001I call the city council special meeting on Monday, June 8th, 2026 to order. The clerk will please call the roll. >> Councilor Brooks. >> Present. >> Councilor Cormier. Councilor Dernalowicz. >> Present. >> Councilor Harder. Councilor Heath. >> Present. >> Councilor Heglund. >> Present. >> Councilor Kazantzakis. >> Present. >> Councilor Matt. >> Present. >> Councilor Toomey. Councilor Thibault-Munoz. >> Present. >> President Tyrus. >> Present. >> Announcement. Open meeting recording notice. Any person may make a video or audio recording of an open session of a meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium subject to reasonable requirements of the chair as to the number, placement, and operation of equipment used so as to not interfere with the conduct of the meeting. Any person who intends to make such recording should notify the chair forthwith. All documents
002and all documents used or exhibited or referenced at the meeting must be submitted in duplicate to the chair as they become part of the meeting minutes. Is anyone recording tonight's meeting? Agenda. The city council acting as a committee of the whole will review the mayor's FY 2027 budget. If there's no objection from the committee, I would like to discuss items 11830 in order to raise and appropriate the sum of 15 million 59,349 dollars and 1 cent for the various departments of the city for the salary and labor budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2026 to June 30th, 2027. Item 11831 in order to raise and appropriate the sum of 31,275,107 dollars 42 cents for the various departments of the city for the expense budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2026 to
003June 30th, 2027. Item 11832, an order to raise and appropriate the sum of $38,143,689 for the school department budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2026 to June 30th, 2027. Item 11833, an order appropriating the sum of $218,549.46 for the available funds cable commission fees reserved to the cable commission budget. Item 11834, an order to appropriate the sum of $11,680,138.35 from available enterprise funds various receipts reserved to various accounts for the fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2026 to June 30th, 2027. And item 11835, a measure authorizing FY 2027 revolving funds revolving funds pursuant to MG chapter 44 subsection 53E and a half for the fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2026 to June 30th, 2027. Together as one discussion, is there any objection? Before we begin, can I ask the mayor to present his budget?
004I just like to open with a few remarks. We're officially opening this special meeting as a committee of the whole to begin our final budget review. This is the most important job we do all year, and for the public, I want to be very clear about how it works and what our role is. To make sure we did our homework, we changed things up this year. Before tonight, our individual standing committees held budget hearings with the various departments under their oversight. For example, our public safety committee met with the police and fire chiefs, and our public works committee I sorry, public service committee worked with our public works director to drill down into the DPW numbers. They did the heavy lifting here early so we could come here tonight fully informed. Now, as the full
005council, we have very specific and strict mandate under Massachusetts law. Here's what we can do. By law, we have 45 days to review the mayor's proposed budget and to pass the budget by June 30th. We have the legal power to approve the numbers, reduce them, or reject line items entirely to protect tax dollars. Here's what we cannot do. Under state law, the council cannot add money to the budget. We cannot create new projects. We cannot raise salaries on our own. If we think a department desperately needs more funding, our only legal option is to formally vote to ask the mayor to send down an increase. So, our residents, these rules ensure balance and accountability. The mayor proposes where the money goes, but we hold the eraser. Our goal of the next few weeks is to
006look at the big picture, ask questions, and make sure the budget reflects our community priorities, addresses problems we currently face, and are about to face. And we know what we're about to face because it's happening across municipalities all over Central Massachusetts. We're hitting a financial wall. With failed overrides and FY27 budget shortfalls into the multi-millions, essential local services all residents rely on every day will look differently across the Commonwealth July 1st. With layoffs in both public service and safety personnel, reduced days and hours of services, and increased fees for residents, municipalities are pushed to a fiscal breaking point. And it's not just a one-off problem. This is a systematic systematic one. I hope the course changed this council's made over the past 2 years has helped position us where we are today. But we're only
007a few financial missteps away from facing those exact same difficult choices. So, when this council looks into bills not being paid, or funds being moved without approval, or spending during spending freeze, we are having we have the right and we have the need to get those facts. If we don't treat this FY2027 budget with discipline, we'll be the one standing here next year making the devastating cuts. Let's protect our city, protect our taxpayers, and address the real problems. With that, I would like to invite the mayor to present this budget proposal to the council. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, councilors. Uh the budget discussions that we've had in the committee meetings have been very productive. I've appreciated the feedback that we received from the various different councilors and the various different subjects that
008are there. And I'm happy to answer any questions that the council may have on the budget as a whole as we go through this. Uh the budget you have before you is balanced with our FY2027 revenue projections that we have. Again, for the benefit of the public or for in case I missed it at one of the committee meetings, the way that we predict our revenue is a 2 and 1/2% increase in property taxes, both both real and personal. Uh a uh minimal increase if not a flat line of motor vehicle excise because of the way the economy's looking. Uh and then everything else that falls under local receipts, we take 96% of the average of the previous four fiscal years to make sure that we are living within means. So, even if we know,
009for instance, that meals tax brought in just around $525,000 last year, the budget only has, you know, 96% of the average of those. We're closer towards the high 400s, low 500,000 dollars uh revenue estimates for meals tax because we're trying to make sure that we're living within our means. And so, while we have an idea that we go higher, it produces that buffer for us to have that healthy zone that we're in. Are we in a uh manageable spot for where we are in? Yes. Are we in an overly comfortable spot? Uh no. I think the council president hit the nail on the head with the comments that he made. That Gardner's no stranger to the financial pressures that are facing several municipalities. We saw that uh the school department had their budget hearing before
