MARY L. O’CONNELL
WESTFIELD – The Finance Committee may not deliver the proposed 2016 Fiscal Year budget to the full City Council until June 30, the day before the budget takes effect.
Finance Chairman Brent B. Bean II said he does not plan to call a meeting of his committee until June 25 when it will complete its review of departmental budget including the City Auditor, Treasurer, Collector and Purchaser, known as the financial group.
Bean had initially slated the committee’s next meeting for June 29 because members Robert A. Paul Sr., and Christopher Crean both planned to be out of the city on business next week. Bean said that Crean reworked his business schedule to participate in the meeting next Thursday.
BRIAN P. SULLIVAN
The Finance Committee will then meet with that same group on Monday, June 20, to discuss the city’s capital needs and methods of removing those fund from budgets, such as through bonding, to free funds for operational needs.
The session may be followed by either a special meeting of the City Council or a committee of the whole by the Finance Committee, or both, to discuss, and vote on, proposed cuts.
“I’d like to give the mayor the budget, possibly amended by the council, on June 30, so he has time to review and adjust expenditures,” Bean said. “Then the City Council would hold a special meeting on July 1 to approve the budget.”
DAVID FLAHERTY
The Finance Committee has already reviewed the budget of major departments, including the reorganized Department of Public Works, which now includes Water, Wastewater treatment plant, and Parks& Recreation. Earlier this week the committee reviewed in detail the budgets of the Police, Fire, Emergency Dispatch and School departments.
Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell said she was disappointed that the committee did not call in every department, except the Athenaeum, for a detailed review.
City Council President Brian Sullivan defended the Finance Committee, stating that Bean had requested councilors to notify him about which departments should appear before the finance committee for a detailed budget review.
Sullivan said that only At-large Councilor David A. Flaherty responded to that request by Bean, submitting a list which included DPW, Police, Fire, Dispatch, School and the four-department financial team, all of which Bean has scheduled to appear before his committee.
Sullivan chided O’Connell for not submitting her own list of departments she wished reviewed or taking action, as several other councilors stated they have, to speak directly with department heads about their budgets.
Bean said that he sought to review only the city’s major cost centers and not to review budgets of the smaller departments with limited financial commitments.
“This budget is bare bones,” Bean said. “There’s nothing we can cut without hurting the city’s ability to deliverer services to residents. I’m not going to have any cuts to propose unless the financial team has something we can consider after we meet with them.”
Bean said that one budgetary amendment Mayor Daniel M. Knapik may have to make is the $300,000 in new revenue to be generated by an increase on meal and hotel room taxes. Knapik included that revenue as part of the 2016 budget.
The City Council voted to reject those new taxes and would have to suspend its rules to vote on the issue a second time. If the motion to suspend the rules fails, the council will not even vote to institute the new taxes.
