INFO-2023-15 : Joint Meeting of the City Council and the School Committee on the financial condition of the City, revenue and expenditure forecasts, and other relevant information in preparation of the FY2024 Operating Budget

Transcript (~22 min @ 2:22)

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▶ 2:17 Speaker 5: Info 2023 dash 15 joint meeting of the city council and the school committee on the financial condition of the city revenue and expenditure forecasts and other relevant information in preparation for the FY fiscal year 2024 operating budget.

▶ 2:32 Jen Grigoraitis: Counselor Sonnel, I'd like To seek immediate consideration So the council is seeking immediate consideration so that we can hear from the mayor tonight. Are there any objections? Seeing none That order is now before us and also for the council. I will, uh, suspend the rules by unanimous consent so that we can hear from the mayor. Okay.

▶ 2:52 Jen Grigoraitis: Seeing no objection, the rules are now suspended. Mr. Mayor, please join us.

▶ 2:57 Paul Brodeur: Thank you Madame President Matter Chair, members of the school committee and members of the city council. Dad, this one's for you. Um, I'd like to start off by, um,

▶ 3:08 Speaker 6: taking the opportunity, um, to reflect on one employee.

▶ 3:12 Paul Brodeur: We have a lot of tremendous employees, but one of our officers, uh, Alan Brown,

▶ 3:21 Paul Brodeur: just retired out of the Melrose Police Department after 35 years of service. Um, he was certainly an exemplary employee for that entire time and is a reflection

▶ 3:32 Speaker 7: on the what our all our employees do every day.

▶ 3:35 Paul Brodeur: So I do wanna acknowledge, uh, Alan's service. Thank you for indulging me in that. So, good evening, president Greg

▶ 3:44 Paul Brodeur: Appropriations Chair, McGreal Elli, my apologies. Um, honorable City counselors, Madam Chair Driscoll, and my fellow school committee members, uh,

▶ 3:55 Speaker 8: pursuant to Mass General Law Chapter 44, section 32 and section six dash three of the Melrose City

▶ 4:02 Paul Brodeur: Charter. I respectfully submit for your consideration, the City of Melrose proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2024

▶ 4:12 Paul Brodeur: tonight. And in the weeks ahead,

▶ 4:15 Speaker 9: my administration will provide you with assurance

▶ 4:19 Speaker 6: to not just you, but to the members of the Melrose community, that our finances are stable, our budget practices are responsible. And thanks to past prudent fiscal planning,

▶ 4:29 Paul Brodeur: we have significant reserves to help us weather a time of economic challenge.

▶ 4:35 Speaker 6: And I would be remiss the beginning if I did not, uh,

▶ 4:39 Paul Brodeur: acknowledge all the hard work that has gone into the budget thus far.

▶ 4:43 Speaker 9: Led by our cfo,

▶ 4:45 Paul Brodeur: F Patrick del Russo and his team who candidly do the heavy lifting,

▶ 4:48 Speaker 6: the number crunching the make sure that we can afford what we ask

▶ 4:52 Paul Brodeur: for, and that what we put forward will balance

▶ 4:58 Speaker 7: our dedicated department heads, um, our friends on the,

▶ 5:01 Speaker 6: on the school side,

▶ 5:06 Speaker 7: as well as the department heads in the city who have prepared thoughtful budget

▶ 5:09 Speaker 6: requests. I will say this on a daily basis. I'll tell you something.

▶ 5:12 Speaker 8: You already know that these talented individuals provide the city with the best

▶ 5:14 Speaker 9: services they're able to do with within significant fiscal

▶ 5:23 Speaker 8: restraints and that they have earned and continue to earn our appreciation,

▶ 5:25 Speaker 7: our and our respect.

▶ 5:30 Paul Brodeur: And I wanna assure you that every single one of our department heads and members

▶ 5:34 Speaker 9: of the finance team take incredibly seriously the stewardship of the

▶ 5:37 Speaker 8: city's finances.