010this council. Uh Uh and while we are able to get through where we are this year, uh the really the goal of building the budget this year was to make sure that we're not in the spot next year. So, uh the uh conversations that we have uh had of the committees, I've that's uh I just can't stress enough that I've truly appreciated the amount of feedback and the thoughtfulness that went into the questions that were asked. When you look at the budget before you, the salaries that are listed there are set by ordinance uh for the non-union employees and for the elected officials. Uh there was no cost-of-living adjustment included in this year's budget because we just passed the larger compensation package uh recently that was there. Uh and everyone who was in one of
011those positions last year did receive an increase in compensation. Uh so, that is why that was not included in this year's budget. Uh if a line item was currently in union contract negotiations actively, it's been the practice of the administration here in the city in my administration uh to level fund those line items until those negotiations are completed for two reasons. One, uh to avoid any appearance of potentially uh bargaining in bad faith by putting up something before it was signed as a legally negotiated contract, but also because we don't know what the final uh budget numbers are going to be for those contracts when they are finally negotiated. So, those are level funded until the uh until those negotiation sessions are done. Uh I did ask the departments for three different numbers, which I
012have included all three. Uh the request of you know, some feedback that I've received in recent years where we only gave uh one of the three numbers in the past, all three are here included. I asked the departments for a list of if you the department was to run the most efficient, effective, and optimal possible uh with all of the resources needed to accomplish that goal, what would that look like? That here is listed as the wish list. Um probably could have come up with a better word for it, but it's really just so we could see where we can build a road path through and where we need to be going in certain departments. Our 3% non-salary reduction is the next number I asked for. Is if any cuts uh need to be made,
013where are those going to have the least amount of impact without touching salaries first? And then I asked for a realistic request of, you know, really where do you need to get by with a level services side of the budget. And that is a department request you see before you. On the um the big sheet that I was given um you know, earlier today, the first mayor's request is the column that you've seen in your community hearings that we've had together. That's the one that I submitted as the city's budget a couple weeks ago, and working with the city auditor's office based on the feedback that we received from some of the committee meetings in terms of the finance committee. I'll use this as an example. But you'll notice that the professional development and travel
014line items have been consolidated into the mayor's unclassified department to show an overall reduction in the mayor's office budget that was there during those committee meetings. It's now dropped into the consolidated account that's there. So, working with the city auditor on those little things that are there, and then I I do want to say thank you as the appointing authority of the city auditor. Karen's been very helpful to work with through this process. And I know she's put a lot of time and effort into helping upload all of this to MUNIS, make sure it all balances, and really be a partner with that. And I know her and Councillor Brooks sat for quite some time today too to go over everything again. So, that is the last column that you see that's in the spreadsheet
015that's before you. But the the mayor's budget that you're used to is the second to last one that's there. The biggest change is the one that I mentioned before with the professional development and travel so that we can have a more unified system of when professional development is approved, requested, and tracked across the city. And if there's any other questions that may arise, I know we've had several discussions on this before. I'm happy to answer those as we go along the way. Obviously, the general fund budget, if you see the department numbers, so for instance, with the city council, the 11111 is the department object and then the organization item underneath it the 51010 for the council salaries, all of those things. The reason I point this out is anything that begins with 51 is
016in the salary appropriation. Anything that begins with any other number other than 51 is in the expense appropriation. And obviously the enterprise accounts are different and the proprietary accounts are also different because those are outside the general fund. But when you're looking at the general fund departments anything 51 is salaries, anything 52 is the expenses. And the proprietary account being cable. That's paid for out of the fees for service. Thank you Mr. President. I'd happy to answer any questions that the council may have. >> Thank you Mr. Mayor and before I open the floor to the council, I just would like to also acknowledge uh Auditor Butler and Counselor Brooks who has spent a lot of time putting together this budget sheet today and helping us ensure that we had a accurate conversation of the
017numbers this evening. Uh I can start with the first question to the mayor. As I'm seeing the budget now in its entirety, I notice a few new line items. One of them uh looks really technology which was discussed during city council. So I don't line six, technology which was discussed at the finance committee to our devices that we use for these meetings and to prepare for the meetings fresh, but I noticed a few other line items that are new. Could you speak to those and what those items are and their purpose? >> Absolutely. I know one is in the mayor's department uh the city events line item uh it's line 34 on your budget that's funded at $1,000 in the request. The reason for that is we've really never had a specific dedicated account. If
018we've had a city event, the you know, a couple ones we've had in the past, the food truck festival, we had a summer kickoff concert, we've done a couple other different things even you know, other various uh events the city puts on throughout the year. We're left trying to find sometimes if we it's not a sponsored event uh because if we receive sponsorships, those dog those go uh deposited into the mayor's celebration revolving account and gift account. Uh that if it doesn't, you know, fit into those events that are sponsored, where does the money come from? Uh in the past for the I want to say since the account was created in the early 2000s, it's fallen into the catchall account of the capital account and the mayor's unclassified account. That's really not a clear
