City Council — 2017-05-08
Attendance
Robert A. Boisselle ; Donald L. Conn Jr. ; Scott M. Forbes ; Gail Infurna ; Jennifer L. Lemmerman ; Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis ; Monica C. Medeiros ; Peter D. Mortimer ; John N. Tramontozzi ; Francis X. Wright Jr. ; Michael P. Zwirko
Agenda
- Call to Order
- ORDER-2017-138 : Joint Meeting of the Board of Aldermen and the School Committee to be held at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, May 8, 2017, in the Aldermanic Chamber, City Hall, Melrose, MA, on the Financial Condition of the City, revenue and expenditure forecasts, and other relevant information in preparation of the FY2018 Operating Budget
- Public Participation
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE BOARD OF ALDERMEN BULLETIN● MAY 8, 2017 Aldermanic Chamber, Melrose City HallJoint Meeting with the School Committee 7:00 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176
ORDER-2017-138 Joint Meeting/School Committee Joint Meeting of the Board of Aldermen and the School Committee to be held at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, May 8, 2017, in the Aldermanic Chamber, City Hall, Melrose, MA, on the Financial Condition of the City, revenue and expenditure forecasts, and other relevant information in preparation of the FY2018 Operating Budget Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Robert A. Boisselle Ward 4 Alderman Present Scott M. Forbes Ward 7 Alderman Present Gail M. Infurna Ward 5 Alderman Present Jennifer L. Lemmerman Ward 2 Alderman Present Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis Alderman at Large Present Monica C. Medeiros Alderman at Large Late 7:04 PM Peter D. Mortimer Ward 6 Alderman Present John N. Tramontozzi Ward 1 Alderman Present Francis X. Wright Jr. Ward 3 Alderman Present Michael P. Zwirko Alderman at Large Present Donald L. Conn Jr. President, Alderman at Large Present Roll Call: School Committee Members Present: Lizbeth DeSelm Mayor Robert Dolan Jessica Dugan Jaime McAllister-Grande Edward O’Connell Chairman Margaret Driscoll Absent: Christine Casatelli Cyndy Taymore, Supt. of Schools (Present) Motion: Suspend Rules (Rule 29) to commence with Public Participation By: Alderman Mortimer - (No Second) Motion failed City of Melrose Page 1 5/9/2017 12:04 PM Minutes Board of Aldermen May 8, 2017 Mayor Dolan came forward and delivered a speech on budget and the financial condition of the city. The following is the Mayor Dolan’s FY 18 Budget Address: Good evening. Tonight I present the FY 18 City of Melrose budget in the amount of $77,397,009.19. This represents a consistent practice of conservative budgeting during my term as Mayor and in fact, with a 2.75% increase, this is the smallest percentage increase in City spending since FY 14. This is a balanced budget that was developed using a combination of efficiencies, diversified revenue sources, and reductions. The majority of the increases we see in this budget reflect school spending, health insurance costs, contracted salaries and wages, and necessary operational adjustments. This budget also represents the most transparent budget in the city’s history. It does not irresponsibly compromise reserves. It reflects the will of the people regarding staying at our levy limit and follows our ten principles of sound management that we have been practicing for the past 15 years. Although a variety of constraints present operational challenges, this city clearly is moving forward with many important initiatives, and I must be clear: The challenging times that we faced in the past never prevented this administration from taking on major issues in this community head-on and finding solutions. We have found solutions to problems in the worst of times that were never solved in the best of times. That is going to continue, and I would like to focus on that this evening. • I will submit to the Board of Aldermen 0% increases in water and sewer volumetric rates. Furthermore, there will be no increase in ambulance rates. The challenges of water and sewer rates are not simply a Melrose issue. They are a burden shared by the 55 cities and towns under the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. We have two obligations when it comes to water and sewer rates: Our rate structure must be legal under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the amount of revenue attained through this rate formula must meet our fiduciary obligation to the MWRA and the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. This Board of Aldermen has learned in the past that when the rates do not meet that financial obligation, the Department of Revenue will come to Melrose, as they did a few years ago, and demand that we institute conservative practices to ensure the solvency of both the water and the sewer fund. The steps we have taken to manage water and sewer rates are absolutely working. They are not driven by politics or quick, easy fixes. Although 0% increases are rare, this year’s rates are driven by three circumstances: • Due to last year’s drought, the MWRA has brought on many additional communities on a one-time basis. As a result of these additional members, this year’s MWRA rate increase was lower than usual. City of Melrose Page 2 5/9/2017 12:04 PM Minutes Board of Aldermen May 8, 2017 • We have successfully completed our reserve plan one year early, in four years instead of five. These reserves are critically important to the long term stability