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Kelli S. Hewitt
Mayor Graham Smith
Mayor Graham Smith
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Staff
Brookwood Village
Brookwood Village
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Rendering courtesy of Homewood City Council
Rendering of new Andrews Sports Medicine facility
Brookwood Village is poised for its next phase of redevelopment, with Andrews Sports Medicine planning to move into the former Belk building on the Homewood side of the mall. City leaders say the project reflects Mountain Brook’s measured approach to growth — emphasizing regional collaboration, long-term planning and connectivity as construction activity is expected to resume in 2026.
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Staff
O'Neal Library
Renovations to the O’Neal Library are among the first capital projects expected to move forward as Mountain Brook’s new one-cent sales tax takes effect in 2026, part of the city’s long-term, conservative approach to maintaining and improving core community assets.
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File
Shades Creek Greenway
Construction of the Shades Creek Greenway is advancing in phases, with new segments expected to strengthen regional connectivity from Lakeshore through Mountain Brook and eastward, reflecting the city’s emphasis on collaboration and long-term planning as it looks ahead to 2026.
Mountain Brook enters 2026 in a familiar place: steady, confident and quietly ambitious, but with new leadership and a sharpened focus on how the city manages what comes next.
Newly elected Mayor Graham Smith, who took office following a leadership transition at city hall, describes the year ahead with three words: “continuity, stability and transition.”
“If you don’t think about your municipal government,” Smith said, “I’m probably doing my job well.”
That philosophy — government as a reliable backdrop rather than a daily headline — shapes how Mountain Brook is approaching the year ahead. With approximately 98% of the city already built out, progress here tends to come through planning, partnerships and incremental improvements rather than large-scale redevelopment.
In 2026, residents will see that approach play out across infrastructure investments, regional collaboration, fiscal policy and a village economy that continues to outperform expectations
New administration’s first moves
Smith says one of the biggest surprises of the early transition has been the internal momentum at city hall.
“I was incredibly nervous, not going to lie,” she said. “We are firing on all cylinders.”
She credits both new and existing staff, along with a council that has come together quickly. “Our council has gotten together like never before,” Smith said. “We have developed friendships, relationships. New ideas are coming in left and right.”
Still, the tone is deliberate rather than flashy. Mountain Brook’s constraints — limited developable land and a conservative fiscal approach — shape what leadership prioritizes.
“We work on the margins in Mountain Brook,” Smith said. “We look at micro, incremental ways to continually make the city better.”
Those improvements may not always be obvious, she said, but they matter. “It might be an enhancement to the police force that one may never see,” she said, “or a modification to traffic patterns, or applying for grants to build sidewalks or roundabouts.”
A one-cent sales tax — and what residents will see
On April 1, 2026, Mountain Brook’s new one-cent sales tax takes effect, a move city leaders have framed as a way to stabilize long-term capital planning rather than expand government.
“That will allow us to fund our future capital projects,” Smith said.
Mountain Brook is unusual among Alabama municipalities in how its budget is structured. Smith noted that approximately 40% of the city’s revenue comes from real estate, while about 28% comes from sales tax. At the same time, the city carries about $8 million in debt, with debt service accounting for less than 2% of the annual budget.
“We are incredibly conservative here financially,” she said. “We basically spend what we have to spend.”
The new sales tax, Smith said, creates breathing room as costs rise and long-planned projects move forward. Among the first priorities residents are likely to see funded are the renovation of the O’Neal Library, replacement of two aging bridges through a process led by the Alabama Department of Transportation and upgrades at Public Works, including a storm shelter for employees.
“It’s not about reinventing anything,” Smith said. “We are a planned city.”
Brookwood Village and regional connectivity
Few projects illustrate Mountain Brook’s planning philosophy better than Brookwood Village, where redevelopment is unfolding in phases across three jurisdictions: Mountain Brook, Homewood and Jefferson County.