019accounting of what's actually involved in that account. If it's a capital account and a research account, it really should be used towards capital projects and research. Uh so this was an effort to try to make that clearer that that comes into a separate uh item there, too. Um that was again based off of feedback and a conversation that was had. Uh if the council chooses uh that that's not necessary or not needed, it's certainly something that uh we can take a look at other ways of uh taking care of those city events as they arise, especially now that we've made a more concerted effort into uh receiving sponsorships for various different things uh for those types of events, so they're not uh full hit on the general fund like they used to be. Uh but
020that was just a conversation that was had under that. Uh I know that those two were two new ones, uh the professional development and travel line item that was mentioned before in the mayor's unclassified account uh is also new. Again, that takes all of the department requests, uh and I know I sent this to the finance committee, and I'm happy to send it to the full council as well. Uh everything that was requested by each individual uh department in the budget request for professional development and travel. Um and that's all consolidated in the bottom line number that you see in that consolidated account. Uh and then uh how that process would work is similar to how we use our termination leave account uh for the mayor's unclassified too, that if someone leaves, their time off
021payment has to come out of that account and it uh transferred into that specific department since we don't know how many people will be leaving in a given year. Uh so it was kind of similar to do that, so just again a simpler consolidated tracking system for those items. Um uh did I miss any of the new ones, Mr. President? I don't think it's those three, but if I missed any >> Those are the three lines? >> Uh I wondered line 632. Parks and playground, celebrations and special events for a $1,000 budgeted. Is this to replace that line item? Is this an addition to the line item? >> I mean, what page are you on, Mr. President? >> 11. >> Okay. Let me take a look. Uh I know it'd be in addition to this
022one. I have to see the purpose again what this one was used for for the celebrations and special events account. Um you'll see in the actuals uh that that really hasn't been used in the past couple of years. Uh and I'd have to take a little uh deeper dive into that. This is one of the Department of Public Works budgets. Uh so I'd have to, you know, see if there was an intent with that before, but again, if that's uh you know, if that's already there and the uh opinion of the council is to either consolidate or get rid of one and keep one as the main uh purpose of that since they're all the same budget amount, I don't think that would make a difference. >> And before I kick it to the council,
023my last question is that that new line 263 on page five for the consolidated professional development and travel. Was that a level funding from last year's total sum of professional development and travel? Is that a reduction? Is it >> That was the budget request that was submitted for the FY 27 budget. Um it is a I believe a slight increase to the Actually, I have those >> What line is that? >> Line 263 on page five. >> Thank you. >> Um actually have it here. Uh it is a slight increase uh by about $20,000 from the request in the the budget we submitted last year. Year-to-date for the general fund only that has been used so far as of last week for professional development citywide in the general fund is $80,812.36. Uh for uh the
024professional development that's included in the enterprise accounts, those were kept in the enterprise accounts because it's outside the general fund. Uh, but if for informational purposes, when you add all of those up, uh, total professional development city wide, general fund and enterprise was $147, 326 dollars, 29 cents for the budget, of which 88,313 and 5 cents has been used so far in the fiscal year. >> Thank you. And before I do kick it to the council, as Council Kusznirczyk's uh, remarks, please remember to read the line number and the page reference. Council Mac. >> Can I can I just want to continue on that line item, um, for the uh, new unclassified account. We have before us this year's, um, what was appropriated and what has been spent to date, and there is at least
025four departments that are are significantly less than what was allocated, um, being dispatchers, public works, sewer and water. Um, for our next budget meeting, can we get this also with what the FY 27 request is as another column? >> Uh, Mr. Prince, do you have any way for you to do what I >> So, that's this question to you from the packet. >> Just make a note. >> Um, yes, absolutely. And I by department, yes, and I can also get So, as the finance committee members asked for this at the last meeting, so if the finance committee members have this tonight, this can be made available to the full council to you after the meeting. >> Right. So, um, I guess I my concern is with the significant amount being, um, what which was budgeted,
026I want to make sure that we're we're, um, reducing where we can and not give them a a tremendous amount more than that they need, especially if we can allocate money elsewhere or they can be allocated money elsewhere. Thank you. >> Councilor Germano. >> While we're on that, I I similar thoughts as Council Mac, um, and with those items with sewer and water, uh, and you may or may not be able to answer this question at this time, but is it something that they Is there any professional development that happens at the end of the fiscal year that they normally partake in or is this just a an item that they especially with [clears throat] the water and sewer and enterprise accounts is significantly lower than the budget. >> Yeah, I I don't have the
027answer at the top of my head as the timing for those counselor. I know that it's in the union contracts with the public works association and the foreman's association that the members are entitled to a certain amount if they choose to take it. Whether or not they choose to take it is a different story. So that's where the discrepancy could lie. I do have to do some more research into that because I I just don't know the timing of the classes. >> is a potentially union reason to have that amount budgeted because it could be used and you know that money comes and falls to the enterprise. >> Yes. >> As opposed to free cash that's sitting here right now. >> Correct. Retained earnings. >> Retained earnings. >> [laughter] >> But yes, yes, yes, yes,
028yes. >> Also counselor can I ask? >> That's it. Thank you. >> Counselor >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Mr. President, so on this professional development and travel, we're putting it into mayor's unclassified account and it would be moved out of there to a particular department if if they choose if if they choose to use it. I'm presuming that because that's a transfer from one department to another that it would come to the council as a council money order. Is that correct or am I not understanding it correctly? >> Uh so the way we've I'm going to answer that by saying that it depends on how the final vote of the council goes forward. In the past couple years we've had one salary appropriation and one expenditure appropriation and department of division of local services
