WESTFIELD – Mayor Daniel M. Knapik will appear before the City Council tonight to present his Fiscal Year 2015 budget of $131,959,521.35, beginning a month-long budget review by the city’s legislators.
Knapik’s budget includes $117,700,842 for operation of the city and School Department, with the remaining $14,058,685 coming from revenue-generating sources such as the ambulance fund ($2,419,658); sewerage and wastewater treatment ($5,392,117); Water Resources ($5,191,085); Stormwater ($572,877); Community Preservation ($438,350); and sewer services ($244,589).
The city’s budget now relies more heavily on property taxes than in the past because of the steady decrease in state aid to cities and towns over the past seven years. The FY2008 budget was built with 38 percent in state aid, a number that is only 33 percent in the proposed FY15 budget.
Property taxes accounted for 46 percent of the FY2008 budget, but that number has grown to 54 percent in the proposed FY15 package. Other local receipts, such as excise tax, have also decreased during that span, contributing 16 percent in 2008 and down to 13 percent in 2015.
“Building local budgets has become increasing difficult over the past decade,” Knapik said yesterday. “Throughout the 1990s and into the middle of the last decade, increases in state aid allowed our community to better manage the impact of property taxes on our residents and businesses. Since 2008, however, state aid pays for less and less of our budget each year.”
“In real terms, net state aid to Westfield is $1.9 million less in Fiscal Year 2015 than it was in Fiscal Year 2008,” Knapik said. “From Fiscal Year 2014 to Fiscal Year 2015, net state aid increased by $45,000 or 0.1 percent. In the meantime, the state budget is slated to grow by approximately 4.7 percent.
“As referenced above, the stagnation of state aid has constrained the city’s ability to meet its obligations,” Knapik said. “After limiting our property tax levy increase to 2 percent in FY 14, I am, at this time, estimating (property tax) revenue based upon a levy increase of 2.5 percent in FY15.”
Knapik will also request the City Council to adopt a local meals tax which, according to the state Department of Revenue, will generate an additional $300,000 in revenue for the city. Knapik is also asking the council to increase the hotel occupancy tax from the current 4 percent to 6 percent to generate another $40,000 in new revenue.
Knapik’s budget has also shifted the burden of funding other post employment benefits (OPEB) from the city to revenue-generating departments such as the Westfield Gas & Electric Department and Water Resource Department, a cost avoidance of about $1 million a year.
Knapik also cut $3 million from the funding level requested by city departments.
“The city’s general operating budget of $117.2 million represents an increase of 3.14 percent over FY 14,” Knapik said. “The budget fully funds the city’s collective bargaining obligations and provides departments with sufficient funding for annual operations.”
Knapik said his proposed budget avoids layoffs of municipal employees while streamlining city services such as recycling.
“Other new cost items within the budget include $157,000 within the Department of Public Works account to begin a single-stream recycling initiative and $360,000 within the Purchasing Department for energy management services,” Knapik said. “It is anticipated that the move to single-stream recycling will result in a year over year reduction in the cost to haul our trash as our volume will decrease and an increase in recycled tonnage which will result in an increase in our (state) recycling grant.”
Knapik has also requested the City Council to approve an ordinance to create a Department of Facilities Management.
“It is anticipated that when this position (of facilities manager) is established, for the first time in the city’s history the management of its buildings and grounds will be unified under one job position,” Knapik said.
Knapik is also proposing to use $540,000 funds from a $4.1 bond premium on new capital expenditures, with much of the remaining money available for general government use.
“It is my anticipation that some of this revenue will be used in future years as a reserve for debt decline, meaning we will use it to supplement our debt service payments for a short period of time,” Knapik said.