▶ 5:41 Speaker 8: Our city employees are justifiably proud of the work they've accomplished in the

▶ 5:45 Paul Brodeur: past year and excited for the work that their budgets will allow them to do

▶ 5:48 Speaker 7: in the year ahead. And during the forthcoming budget hearings,

▶ 5:52 Speaker 8: you will learn more about the activities of each department and their plans for

▶ 5:55 Paul Brodeur: the upcoming year.

▶ 5:58 Speaker 8: But tonight I want to provide you with some important context as to how we have

▶ 6:02 Speaker 8: built the city's budget for FY 24.

▶ 6:04 Paul Brodeur: I wanna start by addressing perhaps the most obvious, uh, challenge that we face, and that is the school department budget.

▶ 6:14 Paul Brodeur: Like every community in the commonwealth, almost without exception, the largest portion of the city's operating budget goes towards the funding of

▶ 6:21 Speaker 9: our public schools as it should be. Rightfully so,

▶ 6:23 Speaker 6: supporting the financial needs of our schools has been and will continue

▶ 6:29 Speaker 8: to be a top priority of this administration and our community.

▶ 6:34 Speaker 8: And in addition to spending over 40% of the

▶ 6:38 Speaker 8: 8.4 million in ARPA funds to support school operating

▶ 6:41 Speaker 8: costs and capital needs over the past two years,

▶ 6:47 Speaker 9: this fiscal year with the support of the city council and some great work by

▶ 6:52 Speaker 6: the school committee and the administration, uh, have tried,

▶ 6:56 Speaker 8: have invested over 3 million in free cash,

▶ 6:57 Speaker 6: including funds to assist the school department in closing the budget gap

▶ 7:04 Paul Brodeur: meeting, necessary Medicaid cost increases, purchasing school curriculum materials,

▶ 7:11 Speaker 7: and conducting the school master plan study that we know is important as

▶ 7:12 Paul Brodeur: we look to our building infrastructure needs in the future. We also,

▶ 7:18 Paul Brodeur: as a city continue to carry significant school related costs in the city budget,

▶ 7:23 Speaker 9: including the legal cost for the school, uh,

▶ 7:28 Paul Brodeur: health insurance and benefits for over 600 employees in the school department.

▶ 7:30 Speaker 6: Um, school nurses,

▶ 7:32 Paul Brodeur: school facility costs maintenance and and debt service for bonded school

▶ 7:35 Speaker 8: projects, um,

▶ 7:37 Speaker 6: within some non-school departments such as D P W Human Resources,

▶ 7:43 Speaker 8: the City Solicitor's Office in Health and Human Services.

▶ 7:48 Speaker 6: The proposed school department budget, if you were watching last night,

▶ 7:50 Paul Brodeur: you already know for FY 24 is

▶ 7:56 Speaker 8: $38,511,659.

▶ 8:00 Paul Brodeur: This represents an increase of $3 million over the FY 23

▶ 8:06 Speaker 9: approved budget. And if this budget is approved through the, through the city council,

▶ 8:10 Paul Brodeur: it will represent an increase in the city funded portion of the Melrose Public School's operating budget of 13% from

▶ 8:17 Speaker 7: FY 22. Well,

▶ 8:24 Speaker 9: I think we will have some disagreements about whether or not this is sufficient.

▶ 8:26 Paul Brodeur: We know our limits and we should be proud of the fact that this does represent

▶ 8:31 Speaker 8: a historic level of investment for our schools outside of the

▶ 8:37 Paul Brodeur: increase from the override, which as you know, was funded with additional revenue from our tax,

▶ 8:42 Speaker 8: from our taxpayers.

▶ 8:45 Speaker 7: So in order to meet this significant difference between this

▶ 8:49 Paul Brodeur: year's and last year's operating budgets,

▶ 8:54 Speaker 9: we are for the first time tapping into the education public safety and substance

▶ 8:56 Paul Brodeur: abuse prevention stabilization fund.

▶ 9:01 Speaker 9: You'll recall that that was established on or around

▶ 9:02 Speaker 7: July 1st, 2019 as a way to,

▶ 9:07 Speaker 6: um,

▶ 9:11 Paul Brodeur: isolate some of the the excise tax revenue we're getting from,

▶ 9:16 Speaker 9: um, commercial marijuana sales. This year we will unify,

▶ 9:18 Paul Brodeur: utilize a quarter of a million dollars of this recurring revenue as a so-called

▶ 9:23 Speaker 8: other funding source to support the school department budget.