029in the department of revenue has said that if that's the way the vote is taken, then it is able to cross. That's why we don't have the termination leave transfers from unclassified to department come before the transfers because they're all considered part of the salary appropriation just like this would be all considered part of the expense appropriation. Uh in the past, uh prior to us voting one salary line and one expense line, it used to be by department. So, for instance, building department salaries, building department expenses were two different votes, and then it went department by department down by that with salaries and expenses. If that was the case, uh the Division of Local Services has said that would require a vote between because those were separate appropriation votes. Uh under the way that the
030orders are currently written, that wouldn't have to come before the council for transfer of appropriation because of the way that the salary and the expenses are lump summed at the bottom for the general fund. >> Okay, say that again. Because of the way they're currently >> Because of the way the wording of the orders is currently written that all expenses of the general fund are in one vote and all salaries of the general fund are in a different vote. >> And I And I And I would, I guess, respectfully disagree with that uh in the sense that I don't think that the the wording of the vote has changed in the last 20 years. When And, you know, what? I got to be careful. But, I want to say, when I was here, all of
031those would have been council votes. All of those would have been council orders. And I realize that sometimes it can be kind of silly to be transferring $500 to pay um association dues for the city clerk to join the city Massachusetts City Clerks Association. But, if we begin My feeling is that if we begin to allow exceptions to those votes, uh then it becomes harder for us to be informed about what's going on in the city. And I think if we want to be informed, we have to accept that they they would be some uh votes that are that are routine. But, again, feeling that a routine vote shouldn't have shouldn't be a problem going through the council. But, that's that's how I That's my opinion. Thank you. >> Thank you, Counselor. Counselor Matt. >>
032Uh Thank you. Um I do want I do want to mention and emphasize that during finance, um I did ask that if it is going to be done through an unclassified account, that through the auditor's office, there's a spreadsheet kept for every department what how much they asked for for professional development and a and a accounting of where what is spent by each department. Um cuz number one, we need to know that it's equitable and one department isn't getting more than another, but I think moving forward to next year, this would help us to to see by department how much was spent and that there should be um I mean there should be an accounting at all times of where the funds are going to help us moving forward if we are going to and
033and again, I asked I mentioned this again in the narrative in in the budget moving forward, it should be itemized by every department what their public what their professional development is used for. And like after um I I sat into safety, I actually asked the building department and the building inspector and she sent me a very itemized list and I think that's very helpful for us to to understand what the and there is a difference in some departments because of contractual issues that we should be informed about that. Thank you. >> Councilor Zisis >> I would also add that if I'm also trying to be careful. I think that if we if we budget appropriately the amount of items we see individually in front of us um still matters, but if there is a record
034kept somewhere where we do have access to it, then there is the oversight piece of it that is available, but I understand the kind of the cumbersome piece of it. I just think that uh again, if because we have the piece where we oversee the budget and if we're paying attention to that part of it, then conceivably it should go well throughout the year, meaning the money should be used appropriately and and fairly, Um but I do think I do agree that that list and that accountability should be kept. Um so I think it to me it really starts with the budget and not really the matter in which the money is moved or shared. That's my feeling on it if we're doing our part. Hope that's clear. Thank you. >> And I just add
035to it too especially based on some of the topics that have come before this council. Mr. Mayor, can you speak to what that process would look like? When a department requests professional development and travel is there any documented data or any sort of policy because we've seen and I think the council has a right to be curious when we see and hear about transfers of what is the proper approval given. That's been an issue in the past where there's been a misunderstanding and I'd be especially want I'd be especially interested to know if that problem wouldn't pop up again or if it's being resolved through policy or procedure because it's I don't think it would be overly burdensome to to have an accounting and I also think there should be a process where at any
036moment we can request that information and it's it's not burdensome and can be made available to us. So we should see what this is a change and we should see what makes sense. >> Yeah. >> Uh I think that's a great question uh Mr. President. Uh I can say so the formal written document of a policy is going to be very similar to what we have currently for our regular appropriation transfer policy that we have. Uh the specifics for this specific item in terms of professional development travel in terms of requiring a uh reason why it's being requested either be a uh um You know, I'm going to compare this actually to the uh way that we do the incentives for uh college classes for the fire department and police department where we require them
037not only to give us a copy of the registration uh if it's a class that they're taking that doesn't fit directly into either criminal justice or um fire science. We actually ask them to provide us a syllabus of the class so that the department head can review whether or not it's actually relevant to the employees job performance and duties. That way, if we're paying for someone to be professionally developed, we can actually use the skills from that class with it. Uh and then at the end, we also require certificate of completion of that class uh for uh that to be done. Otherwise, the employee is uh charged the cost of the class afterward. Now, I use that as an example over there uh because as the front side of the request, we'd like a request
038to be made first before someone just goes and registers and gives us a receipt and says, "I'm taking I already took this class. Now, pay for the registration or pay me back and reimburse me for it." Uh cuz we want to avoid only those like you said, we want to make it very black and white uh as the council president said. So, the process is going to be in its in its draft form right now. Uh the HR director will be back later on in this week, and I just wanted to wait until we had a second set of eyes uh before we finalize that policy for a personnel item like this. But, uh it'll be a request that's been made in writing by a department head that this class be approved. Uh and then
