Walt’s core belief is that the city will be a customer-friendly environment and the work will be open, efficient and effective.

In 2007, Walt established Tuscaloosa 311 as a non-emergency call center connecting people with their government. Today, Tuscaloosa 311 answers and responds to nearly 100,000 calls annually.

Even more importantly, it has provided a direct line to City Hall for every citizen.

In the city's darkest hours following the devastation of the April 27, 2011 tornado, and with 12 percent of Tuscaloosa destroyed, Walt provided decisive and compassionate leadership that was nationally recognized.

With 5,300 homes, businesses, churches and institutions severely damaged or destroyed; Walt passed Tuscaloosa Forward after months of public input. Nearly twelve years ago, Tuscaloosa Forward has provided over $100 million in infrastructure and set the table for a remarkable comeback. Since the devastation of the April 27, 2011 tornado, the recovery zone has experienced 5,425 building permits totaling $1.1 billion dollars of residential, commercial and civic investments.

Walt currently serves as a senior fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and was named the Nation’s 2012 Municipal Leader of the Year.

During Walt’s first term, the Pre-K Task Force was developed to investigate and plan the path to ensure all of Tuscaloosa’s four-year-old children receive a quality pre-k education.

The Pre-K Initiative was born, which helps provide an opportunity for Tuscaloosa's children to receive a pre-k education in one of the nation's premiere programs.

Walt also created the annual Mayor's Cup, which has raised over $200,000 to go directly into the pre-k classrooms. The nationally recognized Tuscaloosa Pre-K Initiative is now the model for the state’s pre-k program.

Walt knows that investing your tax dollars wisely and delivering innovative and effective services are absolutes.

Walt also knows that investing in your people is what is most important. That is why city employees have gotten substantial raises over the past four years including step raises and COLA. These are the people who work tirelessly for this community and Walt recognizes their hard work.

Streamlining departments, instilling transparency, and eliminating bureaucratic red tape will ensure the best services for Tuscaloosa citizens, while maintaining the lowest major municipal sales tax rate in Alabama.

Public safety is and will always be the utmost priority. Under Walt’s leadership, 40 percent of the City’s budget is dedicated to public safety.

To further bolster Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue and the Tuscaloosa Police Department retention and recruiting, the City has adopted one of the state’s top tier salary schedules and is transitioning all firefighters and police officers to the Retirement Systems of Alabama.

In the near future, the City will open two new fire stations No. 6 and No. 11. New and innovative units have been established such as the cyber-technology division which leverages technology to keep our community safe with a recent investment in drone technology. There has been an addition of a mental health unit, forensics unit and there are now social workers at both TPD and TFR.

Leadership is about being strategic and bold which is why Walt proposed and passed Elevate Tuscaloosa.

Elevate is vastly expanding pre-k, sending hundreds of high school seniors to college annually, investing in public safety and creating a new experience economy.

Over the next five years, beyond the investments in our children, Elevate is bringing Tuscaloosa the Saban Center, parks, riverfront trails, and a safer community.

Walt knows that our future rests with the next generation and we want our children ready to create, find jobs and invest right here in Tuscaloosa.

Prior to Mayor Maddox, West Tuscaloosa suffered from generations of neglect and disrepair. Today, meaningful and measurable success is happening, and this is only the beginning.

Under Walt’s leadership, the City has invested over $300 million into West Tuscaloosa.

• Noah’s Ark Storm Drainage Initiative which has eliminated or mitigated generational flooding in over a dozen communities in West Tuscaloosa.
• 2016 investment in Stillman College to ensure its doors remained opened to prepare the next generation of leaders.
• The LARGEST infrastructure investment in the City’s history with the upgrade of Martin Luther King, Jr Boulevard and Jack Warner Parkway ($79 million). Phase 3, which will open up the train trestle, is scheduled to go under construction in Summer of 2025.
• Elevate Tuscaloosa investments: Western Riverwalk, Benjamin Barnes YMCA, McDonald Hughes Center, Kaulton Park, Odom Park, and Parker-Haun Park.
• Since 2019, 306 blighted homes have been identified with over 110 being demolished or brought to code.
• Revitalization of McKenzie Courts and Rosedale Courts.

Managing the taxpayer’s money is a top priority and the mayor must be ready on day one.

Today, Mayor Walt Maddox effectively manages the operating and capital budgets totaling $238 million and $162 million respectively. According to the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, the city of Tuscaloosa has the fourth-lowest debt per capita in the State for its General Fund. In addition to the General Fund and Water and Sewer Fund, since 2011, there have been $130 million in federal, state and local disaster recovery funds that have had to be managed by the City.

Mayor Maddox has balanced the budget each year in office including through the Great Recession, April 27, 2011 tornado, and now COVID-19.

In October, despite the impacts of a global pandemic, Fitch and Moody's reaffirmed the City’s credit ratings of AAA and Aa1, which is the elite standard for municipalities. Even with all the unprecedented challenges Mayor Maddox has faced, the City’s credit ratings are higher than the first day Walt took office.

Fitch and Moody’s recent analysis stated that the City’s “financial profile remains sound and well managed. The city has a long history of maintaining structurally balanced operations, benefiting from conservative budgeting and careful expenditure management."

You work hard to manage your money, and so does the city of Tuscaloosa under Mayor Maddox's leadership.

Under Walt Maddox's leadership, a unique public-private partnership was developed to advance the arts and children's learning in Tuscaloosa.

The project was catalyzed by a $1.25 million donation from Nick and Terry Saban and their nonprofit organization, Nick's Kids Foundation.

Saban Center is an interactive campus that includes the Tuscaloosa Children’s Theatre, the Children’s Hands-On Museum (which will be reimaged as Ignite) and the State of Alabama STEM Hub. It’s where arts, education, discovery and innovation come together to prepare the workforce of the future.