▶ 9:25 Speaker 7: And the good news about that is because there is some stability in that fund,

▶ 9:29 Paul Brodeur: that is something that we can continue to do in the out years because as I said,

▶ 9:36 Speaker 7: this is an ongoing revenue source.

▶ 9:38 Speaker 9: We have also increased, um, with a little bit of arm twisting,

▶ 9:44 Speaker 6: um, of the cfo. Um,

▶ 9:46 Speaker 7: both the amount of anticipated local receipts we will be using to fund

▶ 9:50 Speaker 6: operating budgets and the percentage of that. So we have,

▶ 9:54 Paul Brodeur: traditionally it's a little bit in the weeds, we have traditionally planned on 75%. We've accelerated that, uh, 82.5% and dedicated that funding, uh,

▶ 10:06 Speaker 9: to the school budget as well.

▶ 10:12 Paul Brodeur: I do wanna make it clear as was as we made clear at the school committee meeting

▶ 10:15 Speaker 9: last night, that as we do every year,

▶ 10:19 Paul Brodeur: the city will meet additional special ed tuition and transportation costs as they're identified throughout the year.

▶ 10:26 Speaker 7: That is our legal and our moral obligation. We also maintain a robust bounce in the special education

▶ 10:32 Paul Brodeur: stabilization fund for just this purpose. And we are proposing to add another quarter of a million dollars from free cash

▶ 10:41 Speaker 7: to fund,

▶ 10:43 Paul Brodeur: to put additional funding in that account before the end of FY 23,

▶ 10:48 Speaker 9: so that that will be available. We will unify,

▶ 10:50 Paul Brodeur: we'll utilize this and other appropriate funding sources to meet those critical

▶ 10:54 Speaker 8: needs of our most vulnerable students.

▶ 10:58 Speaker 9: I must say I feel confident that together we will chart a path forward that

▶ 11:02 Speaker 8: supports our students and teachers invests in our public schools,

▶ 11:04 Paul Brodeur: while maintaining the stability of our city finances. However, there are clearly many challenges facing us as we enter FY 24

▶ 11:16 Speaker 7: and beyond. In particular,

▶ 11:19 Paul Brodeur: rising special education costs have led to a substantial structural deficit

▶ 11:22 Speaker 7: in the school department budget. This is not the first time, unfortunately,

▶ 11:26 Paul Brodeur: that the district has faced a structural deficit in the past.

▶ 11:33 Speaker 9: The city has addressed structural deficit with the use of free cash and other

▶ 11:36 Paul Brodeur: available funds.

▶ 11:41 Speaker 9: We will have to follow this practice for several years as we worked

▶ 11:44 Paul Brodeur: diligently as a community to close that gap.

▶ 11:50 Speaker 8: We do have other options to close that gap,

▶ 11:52 Speaker 10: including the,

▶ 11:55 Speaker 7: the addition accelerated revenue or to be clear,

▶ 12:01 Speaker 7: if we do an override where we access other ways to grow our, our revenue that will control how fast we can close the

▶ 12:09 Speaker 9: deficit, the structural deficit,

▶ 12:16 Speaker 7: and how we decide as a community where we want our schools and

▶ 12:18 Speaker 8: our other city services to be. However, in that context,

▶ 12:22 Paul Brodeur: I do wanna assure you all and the community that we are taking a proactive

▶ 12:26 Speaker 7: approach to budgeting this year as we have recognized the need for those

▶ 12:31 Speaker 7: additional funds for the school department budget. However,

▶ 12:34 Paul Brodeur: I do wanna make clear that in order to make all this work while recognizing of the fundamental facts of of our revenue,

▶ 12:42 Speaker 7: we have had to say no to many city Department heads who have made reasonable and

▶ 12:48 Speaker 8: well supported requests for increases to their budget to meet needs,

▶ 12:53 Speaker 11: meet the needs of all our residents.