039accompanied with that be the current appropriation transfer request like we do with termination leave, like we do uh if there's an expense to expense change. And what that requires it requires a specific uh department head's um name is requesting X number of dollars be moved from this account to this account with a written documented reason. That is then sent uh signed by the department head, signed by myself, and signed by the city auditor before it's done and completed through. So, there's a paper trail with all of that. With termination leave, it goes with a change of the change of pay and payout form that's overseen by the uh human resource department that allocates the vacation time, sick time, all the other stuff. We don't pay out for sick time, but we still mark how much
040that they had left. Um and then that's a documented there, too. But, in order to meet our auditing standards, we have to have for outside auditing firm uh we do have to have some type of paper trail for every transfer that's made within the budget. So, that would be existing. >> Councilor Heath. Thank you very much. Um just to clarify, too, does it have to be transferred or can it be paid solely from this line item and tracked solely through this unclassified? >> It absolutely can be. Uh the only reason I said transfer is because it would mimic what we did with the termination leave. And then at the end of the year we we had four firefighters leave, and we can see because the budget amount that's in the fire department's termination leave line
041item that's currently marked as zero in the budget, but then at the end of the year we have a balance in it that's there. Uh we could see that uh you know six members of the DPW went to go get their hoisting licenses because of the dollar amount that's there at the end of the year. Can we track it all in one document and probably get the same information that way, too, and just pick it apart and get each department separate that way? Yes, we could. But then if you're doing it there, you get DPW, fire, police, and everything mixed in between where the spread out one just makes it a little department by department that way, but I think in the end it's six of one, half a dozen of the other uh for
042how it's tracked. >> Councilor Heath. Thank you, President Tyros. Um I was just sitting here thinking cuz in my personal job what we do is we do quarterly um checks when we, you know when we when we have expenses, things of such, what we spent versus what we are predicted to spend in the next quarter, things of such. You know, I don't know if that's something that we can you know, possibly do as an oversight, have it as an item every quarter. That's just I'm just thinking off the top of my head here. That's all. >> Thank you, Councilor. Councilor Mack. >> Um thank you. I I just want to um talk about something I talked about also in finance. Um Um, especially with the need for professional development and continuing education units. Um, um
043and also, um, similar to my experience within the school department, um, I had mentioned that, I mean, everyone going to a professional development should have to sign a fill out a form with a justification, the dates that they're going, why they're going, what the end of what the total cost is to the city. Um, and that form, at the school level, is signed off by, you know, uh, your principal and then it goes to the superintendent's office. Here it should be a department head and then go to the mayor. Um, it's a triplicate form and so a copy goes back to the employee and then one goes to human resources and because I think it's really important and, um, this day and age if somebody's questioning the qualifications of somebody, if they have, um, updated
044their license, if they've been to certain, um, uh, trainings or whatnot, that there should be strong record keeping within the city and also this is also protecting the city as well, um, to make sure that we are holding people accountable for not only to get their proper license or in license and, um, CEUs, um, but also covers us too to make sure that people are, um, adequately spending professional development money correctly. Thank you. >> Thank you, counselor. Councilor Brooks. >> Uh, thank you. Uh, we're we're kind of treating termination leave and professional development in similar ways. Um, I guess I just I just want to comment on on that they're also a little bit different in that professional development we know is something that departments are going to continue doing. Uh, when we first set
045up the mayor's unclassified termination leave account, uh, I think it was back in 2004 when we were making, uh, severe cuts in the budget, we added that in. Prior to that, the termination leave had been funded from free cash as we went along. And this was an attempt to ex- we knew that we were going to have a certain amount of termination leave paid. The problem was you don't know who you're paying until they leave. And so we could never really adequately project which department would have it and so on. So by putting it in the mayor's unclassified, we could set aside some funds for that purpose and then allocate it to the departments as they came up. And I And I remember that council liked having that informa- liked voting on the transfer from
046mayor's unclassified to the fire department or to the police department. Partly I think just so they could be agitated about how much we were paying out to some of these people. But I also think it gave them information about who was leaving. And And there was a There was a notification. So even though it became fairly routine to do, it was again a way of saying to city council, "Okay, uh John Smith is I shouldn't use his name because he did retire from the police department. But John Smith is retiring from the police department and uh This is This is his pay and and we all can Oh, he's retiring. Okay, good. Yeah, thank you. And as a way of of keeping us informed. So I just throw that out. Thank you. >> Thank you,
047counselor. And if I can summarize what I feel like is the uh sentiment of the council. As the American here clearly, it sounds like oversight and communication are two factors in this change that the council does care about. Uh whether it's accomplished through a policy that our city auditor's included in that we get a report from. Uh I don't think it would be found acceptable for someone to go to training without it being approved and then uh it be funded through the line item. Uh however, I do want to speak to initially counselor Brooks's uh first comment that uh to very clearly state when transfers occur between departments. I think it'll be a best practice even if it's not necessarily We'll have to look at the interpretation of the MGL, right? But if it's it
048would be a best practice for the council to be involved and when transfers between departments do occur. I can happily provide an example of that to this uh Mr. President, if that works. >> Sure. >> You remember last year uh the council uh voted to level fund all salary departments uh salary line items in the budget and place them into consolidated salary reserve account in the mayor's unclassified while we were going through the process of drafting the uh non-union compensation ordinance. That account was specifically set up as an expense account and not a salary account so that the council would then have to vote to transfer those out uh there. That's why it's pending before [clears throat] the finance committee uh to uh pretty soon to transfer that funding out. The amount that was included
