WESTFIELD—In spite of concerns about the budget that spilled over from the night before, the City Council voted to approve the City’s 2017-2018 fiscal operating budget Thursday night.
The budget, which was about $126.34 million after cuts, passed with a two-vote margin—seven voted yes, five voted no on its final reading. At-Large councilor and Council President Brent Bean was not in attendance.
The budget had over $443,000 in cuts from what was originally proposed by Westfield Mayor Brian Sullivan. However, according to at-large councilor Dave Flaherty, the budget increased about $3.2 million from the year before with the cuts, equaling about a 5.4 percent tax increase as it stands currently.
Westfield City Council in their chambers during Thursday night’s vote
Regarding the budget, there were councilors on both sides, some speaking in favor while others speaking against it.
Those who voted no on both readings were At-Large councilors Dan Allie and Dave Flaherty, Ward One councilor Mary Ann Babinski and Ward Three councilor Andrew Surprise. Among their contentions were that constituents have reportedly voiced their concerns over taxes rising.
“This is a very challenging situation, a very challenging budget,” Flaherty said.
“This budget’s $3.6 million more than last year’s budget…It’s not what the taxpayers want, they’ve been clear on that,” he added.
“I’ve had a lot of calls, a lot of emails,” Babinski said. “This is not something people want.”
Babinski also claimed that some residents are fearful of losing their homes.
On the other side, At-Large councilors Cindy Harris, Matthew VanHeynigen and Stephen Dondley, as well as Ward Two councilor Ralph Figy, Ward Five councilor Robert Paul and Ward Six councilor William Onyski all voted in favor of the amended budget through both readings.
“We’ve vetted every line item, and then we voted on every line item,” Paul said. “We all came out and voted this amended budget.”
According to VanHeynigen, the cuts were careful and thoughtful and the budget now is funding city operations residents expect.
“We have to balance the fact that there are services out there that people expect,” he said.
Other councilors who voted were as follows: Ward Four councilor Mary O’Connell voted yes on the first read-through, then no on the second; At-Large councilor John Beltrandi voted no on the first read-through and yes on the second.
The majority of the cuts came in a $250,000 in funding for the Columbia Rail Trail, and an additional $100,000 from informational technology. According to Flaherty, the $250,000 cut for the Rail Trail may be able to be made up through Community Preservation Act grants. Other cuts were from flood control, as well as veterans, personnel and law departments and city council.
In addition, there were no cuts made to the school department budget.