▶ 12:55 Speaker 9: And those needs I will respectfully suggest are not going away.

▶ 13:01 Speaker 8: I am happy to report that thanks to thoughtful budgeting and funding reimbursement,

▶ 13:04 Speaker 7: there is one very important item that we will be saying yes to.

▶ 13:09 Paul Brodeur: Should the council in its wisdom agree to add this position, we will be adding a part-time veteran service officer. This will allow our Veterans Services district director,

▶ 13:21 Speaker 7: which is the supervisor for our Melrose SaaS Wakefield DIS

▶ 13:28 Speaker 9: district to do that supervisory role that that job is intended to

▶ 13:32 Speaker 7: do and not have to do double duty, also serving the Melrose Veterans community.

▶ 13:40 Speaker 7: And I don't need to tell you that the national statistics about

▶ 13:44 Speaker 7: what some of our veterans are going through and candidly and sadly

▶ 13:51 Speaker 8: the tra the tragic experience that we have had in our own community speak to the

▶ 13:54 Speaker 10: need

▶ 13:58 Speaker 10: and our collective responsibility to make those services more

▶ 14:02 Speaker 10: available and to have a more robust delivery system for our veterans.

▶ 14:08 Paul Brodeur: So per an agreement with the Friends of the Milano Center, you'll recall that we,

▶ 14:14 Paul Brodeur: we had shared the cost of a part-time social worker at the Milano Center. Uh, the agreement was they paid all the first year,

▶ 14:23 Speaker 7: we split it the second year and now it's time for us to take on the expense. This budget does

▶ 14:30 Paul Brodeur: continue that service the city taking on that full,

▶ 14:33 Speaker 8: that that full part-time position, if you will, that primarily works with elders.

▶ 14:38 Speaker 7: But our budget will also continue to use ARPA funds

▶ 14:42 Speaker 9: to deliver, uh,

▶ 14:45 Speaker 8: social services coordinator and other services through our,

▶ 14:51 Paul Brodeur: uh, health and Human Services Committee.

▶ 14:54 Speaker 11: I will again suggest that is a need that we learned about during

▶ 14:58 Speaker 9: covid that is literally exploding as we sit here today.

▶ 15:05 Speaker 8: We are heading towards, with that position a bit of a fiscal cliff.

▶ 15:07 Paul Brodeur: And we are going to need to be creative if we are going to maintain what I

▶ 15:15 Paul Brodeur: think is a crucial service into, into the out years.

▶ 15:19 Speaker 7: But for this year, that service will continue.

▶ 15:22 Speaker 9: So together with the work of the, these two dedicated individuals continue to reveal a level of needed service

▶ 15:28 Paul Brodeur: and how much more, quite frankly,

▶ 15:31 Speaker 8: we could and should be doing around mental health,

▶ 15:36 Speaker 10: food insecurity, homelessness, addiction issues,

▶ 15:42 Speaker 7: all of which we all know, all connects, all connects.

▶ 15:43 Paul Brodeur: Someone might come in for a particular service,

▶ 15:46 Speaker 7: we learn a lot more about them and we need to help those people.

▶ 15:50 Speaker 9: So the FY 24 budget also provides funding to support the

▶ 15:57 Paul Brodeur: mobility needs of our elders by paying our council on aging van drivers a competitive wage so that we can fill all the slots that are

▶ 16:07 Speaker 9: available to help seniors get where they need to go.

▶ 16:11 Speaker 7: There's a skyrocketing demand for rides.

▶ 16:15 Speaker 7: And um, as someone who's worked in elder services back in the day,

▶ 16:18 Speaker 9: that is a tool not just to get where you're going,

▶ 16:25 Paul Brodeur: but a critical last mile transportation piece and

▶ 16:30 Speaker 10: is a way for folks to maintain independence

▶ 16:34 Speaker 8: in their home, in the community, in the community first model.

▶ 16:36 Speaker 7: I don't think there's anything, well, there's a lot of things we can do,

▶ 16:42 Paul Brodeur: but that is a critical piece of making sure our growing senior population

▶ 16:45 Speaker 9: is able to stay here and thrive.