049in that salary line item uh wasn't sufficient to cover the cost of the new uh ordinance that was there, but I had a uh surplus in salary expenses in uh salary appropriations in the mayor's department because the executive aide position had been vacant for a 6-month period. Uh so there uh a portion of uh that would There would I just submitted the transfer request this morning to the uh to the auditor's office per the policy that we have for those. Uh to the fire chief salary line item, the sealer of weights and measures, the uh emergency management director, and the executive secretary positions. So one of those is within the mayor's department, the other three were not. That's how we've done those before, but yeah, I'm absolutely happy to send a report every time that
050happens. Um it doesn't normally happen between departments too often unless it's really at the end of the fiscal year and we're trying to close things out that way, but that can absolutely be shared. >> Okay. Uh Councilor Buszkiewicz. >> And and as the council president said, you know, kind of to sum things up, I I think when you have a new system or a new way of doing things, we might get a new report um a different report that might evolve, that might change until we get what makes the most sense, you know, for the council, but the record has to start somewhere. And so I think that's really what we've kind of concluded here. And and um it's not to say that it won't change but we have to have something to come along
051with these these changes. >> I have a question based on something you just said Mr. Mayor. You said the salary undistributed expense account from the money that were removed from the budget last year to local fund. >> Yes. >> Did not have enough money to cover the salaries that were funded this year in the new salary >> Correct. Yeah, 26,000. >> How is that possible? >> Uh the education uh the education and years of service really for the two chief positions were higher than what was planned for when you added in the the master's degrees for both of those. The original budget had them at the bachelor's degree level. >> And that amount superseded the number of individuals seeking leadership that are not affected, you know, adjusted this year. >> Correct. Wow, okay. >> Any
052other council comments? Councilor Hagland. >> Uh I guess we're moving to a slightly different topic. I'm still a little unclear on the two 527 mayor's request columns and why the new one has increased those numbers. >> Thank you Councilor Hagland. Mr. Mayor, would you like to >> Yeah, I'd be happy to answer that question. Um the mayor's request that's the first of the two. Again, that was the one that was submitted um again, in speaking with the the the city auditor during the conversations that were had um following the committee meetings, the suggestion was made to round to get rid of the pennies in the end. Really in the end the the first one with the pennies is what we need to get by. The other one's just for mathematical purposes. The auditor felt through
053with conversations that she had, um, rounding would be uh so there's a $9,000 difference between the two when you round up to the nearest uh I believe it's $100 hearing? Yeah. >> I guess it's like I guess I don't understand though because that would sound like we would leave all of those numbers. >> Yeah, the lot What we need to get by is the first column. If the the second column is, you know, the if the rounding is an issue for anyone, the first column is what we need to get by in the first balance. Councilor Brooks, is this it? >> So, why provide both? I I just don't understand why there's why we I don't understand that. I don't have a problem with the but I don't know if I have a problem with
054it cuz I don't understand it. >> Yeah. >> I understand round numbers. I get this. I just don't I really I don't get I still I'm not clear. >> And that's just an example of that. It sounds like we have over budgeted Council salaries. That's what that sounds like to me. And I don't know if that's correct. So, I'm curious if the auditor or somebody wants to speak to if that has to be done or if it's a preferred practice, best practice. I just I don't I don't get it. >> Mr. Mayor, this would be a good opportunity to go through the same the numbers for the budget orders and your adjustment. >> Yes. So, if we were to go to the second uh numbers, then the numbers for the budget orders would have to
055be adjusted. The budget orders that you have on your agenda tonight are for the first column that was there. In conversations uh with the auditor and I know Councilor Brooks was with her this morning when we were going over all of this uh for ease of practice uh with budgeting and putting everything into the Muna system, tracking things, um that is where the suggestion to round to the nearest $100 came from rather than having $847 and it in $900. Um the last couple years we've kept the unrounded numbers. Um I personally know that the first numbers is what we need to get by to fund what we need for the operations of the budget, uh but I understand in the conversations with uh the auditor that uh things being easier accounting-wise for the rounding uh
056that was put forward um on you know, her processes on her end, and I'm happy to you know, let her speak cuz I don't want to speak for her myself uh and put words in her mouth, uh but that's well, what was uh input into the Munis system today for the budget request because it does have a budget request module in Munis, so that's why that came out in the report is that the first one was was what was there, the second one was what the auditor input it into the Munis system today. Councilor Brooks. Uh thank you, Mr. President. So, having having put together a few budgets in my lifetime, um the first rule is you always round up on expenses and round down on revenue because you want to make sure you have
057enough money in the budget to cover your expenses, and you want to make sure that your revenue is not higher than what it is expected to be. And I part of the reason for for doing that on the expense side is is just so that if if there is a small arithmetic error or something, um we're not suddenly finding ourselves at year-end having to come up with $10.95 to have an account come out positive. I also think that when you when you go through this and begin to add it up, um in terms of the overall budget, it's not going to have a significant impact because you're you know, if you look at just the uh city council, uh we went up $19. And it's kind of that way it can it can be that
058way consistently through through where you're going. The the increase in the budget is is not by the line going to have a big impact on the on the city budget. I realize we're we're watching our pennies, but at the same time this is just making sure there isn't uh a shortfall in an account. And I would also point out that that if that money is not spent, it just rolls into free cash next year. So, in the long term there is a benefit to doing it that way. Thank you. >> So, I guess it's not doesn't have to be done that way is what I'm understanding. It's a an option. >> Correct. >> But, we can't also force the mayor to increase the items >> is my understanding. We cannot increase line items, we can
