2018 City Council (Photo by Lynn Boscher)
WESTFIELD –The Finance Committee reported several items to the Council on Thursday from its two-and-a-half hour meeting on Wednesday. Chairman Dan Allie said that in the future, the Finance Committee will hold their meeting on the Wednesdays after the City Council meets, to avoid the tight turnaround.
One item affected by the 24-hour turnaround was the motion of Councilors Andrew K. Surprise and Dave Flaherty to establish a special purpose stabilization fund for repair of roads and sidewalks to be funded by Local Meals Tax and Room Occupancy Tax.
Surprise said the Finance Committee had voted 3-0 to accept Chapter 40 5B of Mass General Laws which allows for the establishing of the special purpose funds, and refer it to the Legislative & Ordinance (L&O) committee. Surprise said the committee was supposed to have a conference call with the Law Department and a representative from the Department of Revenue, but the call didn’t take place.
City Council president John J. Beltrandi made the motion to send it to L&O. During the discussion, Ward 6 Councilor William Onyski, who serves on the L&O sub-committee, asked whether the Law Department approved it.
Surprise said they had previously said establishment of the fund would be within the Council’s rights.
“So L&O would wait for the Law Department to approve this,” asked Onyski.
At-Large Councilor Cindy C. Harris said she wanted to make sure “it was okay with L&O,” directing her statement to L&O chairman Ralph J. Figy.
“We have no choice. It can come in, and we will get a legal opinion,” Figy said.
Co-sponsor Flaherty said about the creation of the fund and the state law, “no question.” He said the sticking point was the appropriation. “There is a question whether the Mayor needs to initiate it,” Flaherty said.
Surprise said it needed to be done before the budget time in order to be included in next year’s budget.
Allie explained that Finance has planned a meeting on Feb. 28 which the Mayor agreed to attend. “I wanted to hold this until then,” he said, adding, “Whether someone is in favor or not, there is a process.” Allie also said he is working with the Mayor and dealing with people’s concerns.
At-Large Councilor Matthew Emmershy said moving the motion to L&O is the appropriate committee at this point. “The Mayor still has the opportunity to weigh in, and we will still get an opinion from Legal,” he said.
Surprise said there was a second part to the motion. Flaherty clarified that there were four parts; to establish the fund and to accept the MGL, both parts of which the Finance Committee voted 3-0 to pass separately, and authorizing both the Local Meals Tax and the Hotel Tax to fund it, which the Finance Committee voted to hold while awaiting a decision by the Law Department.
“The way it’s written is the way it goes to L&O,” Figy said, which Beltrandi confirmed because the motion in its entirety was on the City Council agenda.
“I wasn’t aware that this was coming out of committee last night,” Allie said, acknowledging that it is now in L&O.
