Westfield Mayor Brian Sullivan (WNG file photo)
WESTFIELD—Following the submission of the budget to city council Thursday, Mayor Brian Sullivan spoke about some of its highlights.
Among the focuses within the budget this year are the trimming of positions within the city without layoffs, money toward roadwork and infrastructure and a budget that can remain similar to one proposed last year. Sullivan could not promise there would be no rise in taxes, but vowed to attempt to keep them from going up.
“At the end of last year we were able to have no tax increase,” Sullivan said. “I can’t promise that but I can promise we are looking towards keeping that result.”
According to Sullivan, the lack of a raise in taxes came through budgetary management throughout the last fiscal year, which he hopes can occur again through this year.
Regarding the budget itself, Sullivan said that the budget as it was presented to city council covers the necessities within the city. The proposed budget came in at just over $132 million, and according to Sullivan it is planned to cover needs within the city over the next five to 10 years. City council now has several chances to review and make changes, as they see appropriate.
Mayor Brian P. Sullivan presents his FY18 budget to the City Council Thursday. (Photo by Amy Porter)
“Basically, it’s a great budget of need. We put additional monies into roads and infrastructure, as well as technology,” he said.
“I’m pretty proud of it,” Sullivan added. “We have some money to do projects we wanted and it’s balanced.”
Sullivan said that the trimming of positions will be coming as positions become open within the city’s government, but not through termination of employees. He said that this has saved the budget around $100,000.
“There’s a lot of positions that I did not fill, so there will be no layoffs but through attrition there is a reduction in staff, including at schools,” he said.
There are a couple of positions being added, however. One such position, the code enforcement officer through the city’s police department, was talked about during the initial phases of the budget creation last month.
“The code enforcement officer is in the budget as we speak, it’s up to city council to keep it there now,” Sullivan said.
Previously, Sullivan said that it would be an overtime position rather than a full-time one in the department, and would be one that is being brought back rather than created anew. The city last had a code enforcement officer five years ago.
The funding for the position is said to come from community block grants through the community development office in the city.
Another position is that of chief financial officer (CFO) for the city. This position, which is coming as a result of retirements within the finance department, is essentially an amalgamation of job duties of positions previously within the said department. Last year, following Debbie Strycharz’s retirement as city auditor, Sullivan suggested that a CFO for the city may be coming.
“We are actually looking at a potential restructuring of the finance department’s auditor, collector, treasurer and assessors,” Sullivan said in a Nov. 14, 2016, article.
Yet another position that is currently being budgeted for is within the city’s water department. While the water treatment facility that is being planned to treat perfluorinated compounds in the water already has money ready for its construction through municipal bonds, the management of the site may have to come through a new position within the department.
“We are going to need to manage that site, so there is a position in the water department because we will need a supervisor in that facility,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan also added that there will be positions within the Department of Public Works (DPW) that will be added, including another tree trimmer and two additional operators, barring council approval. Additionally, an animal control officer position and part-time spot in Veteran’s Services are currently budgeted for.
Also coming with the proposed budget is equipment for the DPW.
“There are pieces of equipment in the budget to help us do some projects in-house, as opposed to spending on subcontractors,” Sullivan said. “It will be a net savings as we monitor it.”
Among the equipment proposed for purchase are a wood chipper, grater and two trucks that can be used as plows.