059only reduce. So, if the mayor has not submitted this number, we can't make him correct. I guess that's to the council president a point of order or parliamentary procedure. >> Yeah, point of order is well taken. Uh we cannot increase line item numbers. I believe there's Mr. Mayor, is there a balancing question of the budget when you include the pennies? For the math to add up. >> For the orders that are in the I'd have to double check that one. I don't know that one. That that was an issue, but I can certainly check that. >> Let's call for a recess. >> Check the pennies. >> Mhm. >> And I'll call the meeting Committee of the Whole meeting back to order. >> Mr. Mayor. >> Thank you very much, Mr. President. And also thank you
060to the auditor and Councilman Brooks for their assistance with that, too. Um the numbers on the orders will be changing. I will be submitting new orders that that is uh per the what the mayor is able to do. Um if you look at the agenda that is before you tonight, and I want to go through and explain where these are all coming from, so you can see them here. The item 11830 has the number 15 million 059, but if you look at the order itself that was submitted, it's 095 on the order, not 59 there. So, there was a transposition in those numbers for the salary orders. And then with the rounding to catch any things in the budget that were there just, you know, for the buffer that was mentioned before because it is
061really the best practice for accounting practices to take the cents out for the budgeting purposes, as was said, would be 15 100600, 15 million 100,600. And that's just the rounding. There was no budgetary line item transpositions for salary purposes. In the next item 11831, the orders were submitted when the original budget was submitted for the committees to review. During those committee discussions, there were a couple transpositions that were noticed in the spreadsheet. Those were reflected in this order number. So, when that updated spreadsheet was created for when those transpositions were noted in the committee meetings, the order itself was not updated there. So, with the rounding for the best practices for accounting purposes and those transposition fixes, the number for item 11831 is 725. So, instead of the 31,275,000, it's 31,000,000 278,725. There was no
062change to the school department order that had the correct number. Due to rounding, not transposition errors uh errors within the budget document that was there, but rounding the cents out of the budget, the cable appropriation for 11833 218,000 800. For 11834 uh there was a transposition in one of the items for the golf department was listed as 58 uh instead of 85 that was caught during the committee hearing and updated on the spreadsheet, but again that was done before the order uh after the order was submitted uh because it goes in when the budget is first submitted uh and the number is 11 Excuse me, 208. I thought that was the G. I apologize for that. >> 208. >> All right, can you say the whole number again? I'm sorry. >> 11 637208. So the
063corrected orders will be sent um to the council following today's meeting um and thank you for the present the auditor for noticing that the orders being submitted when the budget was first submitted that those transit transpositions weren't reflected in the orders um that maths out to the uh everything there when you add the rounding numbers there too. And the rounding does also fit within the revenue estimates we have for the city. We did double check that as well too. Uh there is still the the revenue buffer that we have there. Uh so that does not change the fact that the budget is still balanced. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Are there any counselor questions or comments based on that report? Any other counselor comments or questions about the budget from the council? Counselor Mack. >>
064Um, yes. Um, again, this was brought up at um, finance on page one. Uh, line 21, executive aid salary and wages from the mayor's office, uh, has increased from what the current um, executive aid makes at $57,500 to $80,000. As this position has not been um, as a chief of staff has not been approved by the council, I requested at finance that the um, this position be budgeted for the $57,500 as we have not approved um, the increase that would uh, come with a new position. Thank you. >> Thank you, counselor. Further council questions or comments? Counselor Hedlund. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I had a question regarding the revolving funds. Um, it mentions on the agenda that the persons or person or persons authorized to spend from each fund shall report annually to
065the mayor and the city council the total amount of receipts and expenditures for the prior fiscal year and for the current fiscal year through December 31st along with any other information the council may require to vote. Have we received that information? I like don't believe we have. >> I will double check. I don't believe I have received that yet, but I can certainly send out the the column send it to the council, too, once I receive it as well. >> Thank you, Counselor Count. Thank you, Mr. Mayorini. Other council comments or questions about the mayor's budget proposal? Counselor Brooks. >> Um, it's it's a little bit off topic. The I know last year with the revolving fund for Lifeline, we set a low limit. Are we Do we have to act on that for this
066fiscal year as well? >> The revolving accounts have an annual authorization. >> Correct. >> Um so the order itself would have a number associated with it, too. The number that you see in front of you here is based off of last year's budget during the budget discussions that are there. >> Correct. >> Uh so that is the number that was approved when Lifelines revolving accounts >> and I think the 20,000 was fine, I think, but I think we approved the 10,000 last year. So I'm assuming that we may need to to act on that again for this fiscal year or not? >> Yeah, with with these that have to be made it will be going through all of the orders that are fine to come. >> thank you. >> Councilor Mack. >> Uh the last
067time Director Ellis came before Finance to discuss the Lifeline program he said he would be coming back to the council to increase the amount in the revolving account. >> Yeah. Thank you, Councilor. Further councilor questions or remarks on the mayor's budget proposal. Councilor Haywood. >> Uh this is my last one that I had. Uh with the DPW budget, I know there's still vacancies >> Yes. >> that and does this account for those vacancies? >> Yes. >> What's the status, I guess what's been done to try and fill them? Cuz I know the last couple years they haven't been filled and then that money ends up being used for other things, but are we actively trying? Is there issues? What's what's the status? >> The the positions have been actively posted. I think we even shared
