FY 2026 Mobile County Commission Budget Approved

Posted on: Sep 22nd, 2025 | Announcements Press Releases Featured News

MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. – The Mobile County Commission approved its Fiscal Year 2026 General Fund budget of $226,446,358 at its regular meeting on Sept. 22, 2025, reflecting a 2% increase over the previous year to meet rising expenses for operations, staffing, appropriations, and capital equipment.

As in past years, Public Safety is the largest General Fund expenditure at 47% ($106.5 million), which includes funding for the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, Metro Jail, Strickland Youth Center, Court Police, Community Corrections, and subsidies to the courts and District Attorney’s offices. Its second largest functional expense is General Government at 37% ($84.6 million), which includes funding for the offices of the License Commissioner, Revenue Commissioner, Probate Court, facilities, county services, and related administrative expenses.

Retaining and recruiting employees remains a priority for the Mobile County Commission, and Commissioners Merceria Ludgood, Connie Hudson, and Randall Dueitt once again chose to invest in Mobile County employees through a 2.5% cost-of-living (COLA) increase and by once again absorbing a 4.7% increase in health insurance premiums.

Additional highlights of Mobile County’s 2026 General Fund budget include:

a new spay and neuter program for the Mobile County Animal Shelter,
increased staffing for the expanding Mobile County Parks System as well as its new facilities: Cypress Creek Golf Course at Riviére du Chien Park and the Mobile County Aquatic Center are both expected to open during FY 2026,
additional support for sports tourism, including sponsoring the “Super 7” (2028 AHSAA state football championship) to be held in Mobile and the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame,
additional economic incentives supporting workforce development and industry partnerships with Bishop State, AIDT, Birdon Shipbuilding, Master Boat Builders, Austal, as well as pledge fulfillment for the new City of Mobile Arena.

The Mobile County Commission is the budgetary authority for Mobile County. At the meeting, the Commission expressed guidance for FY 2026 and future years to help manage rising costs responsibly: a budget review by the County Finance Department will be required before filling any County vacancy, a temporary pause on merit and special merit raises is in place until a formal policy is developed, and each elected official whose budget is provided by the Mobile County Commission must manage overtime within their approved budgets.

The Mobile County Commission’s budgets are posted at https://bit.ly/426nPw1.