The most visible next step is Andrews Sports Medicine’s move into the former Belk building on the Homewood side of the mall, a roughly 135,000-square-foot project expected to restart construction activity in 2026. Beyond that, much of the site’s future remains intentionally flexible.
“We really need to work with the developer and see what they bring to us,” Smith said, particularly when it comes to residential components and tenant mix.
One commitment is already in place: shared sales tax revenue.
“We are committed to working together on the shared sales tax revenue,” Smith said, citing that the intergovernmental framework predates the current administration and remains intact.
For Smith, connectivity is the bigger opportunity.
“I believe there should be a connectivity point between what Homewood has done with that beautiful Lakeshore Trail and the Jemison Trail,” she said. “That would be an asset to the development overall.”
That thinking extends beyond Brookwood. Mountain Brook is also watching the next phases of the Shades Creek Greenway, where Freshwater Land Trust is managing construction of a Birmingham segment that will eventually link Irondale Furnace Trail to Flora Johnston Nature Preserve.
As segments come online, the payoff is regional: a continuous experience stretching from Lakeshore through Mountain Brook and eastward.
“We exist within this region,” Smith said. “And it is imperative that we collaborate with our other municipalities.”
The SSUT lawsuit
While collaboration defines much of Mountain Brook’s approach, one unresolved issue in 2026 is its lawsuit challenging Alabama’s Simplified Sellers Use Tax, or SSUT.
The SSUT, created in 2015, applies a flat 8% tax to online purchases, with half of the revenue going to the state and the other half distributed to cities and counties based solely on population, not where the purchase occurred. Mountain Brook officials argue that formula no longer reflects how commerce works — or where spending actually occurs.
Staff
Ashley Oliver
Ashley Oliver
“We haven’t nailed it down to an exact number, but it’s at least a million dollars or more each year that we’re losing,” said revenue examiner Ashley Oliver in prior reporting.
Former Finance Director and current City Manager Steve Boone has said the imbalance is structural.
Submitted
Steve Boone
Steve Boone
“Only about 2% of the 8% online sales tax is distributed to municipalities,” Boone said. “Municipal budgets rely on predictable and adequate revenue streams.”
Mountain Brook joined the lawsuit in August 2025, seeking reform rather than elimination of the tax. The outcome remains uncertain, but city leaders say the stakes are clear: roads, public safety and infrastructure depend on revenue that more closely reflects where spending occurs.
A village economy that keeps delivering
If the city’s fiscal strategy is cautious, its village economy is anything but stagnant.
“Heading into 2026, the Mountain Brook business community feels vibrant and energized,” said Lizzie Maymon, executive director of the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce.
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Lizzie Maymon
Lizzie Maymon
She pointed to increased foot traffic across the villages in 2025, along with a mix of new businesses and long-standing retailers celebrating milestone anniversaries.
“That balance is one of the things that makes Mountain Brook so special,” Maymon said. “We have beloved legacy businesses that have served this community for decades alongside newer concepts that bring fresh perspectives.”
Infrastructure has played a role. The roundabouts leading into Mountain Brook Village, completed in 2025, have smoothed traffic flow and improved access — a change Smith believes matters economically.
“If people can get through the villages a little easier, they’re actually stopping and kind of bopping into the stores a little more,” Smith said.
The chamber is building on that momentum with new programming in 2026, including industry-specific roundtables, expanded training sessions and a data analytics platform that gives small businesses access to insights they might not otherwise have.
“We are growing sustainably, focusing on quality over quantity,” Maymon said.
Taken together, Mountain Brook’s top issues share a common thread: intentional progress without disruption.
“We’re going to be doing big things,” Smith said. “But I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel.”
Instead, Mountain Brook’s 2026 will be defined by pacing — aligning capital investment, regional partnerships and economic vitality in a way that preserves what residents value most.
“If you don’t think about your municipal government,” Smith said again, “that means we’re doing something right.”