of rates and the financial health of the program. Due to meeting our goal, there is no need to raise rates to meet this obligation. • We have been able to cut indirect costs by 6.5% in both the water and sewer budgets. This was a goal we set out last year, and we have achieved it. Our collective actions have set up water and sewer rates for greater rate stability in the future, not only for the aforementioned reasons but also because we have now fully begun the multi-year I & I program, which will reap great benefits. We have also made great gains with the new water meter installation program, which has reduced estimated reads, allows us to track illegal hookups and losses in water, and allows us to begin an opt-in program for monthly billing. • This budget represents Year One of a major three-year road program for the City of Melrose. Over the past year our engineering team has done a comprehensive study of our City’s streets and has ranked them based on need for repair as well as anticipated utility and water work. This program touches every corner of the city and will also include a new state program, Complete Streets. The goal of the Complete Streets program is to improve and connect roads and sidewalks for all modes of transportation and for all ages. The Complete Streets program is a partnership between the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and municipalities, and we will be very aggressive in pursuing the funding available over the coming year. Major targeted areas include intersections, school neighborhoods, and business districts, schools, and other community meeting places. Beginning this month, the City of Melrose will be convening a working group to help identify and prioritize up to 15 Complete Street projects that we will submit to the state for funding as part of this initiative. • This budget includes increased downtown parking. Over the last year, we have made great strides in improving downtown parking with the expansion of the Dill’s Court lot, which added 23 spaces. We also partnered with the Chamber of Commerce to implement a parking plan that places emphasis on customers for prime parking and greater turnover of spaces, eliminating abuse of the previous parking permits. In addition, I am happy to report tonight that we have reached an agreement in principle with the Archdiocese of Boston to add 19 additional spaces to downtown parking. I will submit this agreement to the Board of Aldermen for approval, and it is funded in this budget. • Bids have come in, money has been approved, and construction has begun on the expansion of the Winthrop and Hoover schools and the renovation of the Horace Mann elementary school. Included in this project is significant site work in all three schools as well as improved handicap accessibility and greater educational equity. When summer turns to fall, we will deliver a top-notch product of great quality and on budget. With kindergarten placement complete, we continue to see classes well over 300, which will continue to present an operational and financial challenge with regard to hiring staff. This is clearly not a bubble but a trend, which shows the health and collective City of Melrose Page 3 5/9/2017 12:04 PM Minutes Board of Aldermen May 8, 2017 success of a community that is desirable to families and a place where people want to raise and educate their children. • One year ago we announced the formation of a Public Safety Building Committee, which included citizens and public safety officials, chaired by former Fire Chief John O’Brien; President Conn and I also both serve on the committee. We began the process of bringing to this Board and the community a solution to the issue of a police and fire station that are both over 100 years old. I am pleased to announce that the committee has narrowed the selection process to two architectural firms. In the coming weeks, a firm will be chosen. They will present a set of possible solutions in the fall. The committee will then deliberate and recommend a solution to be presented to this Board of Aldermen for public dialogue and debate, with the final decision to be made by the citizens of Melrose. I am also excited about the following initiatives in 2018, which include 1. A Citizens Academy, which will increase civic engagement; 2. The launch of an online building permit system, which will allow homeowners and contractors to start filling out building permit applications 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and a software system that will allow online payments for building permits, live tablet inspections by staff, and online permit inquiries; 3. The opening of the community garden in June, which will allow people who don’t have yards of their own to have gardens and will improve the health of all Melrosians; 4. Planting of nearly 100 trees citywide; 5. The construction of a World War II monument at the Knoll this fall; 6. The improvements to the soccer field at the West Knoll; 7. Using the funds from the National Grid Energy Challenge that the citizens of Melrose completed, we will see solar lighting at the dog park, a solar powered bench at Melrose Common that will allow people to charge their devices, a solar water-filling station at Fred Green Field, and the retrofitting of a DPW vehicle to reduce emissions; 8. In partnership with the Northern Bank, a new handicap accessible senior shuttle; 9. In partnership with the Friends of the Milano Center, renovation of the