Recovering From a Months-Long Cyberattack, Birmingham Adopts Largest Budget in City’s History

By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times After working with the previous year’s budget because of a computer hack in March, the Birmingham City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the largest budget in the city’s history — totaling $582.6 million, up from the previous budget of $554 million. The current fiscal year began on July 1, 2024, and ends June 30, 2025, but the City has been operating with a series of budget amendments, and not a full budget. The final round of updates and changes were made on Tuesday. “There’s still adjustments,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said. “There’s still a steady cadence of information flow between the information department, legal department and finance department, to make sure that things are on par.” In early March, City officials discovered a disruption in the city’s computer systems. Since then, the finance department was forced to mostly use pencil and paper to keep the books, Woodfin said. The budget amendments on Tuesday include more than $20 million on street resurfacing, sidewalks, traffic calming, and expanded blight reduction efforts. After the budget was passed, Woodfin said during a City Hall press conference. “The council and I have shared priorities … neighborhood revitalization and...