Report Shows City of Mobile Spending Lower on General Government, Higher on Public Safety

Jun 3rd, 2013

A report from the Alabama Policy Institute, a non-profit research and education organization, shows that Mobile's spending is spending on general government is comparatively lower, while funding for public safety was above average.

The report compared Mobile with nine other cities of similar size around the southeast (Montgomery, Richmond, VA, Shreveport, LA, Augusta, GA, Irving, TX, Ft. Wayne, IN, Lubbock, TX, Durham, NC, and Jackson, MS). What it found was that Mobile spent the second-lowest on general government (Mayor and Council offices, accounting, human resources, administrative services, etc.) and the fourth-most on public safety personnel (police officers, firefighters, code enforcement, animal control, etc.).

"I think this report does a good job of laying out what we have been saying for years," said Mayor Sam Jones. "As our resources went down with the national recession, we focused our efforts on public safety. We have cut back everywhere else that we can, but our commitment to providing a safe environment for our citizens and guests has never wavered."

The report also showed that Mobile's spending on public works was the sixth-most out of the ten cities, and well below the per capita average.

To read the entire report, CLICK HERE.