed increases from the majority of its individual revenue streams. Some notable revenue increases include:
— A 30.7 percent increase in the city’s gas tax revenue.
— An 86 percent increase in property tax revenue.
— A 12.7 percent increase in alcohol tax revenue.
— A 15.2 percent increase in sales tax revenue.
— A 136 percent increase in sewer revenue.
These increases, along with others, equate to a 46.5 percent increase to the city’s general fund and a 44.7 percent increase to its overall income.
While Mayor Jerry Bartlett joked that he would like to take credit for the city’s successes, he said the reality was that the community had simply been blessed to have a number of thriving businesses and to be located so near the interstate.
“We’re just lucky enough to have some of the businesses that are just booming,” Bartlett said. “Traffic has also been really busy and we’ve got one big truck stop and are about to have another. [in reference to the Love’s Travel Center under construction on County Road 222] We are just really blessed.”
Bartlett said recent growth has also played a key role in delivering revenue increases.
The Cullman County Board of Education recently reported Good Hope was the district’s fastest growing school and proposed the construction of a new elementary school in preparation for nearly 300 new homes in the area.
The city has also made a few strategic moves, such as the introduction of a local lodging tax in 2022, which played in its favor.
That tax saw a small increase of more than three percent in 2024, but the addition of a small room fee provided the largest increase, 32.8 percent, to the city’s park revenues.