068them on social media recently. Um and I know we advertise on Indeed, the Municipal Association, and then I don't know specifically for DPW, but if there's a specific uh organization that relates to a specific field um so almost like the Indeed of DPW work cuz I don't know if for uh for attorneys like the Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association has a city solicitor posting location. Something like that for those uh positions, too. I don't know if it falls specifically with DPW, but I know we have that there. Um we currently have vacancies in the uh Department of Public Works, the Fire Department, and the I believe we're expecting at least one or two in these departments as well. Now, we I know we also have some vacancies in the Inspection Department, too. >> Building off that
069question, I do have a question related to the Department of Public Works. Page nine, line item 569. Snow and ice. I think when you look at the actuals for FY '23, '24, and '25, a $1 million, $600,000, almost $900,000. This year, I see a year-to-date of over $1 million. Yet, we budgeted $300,000. Do you intend, or is there a reason why we're not budgeting more towards the actual reality of winters that we're facing? >> Uh yeah, the uh snow and ice uh weights allowed under the general laws is one of the one of the only accounts that we can have deficit spending in uh because we never know what's going to fall out of the sky in a different year. Now, I understand that I say that every year, and we're closer to $900,000 every
070year. Uh the way that the general law is written is if we were to increase that budget line item, it has to stay at that level from there on out. It can never be decreased from what it was the level that at the previous fiscal year to that. Uh that's why we've always historically budgeted that low and gone back to it after. Uh the general laws allow uh a couple of different things for that. In the past, we've done it through a free cash appropriation. Uh this year, uh the actually just yesterday the Senate passed the conference uh committee bill for the supplemental budget that included some reimbursements for cities and towns uh for snow and ice. Uh in talking to the uh Massachusetts Department of Transportation, we should be getting how much the city
071is getting in our reimbursement by the end of this week. Uh where we'll have an idea on that. Um and if we ever didn't have enough funding to cover what our amount that we spend on snow and ice. So, we can amortize that over the course of a 3-year period as well. Uh we've never we haven't done that in recent years here. Uh but, the reason why it's been historically low is just because of those uh restrictions on if you increase it, you can't go back down, and it's only able to be deficit spent. That said, I do think uh you're right on the merits, Mr. President, that we should be at least looking at getting that higher than 300,000 because we're never going to be spending $300,000 in snow removal in a year. I
072think that's a I know I won't even call it a pipe dream because it's just not really a realistic um seeing that closer to 6 or 700,000 dollars I think would be a more comfortable estimate while still knowing that you're you're low. Uh but, in the available revenue estimates that we have, that was just a to keep in mind that. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. >> Councilor Brooks. >> Uh thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. What Mayor, you said 6-7? >> Didn't mean to do that, Councilor. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Uh the um snow and ice deficits that or the snow and ice account, I think back when we had the fiscal crisis back in 2004, the snow and ice was one account that we started to work on building up a little
073bit. And and we kind of for a few years we were able to add like 25,000 a year increase to it to bring it closer to what we were actually spending. Having said that, I think we probably did it for 4 years and then stopped and and just have never gotten back because as the mayor says, once you commit it, you have to continue to commit to that. However, it's not a bad idea to to get up the nerve and the resolve to to begin to fund that again if we can because you don't have to you know, I always looked at it there's there's a minimum amount you know you're going to spend. And that's really what you want to fund. A year that that you don't have a lot of snow and and
074that could be for us now at a $500,000, $600,000 a year. You don't want to get up to start budgeting for a for a million dollar year because we're not going to have that year after year. So, you know, the mayor is correct. I It's one of those things that long-term if we want to do it, we just make the resolve to do it and start adding a little bit each year. Thank you. >> Thank you, counselor. Councilor Madigan. >> I think that we have to be more realistic that I mean, it's going to be at least half a million dollars if not more. And I think we need to start reflecting it better in the budget because I for one um and I know other departments notice it, but when it comes to spending
075a free cash, a lot of money goes to DPW and to overtime accounts, whereas there other city expenses that could benefit from free cash. Um so, I think we need to be more um I think accurate in our our not budget numbers for snow and ices as well as other things, but I think um I think this is something definitely that we have to we should be working towards um as soon as we can because, you know, we also have to realize 2 years ago we did we used sand. Sand wasn't as expensive as salt. You know, um and so, you know, the gas expenses, the overtime expenses have gone up. So, we know that the that the the expenses are. So, that's that's just my opinion. I want the budget to be as, you
076know, show as accurate and realistic as it can right from the get-go so we don't find ourselves in financial constraints when it comes to the end of the fiscal year. Thank you. >> Thank you, counselor. Any further council comments or remarks on the mayor's budget proposal? Hearing none because we did take a recess today, I'd just like to summarize uh and this is why we as a city council hold multiple budget hearings, why we space them out between them because uh it's a big number, lots of numbers, and a big number that we deal with every year with our city budget. Uh as was discussed, there were a few errors that were found during our standing committee reviews uh that needs to be reflected in the new budget orders that I expect the mayor to
077submit very shortly. Uh these uh budget orders will be on our agenda for our regular city council meeting on 6:15 where we'll be able to see them and I hope get an update on the accuracy of those numbers, but we were still able to through uh to much credit of the city auditor uh today have a conversation on the budget using uh better practices and and best practices uh and techniques for for budgeting. Um on the 17th, just to remind the council uh this year I've recommended that we submit our budget amendments to the city clerk by the 17th. That way they can collect the amendments, organize them, and help position us for success on our special meeting on the 22nd where we'll again meet as a committee of the whole to discuss those amendments
078and then rise as a full council to pass the mayor's budget at that meeting. Uh are there any questions on the process moving forward? Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion made by Council Kuzinski, second by Council Heath to adjourn. All those in favor, I. >> I. >> All those against, no. Motion passes to stand adjourned.