▶ 16:49 Paul Brodeur: I do want to compliment our recreation department. They will continue again using ARPA funding to offer exceptional programming for residents of all ages, including importantly,

▶ 17:02 Paul Brodeur: programs that are supportive of mental, mental wellness of our residents,

▶ 17:09 Speaker 10: like mental health first aid and the wellness initiatives that they do that

▶ 17:11 Speaker 8: quite frankly are oversubscribed. And that is in some respects a good problem to have.

▶ 17:18 Speaker 7: But the needs we will not meet work are, are considerable.

▶ 17:22 Paul Brodeur: And that would include additional staffing at the fire department elections.

▶ 17:27 Speaker 8: You know, that world has gotten much, much more complicated, uh,

▶ 17:31 Speaker 7: D P W facilities both in and out of the schools and

▶ 17:33 Speaker 10: additional IT staff either in the schools or

▶ 17:39 Speaker 10: you know,

▶ 17:41 Speaker 9: on the city side to support really the crushing workload of managing

▶ 17:46 Speaker 10: a very complex and increasing need

▶ 17:52 Speaker 7: for those kind of technological innovations.

▶ 17:55 Speaker 9: We must recognize as just with the school department,

▶ 17:57 Paul Brodeur: when we talk about level services and level funding, that the demands on city departments and the cost of those have increased and

▶ 18:06 Speaker 11: will continue to increase and our ability to adequately resource them

▶ 18:10 Speaker 10: is just not keeping up.

▶ 18:13 Speaker 9: So the problem that we face is that the work of city government touches

▶ 18:17 Speaker 8: on a lot of critical areas, but right now with the resources that we have,

▶ 18:23 Speaker 7: we have made, we have made, and you will,

▶ 18:26 Speaker 9: you will have to explore these, these hard choices.

▶ 18:30 Paul Brodeur: But that's pretty doom and gloom, right? And that's really not,

▶ 18:34 Speaker 8: not what I really want to deliver. Um,

▶ 18:35 Paul Brodeur: but I do believe in delivering candor in reality. But as we move forward,

▶ 18:43 Speaker 8: I do want to keep in, I do want all our residents, our electeds, our board and commission members,

▶ 18:47 Speaker 7: to keep in mind that we are one city. That we all at our best work together across city and

▶ 18:54 Speaker 11: school departments with our state and federal partners to deliver

▶ 19:00 Speaker 8: for residents to serve our residents at every stage of

▶ 19:06 Speaker 9: their lives. We are deeply committed to our students, but also to our elderly,

▶ 19:13 Speaker 7: our veterans, our business community, our public safety, and our environment. Moving forward, we must deliver, excuse me,

▶ 19:18 Paul Brodeur: we must develop the financial resources to live up to those commitments

▶ 19:24 Speaker 7: or tell the community that we're not going to. Now,

▶ 19:31 Speaker 10: um, again, I hope that's not too doom and gloom.

▶ 19:32 Speaker 9: I to think it's aspirational because I will tell you this,

▶ 19:37 Speaker 11: despite all these challenges, uh, might be counterintuitive to say this,

▶ 19:44 Speaker 9: but the job that I have is really the best job in

▶ 19:46 Speaker 7: the world.

▶ 19:50 Speaker 7: The opportunities that I have had as kind of the,

▶ 19:53 Speaker 9: the placeholder for the position have been extraordinary.

▶ 19:58 Speaker 8: It's been hard. Probably keep doing it. It wasn't so hard. Maybe not,

▶ 20:02 Speaker 7: but it's hard. But I think of you all,

▶ 20:06 Speaker 11: despite differing opinions or different intentions,

▶ 20:09 Speaker 10: I know from my time that you are devoted

▶ 20:13 Paul Brodeur: to answering these hard questions and doing it honestly and openly. And sometimes by delivering bad news,

▶ 20:24 Speaker 9: the worst, it's the worst part of the job.

