RICHARD E. ONOFREY, JR.
WESTFIELD – Richard E. Onofrey Jr., is seeking to continue to serve the residents and businesses of Ward 5 as he seeks a fifth term on the City Council.
Onofrey said that during his tenure he has worked with several mayoral administrations to continue to improve roads within the ward and to expand sewer service.
“I have worked with residents and neighborhoods with many other, smaller projects, including street plowing issues during snowstorms, street acceptances, water discharge issues, curbings and zoning issues,” Onofrey said. “The ward councilor should also work with the rest of the council to pass ordinances for the betterment of the city, determine zoning and licenses for businesses and work with the mayor to develop the annual and long-term budgets.
Onofrey said that he has gained experience by serving on a number of council committees.
“I have worked with the council and members of the Legislative and Ordinance Committee to draft and pass ordinances, and have served on the Personnel Action Committee, the Zoning, Planning and Development Committee, the Business Liaison Committee and the Finance Committee,” he said. “As a member of the Finance Committee for the last seven years, and its chair for the last four, I have worked very hard to ensure that the city has a balanced budget every year, that the budgets are sufficient to meet the city’s needs, and carefully examine any transfers within and between departments during the fiscal year.
“During my tenure on the council and on the Finance Committee, I have worked with several mayors and the council to increase the stabilization fund from $25,000 in 2006 to nearly $5,500,000 today,” Onofrey said. “I believe that the stabilization fund is very important to the financial security of the city, and will only support withdrawals from that fund for emergencies, one-time expenses (such as the recent withdrawal for the preliminary work on the proposed senior center) and to directly benefit the taxpayers in lowering property tax increases.”
Onofrey said that the two most important issues to the citizens of his ward are property taxes and further extending sewer service.
“Given the poor economy of the last several years, and increases in expenses across the board, the city has been forced to raise taxes,” Onofrey said. “I have heard from many property owners that the level of taxation on their homes is becoming increasingly unaffordable. Over the last several years, I have worked with mayoral administrations to alleviate some of the proposed increases by taking money from the stabilization fund to lower the tax increases that have been proposed.”
A second issue that is very important to the residents of Ward 5, Onofrey said, is the extension of the city’s sanitary sewer system.
“Currently, many neighborhoods in the ward are not included in the system, and many residents are very anxious to be able to connect to it. I have worked very hard to have extensions to the system brought to Ward 5,” Onofrey said, “and have been successful in having an extension done in Shaker Heights. I’m currently working with the City’s Engineering Department on an extension for Plantation Circle and surrounding streets.”
Onofrey, as both a ward councilor and chairman of the Finance Committee is involved in development of the budget and setting the tax rate, which he said, are interconnected.
“The level of spending in the city is determined by the budget, which then determines how much we have to raise in taxes,” he said. “Property taxes effect every resident and business in the city. However, if we are to reduce taxes, then we will also have to cut services. I have worked very hard to maintain a balance between continuing to provide the level of services that the city residents have come to expect, while not letting taxes grow out of hand.
“In order to increase our property tax base (the total value of properties in the city subject to taxes), I have worked as a member of the TIF (tax increment financing) committee to implement limited, reasonable property tax reductions on a number of businesses, which have helped businesses to come to Westfield or to stay and expand here and not relocate elsewhere,” Onofrey said.
“I believe that Westfield needs to continue to develop much of its open space and to revitalize its downtown. It is only through continued commercial development and rehabilitation that Westfield will be able to continue to grow. This development is directly tied to infrastructure improvements, as we have seen in the downtown. Now that much of the work has been done on the green and the new twin bridges, it is time for the city to work to bring businesses and residents back to our downtown.
“We need to continue to pursue economic development to expand the tax base,” Onofrey said. “With a continued expansion of the tax base, we can lower our tax increases in the future without impacting services.”
