The Andalusia City Council on Tuesday approved a $28.2 million budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
The budget has only a 2.6 percent increase in actual operating expenses, the mayor said. The increase is lower than the annual inflation rate, which was 2.9 percent as of August.
“This is a sound budget,” Mayor Earl Johnson said. “Our employees and council members have worked to keep our expenses in line.”
The budget includes:
• $29.2 million in operating expenses
• $250,000 in the contingency fund
• $923,526 for the capital improvement account, which is used for equipment or construction.
“We are pleased that the city’s revenues, which come mostly from sales taxes, continue to grow,” Mayor Johnson said. “We have had some excellent retail additions in the past few years, and we look forward to adding some more exciting retailers in the coming fiscal year.”
In other business, the council:
• Reappointed Deidre Trawick Belton to the board of the Andalusia Public Library.
• Approved the transfer of a restaurant retail liquor license to Kim Samurai Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar.
• Approved the renewal of a contract with the Covington County Commission and Sheriff Blake Turman for housing city inmates.
The City of Andalusia’s Adult Activity Center and Senior Nutrition staff members are seeking sponsors for their annual Praying Hands program.
The staff organizes the gift drive for senior citizens each fall, making sure that no seniors are forgotten at Christmas.
Adult Activity Center director Sonja Godwin said she and other staff members have asked clients who might be in need to complete questionnaires about their Christmas wishes, which range from toiletries to favorite foods to meal supplement drinks.
“Typically, we ask people to come by and pick up an information sheet on a senior from our Praying Hands tree,” Godwin said. “This year, we are seeking helpers to make Christmas special for more than 50 individuals, all of whom are 60 years or older and many of whom are homebound.”
The AAC staff is asking adopters to participate in one of two ways.
“You can call our office at 222-6891 to choose your praying hands revealing a senior’s wishes,” Godwin said. “We ask that you spend no less than $50 per person.”
Alternately, she said, individuals can make a financial contribution and the AAC staff will shop for the senior adults. Gifts should be dropped at the Adult Activity Center no later than Friday, November 25.
For additional information, call Godwin at 222-6891 or email her at .
On Friday, September 12, 2025, at 9:15 a.m., the City of Andalusia will test and certify the electronic voting tabulating machines for the Municipal Run-Off Election, which will elect members to the Andalusia City Council Districts One and Four. Testing will be done at the City Hall Building, Third Floor, 505 East Three Notch Street, Andalusia, AL. All candidates and the general public are welcome to attend.
John M. Thompson,
City Clerk - Treasurer
City of Andalusia, Alabama
The City of Andalusia will further its goal of becoming a more walkable city in Fiscal Year 2026, thanks to a new grant from the Federal Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program (TAP grants).
Gov. Kay Ivey notified Mayor Earl Johnson of the $800,000 award this week.
The grant will fund new sidewalks on Jerry Drive, David Street, Short Street and Manavista Street.
“We are pleased to be able to extend sidewalks in this neighborhood,” Mayor Earl Johnson said. “We have worked to secure grants that have helped us build new sidewalks all over the city. In turn, those infrastructure improvements have encouraged residents to exercise more, and led to reinvestment in established neighborhoods.”
The City of Andalusia previously has used TAP grant funding to build or improve sidewalks on East Three Notch Street, South Three Notch Street, Prestwood Bridge Road, Lindsey Bridge Road, Stanley Avenue, and around the Andalusia High School campus. A project currently underway will improve sidewalks on Third Avenue.
The Alabama Department of Transportation’s timeline for the 2026 TAP grant projects calls for final designs to be approved by July of 2026, and advertisement of bids to begin in August.
The City is working with Darren Capps of Southern Engineering Solutions on the design of the project.
The City of Andalusia will hold a Special Called Council Meeting at noon on Tuesday, Sept. 2, in City Hall.
This meeting is to canvass the results of the 2025 municipal election. During this meeting any provisional ballots approved by the Board of Registrars will be opened and added to the vote tallies previously reported. The council will then certify the official returns.
After they have certified the election results, council members will conduct business that normally would be handled in a regular meeting on Tuesday evening. The meeting is open to the public, and all citizens are welcome to attend.
There will be no evening meeting on Tuesday.