City Council Tables Budget

– Allison Goldsberry

The Medford City Council has tabled consideration of the fiscal year 2012 budget until its meeting on June 28.

City Councilor Breanna Lungo-Koehn expressed concern with not having enough time to review the school budget, which she said Councilors received only an hour an a half before their 7PM meeting Tuesday night. She said while she trusts School Superintendent Roy Belson and “feels pretty comfortable” with the budget, she would like some extra time to go over everything. Councilor Lungo-Koehn also wanted some questions answered, such as what kind of savings, if any, will the city see with healthcare costs, an issue that is currently before the state legislature.

According to City Budget Director Stephanie Muccini Burke, $2 million in healthcare cost savings have been projected over a six month period, and the city is “very comfortable with the numbers at this point.”

City Councilor Michael Marks supported Councilor Lungo-Koehn in tabling the budget while the rest of the Council objected. Councilor Lungo-Koehn invoked a provision of state law that tabled the budget due to the objection of one councilor. Councilor Marks said he still has several questions he feels haven’t been answered yet by the city administration and he also wanted additional time to review the information.

All of the Councilors acknowledged the budget isn’t ideal, as cuts have been made over the years and positions haven’t always been filled. The Council was encouraged that several fire and police positions are in the budget to be filled and several Councilors stated the city will maintain a similar level of services with the proposed budget.

“The fact that we can maintain what we do have is a positive step,” said Councilor Mark Arena.

That, however, according to Councilor Marks, isn’t good enough. He said residents have become accustomed to cuts in services and departments running “skeleton crews,” such as the DPW and police. Marks said police patrols are down and the city doesn’t have enough money to remove tree stumps in front of people’s homes. He also criticized the usage of a surplus from the water and sewer enterprise account to balance the budget, stating that rates are too high and questioning why there is a surplus in the account.

The Council is considering a $133,285,781 for fiscal year 2012, which begins July 1. The budget breakdown is $88,385,781 for municipal services and $44,900,000 for the schools, according to information released by City Clerk Ed Finn.

The municipal budget for this year is slightly larger ($88,492,056) than the $88,385,781 that is being proposed for next year. Alternatively, next year’s proposed school budget- $44,900,000- is larger than what was budgeted this year, $43,200,000. Medford’s entire budget for this year was $131,692,056, while next year’s proposed budget is $133,285,781.

On Monday night the Medford School Committee approved its $44,900,000 budget and Superintendent Belson met with the City Council on Tuesday afternoon before their meeting to discuss the school budget.

According to Mayor Michael McGlynn, the school budget has increased by 3.9% for next year, while the municipal budget is down 1%. The entire budget is up by 1%. The city is currently awaiting important actions by the state legislature that could save $2 million in healthcare costs and allow for the elimination of a deficit for the current fiscal year. Next year’s budget is contingent upon the healthcare savings and the elimination of the deficit and cuts would have to be made if those provisions don’t materialize.

The entire proposed city budget is as follows:

General Government

Department/ Salaries/ Expenses/ Total
Legislative/ 208,656/ 3,326/ 211,982
Executive/ 464,454/ 65,086/ 529,540
Assessors/ 209,707/ 59,972/ 269,679
Information Technology/ 88,454/ 68,373/ 156,827
Finance/Auditing/ 257,427/ 44,702/ 302,129
License Commission/ 5,400/ 5,400
Workers Compensation/ 1,500/ 795,000/ 796,500
OCD/Boards/ 146,278/ 40,880/ 187,158
Human Diversity/Compliance/ 38,605/ 4,804/ 43,409
City Clerk/ 286,115/ 15,225/ 301,340
Election/Registration/ 218,575/ 48,096/ 266,671
Procurement/ 86,592/ 11,801/ 98,393
Law/ 152,487/ 88,000/ 240,487
Treasurer/Collector/ 410,339/ 98,576/ 508,915
Energy & Environment/ 68,527/ 2,750/ 71,277

Protection Person and Property

Department/ Salaries/ Expenses/ Total
Police / 10,054,858/ 781,102/ 10,835,960
Off Street Parking Comm./ 3,100/ 4/ 3,104
Traffic Commission/ 1,500/ 26,000/ 27,500
Fire/ 9,248,655/ 434,103/ 9,682,758
Building/ 450,301/ 331,176/ 781,477
Electrical/ 306,227/ 676,904/ 983,131
Weights/Measures/ 78,334/ 705/ 79,039
Consumer Advisory/ 250/ 250
Civil Defense/ 8,700/ 3,522/ 12,222
Saving Lives Program/ 1/ 1

Public Works

Department/ Salaries/ Expenses/ Total
Non Enterprise Division* / 2,068,104 / 4,833,503 / 6,901,607
Sewer Enterprise/ 792,034/ 11,495,365/ 12,287,399
Water Enterprise/ 1,205,252/ 6,756,223/ 7,961,475
*Cemetery, Engineering, Highway, Park, Forestry, Recreation

Health and Elderly Services

Department/ Salaries/ Expenses/ Total
Board of Health/ 410,576/ 38,752/ 449,328
Council on Aging/ 122,727/ 57,136/ 179,863

Library

Department/ Salaries/ Expenses/ Total
Library/ 719,267/ 276,088/ 995,355

Veterans and Celebrations

Department/ Salaries/ Expenses/ Total
Veterans Services/ 109,421/ 146,450/ 255,871
Celebrations/ 8,250/ 8,250

Pensions and Annuities

Department/ Salaries/ Expenses/ Total
Contributory/ 8,046,742/ 8,046,742
Non Contributory/ 290,000/ 290,000

Bonds and Interest

Department/ Salaries/ Expenses/ Total
General/ 5,919,393/ 5,919,393
Enterprise (Water/Sewer)/ 767,884/ 767,884

Insurance

Fire/Glass Boiler/ 220,000/ 220,000
Group Health,Dental & Life/ 16,638,465/ 16,638,465
Liability/ 160,000/ 160,000
Medicare/Social Security/ 725,000/ 725,000
Unemployment Insurance/ 150,000/ 150,000
Employee Assistance Program/ 34,000/ 34,000

Summary

General Government/ 2,643,116/ 1,346,591/ 3,989,707
Protection Persons/Property/ 20,151,676/ 2,253,766/ 22,405,442
Public Works
Non Enterprise/ 2,068,104/ 4,833,503/ 6,901,607
Enterprise/ 1,997,286/ 18,251,588/ 20,248,874
Health/Human Services/ 533,303/ 95,888/ 629,191
Library/ 719,267/ 276,088/ 995,355
Veterans & Celebrations/ 109,421/ 154,700/ 264,121
Pensions & Annuities/ 8,336,742/ 8,336,742
Bonds & Interest/ 6,687,277/ 6,687,277
Insurance/ 17,927,465/ 17,927,465

Municipal $88,385,781
School $44,900,000
Total $133,285,781

– InsideMedford.com