▶ 20:28 Speaker 9: But the best part of the job was like the day ahead today when I

▶ 20:32 Speaker 8: started the day talking to veteran services about the parade,

▶ 20:34 Paul Brodeur: about some ways we can improve services, about this budget situation,

▶ 20:38 Speaker 7: about some memorials. Uh,

▶ 20:42 Speaker 10: then I had the opportunity to go to the ECC and go to a staff meeting

▶ 20:44 Paul Brodeur: and here what they're doing on the ground. Cuz as hard as we work at it and I have a unique schedule that allows me to do this, there's no substitute for listening and seeing what is going on. Doesn't mean you can fix it, but if you can't speak the language, if you don't have the experience, you can't do the job. And it was a privilege. Uh, it really was a privilege to be there. Uh, the better part perhaps that was I was able to go back for their, um,

▶ 21:12 Speaker 10: their learning night. And we get rightfully so,

▶ 21:19 Speaker 7: we're adults. We get caught up, we get wound up, we worry about the things that we're empowered to,

▶ 21:25 Speaker 11: to, to do.

▶ 21:27 Speaker 9: And that's because it really is a big responsibility.

▶ 21:29 Paul Brodeur: Um, but if you wanna see why,

▶ 21:34 Speaker 11: maybe it's okay and maybe we're gonna get through it with some bumps along the

▶ 21:43 Speaker 10: way. Go to the ECC and watch what,

▶ 21:45 Paul Brodeur: watch what happens there. And you will see,

▶ 21:48 Speaker 10: not necessarily uniformly, but you will see kids excited to be there.

▶ 21:53 Paul Brodeur: You'll see parents that are grateful for the opportunity to send their kids

▶ 21:57 Speaker 10: there.

▶ 22:01 Speaker 10: And that can't help

▶ 22:04 Speaker 11: but put a smile on your face and remind you that

▶ 22:10 Paul Brodeur: if you haven't char you have an opportunity to spend an hour on Facebook or an

▶ 22:14 Speaker 11: hour to walk around your block or visit your local school or park or

▶ 22:17 Speaker 7: mount hood or whatever the case may be.

▶ 22:24 Paul Brodeur: I will tell you based on my experience for what it's worth, it'll be far more pleasant and it will make you better

▶ 22:30 Speaker 10: representatives of the people.

▶ 22:35 Speaker 12: So I want to close again by thanking the hard work of everyone

▶ 22:40 Speaker 10: in city government. Um, that, you know, behind the scenes works really tirelessly to

▶ 22:48 Speaker 10: serve the citizens of Melrose to serve our residents.

▶ 22:50 Speaker 8: And that's one of the things I'm proud of is when someone says,

▶ 22:54 Speaker 10: what do you do for a living? Oh, I work for the city of Melrose. Oh,

▶ 22:58 Paul Brodeur: what do you do? And they don't say, oh, I'm in the clerk's office,

▶ 23:01 Speaker 8: or I'm a firefighter. They say,

▶ 23:02 Paul Brodeur: I serve the people in Melrose cuz that is what I can tell you. That is the work ethic they bring every day.

▶ 23:10 Speaker 7: And so again, now I really will close with the same quote I used, um,

▶ 23:16 Speaker 9: at the state of the city or the theme that I hope will continue to

▶ 23:19 Speaker 8: resonate. And that is the,

▶ 23:22 Speaker 7: this idea that there is no power for change greater than a

▶ 23:26 Speaker 8: community discovering what it cares about. That's what the budget process is about.

▶ 23:31 Speaker 9: That's what elections are about.

▶ 23:34 Paul Brodeur: That is what good public policy and civic discourse is about.

▶ 23:39 Speaker 10: Um, the only thing I would add is that coming together to identify

▶ 23:46 Speaker 10: that change is what we need to do. Um,

▶ 23:49 Paul Brodeur: I think we have offered a product that you can be proud of. I look forward to the debate and I thank you all for your time and your service

▶ 23:56 Speaker 11: to this great community. Thank you.

▶ 24:10 Jen Grigoraitis: Thank you Mayor Broer for that and for your service to this community. And also I just wanna highlight the many people in this building who helped build the budget we're about to review and all of those in central administration. Who did that work for the school committee, um, in these months prior. Um,