WESTFIELD – At the end of Thursday’s City Council meeting, At-large Councilor David Flaherty made several motions in advance of the upcoming budget hearings.
In one motion, Flaherty requested that budget documents for each department individually (with columns for 2015 actual, 2016 original budget, 2016 revised, 2017 department request and 2017 mayoral
DAVID FLAHERTY
submission) be posted on the City website prior to any public Finance Committee meetings regarding the budget. He also requested a detailed school department budget, and the mayor’s recap sheet detailing the proposed sources of revenue be posted.
Another motion by Flaherty requested that the latest audited OPEB (Other Postemployment Benefits) unfunded liability, pension unfunded liability, and severance unfunded liability numbers be added to monthly fund balance reports so that councilors and the public can see how unfunded liabilities compare to available funds.
Another motion by Flaherty was made on behalf of a citizen taxpayer requesting that the city’s audit department and school department explain how funds appropriated in FY16 for energy were, or will be used. Flaherty wrote that the citizen believes energy costs should have been much lower than predicted during last year’s budget process due to declines in prices across the global energy markets.
All motions were referred at the meeting to the city’s auditing and school departments.
Regarding the motion on energy prices, Flaherty said that prices in June of last year were a lot higher, so all of the estimates were much higher.
“The rest of the community wants to know what happened to the rest of the money, if more was budgeted than spent,” Flaherty said, adding that the “citizen taxpayer” believes the city should have money left over in their budgets.
Flaherty said the public hearing on the budget is scheduled for June 27 at 6 p.m. in the City Council chambers.
“It’s an opportunity for people to come and speak on any line item,” he said. People usually come and say what is more important to them, for example schools or roads.
Flaherty said other meetings currently scheduled include June 28 for the Finance Committee’s meeting to recommend a budget, June 29 for the Finance Committee to meet with the City Council, and June 30 for the City Council to vote on the budget.
Westfield Public Schools business manager Ron Rix said he hadn’t yet seen the motions as of Monday morning, but he said he is prepared to answer any questions brought to them. He said it was unusual for the questions to be brought forward as motions.
As for energy, Rix said they cut $228,000 from the utility line item last July, and were thankful for the “perfect storm” of both a mild winter and prices dropping.
“This year, we have some savings in utilities that will pay for other stuff,” he said. Rix said previously that they are in the process of sweeping accounts to see where there is money left unspent, and he will have proposals for the School Committee at the next meeting to transfer some money.
He said the district is three weeks ahead of schedule in the budget preparation, and was hoping the City Council would move up their schedule as well.
“We have to notify people by June 15. Even if we recall them by June 16, they’re eligible to collect until the end of July,” Rix said. Last year, he said, the schools had to cut $400,000 at 10 p.m. on June 30.
Westfield Mayor Brian Sullivan, who had not seen the motions yet either, said the City Council will get the budget from him before June 1.
“It’s really in their hands once I give it to them,” Sullivan said, “but they’ll have it sooner than last year.” He said he would be prepared for the presentation whenever they would like to schedule it.