second-floor classroom of the Milano Center, as well as full exterior painting; 10. A partnership between the library and the Council on Aging to bring books to homebound seniors; 11. An upgraded City of Melrose website; 12. Release of the new Master Plan; 13. New solar-powered speed signals on Howard, Upham, and Franklin streets and West Wyoming Avenue; 14. Completion of the wiring upgrade in our public schools to provide reliable WiFi to all students in all classes and allow them to implement computer-based testing for MCAS. City of Melrose Page 4 5/9/2017 12:04 PM Minutes Board of Aldermen May 8, 2017 As we complete Fiscal Year 2017, it is my professional obligation as Mayor and chief executive of this City to advise you of the quite obvious challenges that are before us. I have said for years, and it has never been truer than it is now, that the state and federal government are withdrawing from cities and towns. The federal government provides $2.2 million in direct aid to the City of Melrose. Most of it goes to helping those most in need: special education students, the free and reduced lunch programs, and mandates. As that money goes away, there is nothing to replace it. Congress is debating a new health care bill that has the potential to blow a multi-billion dollar hole in the State Budget. These are not my words, but those of our Governor, Charlie Baker. There is no question education and municipal budgets will suffer to close this gap. Current State revenues are $462 million below projections with only two months remaining in the current fiscal year. This means spending is on track to exceed revenue by nearly a half billion dollars. And with the Massachusetts Senate deliberating on the FY18 state budget next, their projections will need to be readjusted and tough decisions will absolutely need to be made. Every year, increased state assessments chip away at our local aid, and unfunded mandates continue to grow. That includes this coming Fiscal Year: Our total state aid increased by $206,652, but almost half of that is eaten up by an increase in assessments of $92,751, which leaves the city with just over a 1% increase in state aid over the current fiscal year. I do not anticipate anything stopping this trend, and neither should you. Local aid makes up 18% of our budget and there is no money to replace this loss or to pay for new unfunded mandates. Let it be known that the City of Melrose budget is balanced. Our revenue projections are accurate. Our spending is in line with those revenues and we have positioned ourselves with reasonable reserves to maintain our strong bond rating. Let no one in this room think that this year’s school budget did not include real pain. Not only the pain of eliminating needed positions but the inability of our public schools to reach their fullest potential, due to the need for increased staff, particularly at Melrose High School. The predominant reason for this is we are spending the majority of our money to address the needs of increased populations in K through 3 that require us to hire additional staff. Almost all our money is going to address that issue as well as providing our teachers with a modest and well deserved raise. As someone who has developed and implemented budgets for many years, I have managed through very difficult times and some good times. We have never been on our own more than we are today. I have also never seen as much instability at both the federal and state levels of government as I do today. These are the realities. The answer is not always that we need to tighten our belt or do things in a different way. We have been tightening our belts for 16 years. We have reinvented this city in a hundred different ways to make it more efficient, and that has allowed us to survive and made us the most desirable community in Massachusetts, by all indicators. City of Melrose Page 5 5/9/2017 12:04 PM Minutes Board of Aldermen May 8, 2017 Did we get through this year and does this budget get us through the next? We did, and it does. But these trends are real. This is a solutions-based business and a results- based business. And those who stand for office this year must focus on solutions, not cliché or ideology. My administration has delivered results and solutions for over a decade, and we have a lot more to give, but we need your help-the people in this chamber who are elected and the people who are at home. It has never been harder, and it won’t get easier. The budget process is now in the hands of the Board of Aldermen, as the legislative body of the city. Once the budget is passed, this is not the end of the process but the beginning of a new year. And like every new year, there are new resolutions and opportunities, but it can never be forgotten that the process must always be guided by the citizens of our great City. I thank each of you for your service to our city, and I offer this budget for your consideration and passage. City of Melrose Page 6 5/9/2017 12:04 PM
Transcript
▶ 0:00 Okay if everybody could please come to order. Okay welcome to the chamber tonight everybody. My name is Donald Kahn. We are here for a joint meeting of the Melrose Board of Aldermen and the Melrose School Committee which has been called by Mayor Dolan pursuant to Article 3-6 of the City Charter. Ms. O'Shea could you call the roll of both parties please. Alderman Boisselle. Here. Alderman Forbes. Here. Alderman Inferna. Here. Lumberman. Here. Here. Alderman McAteer-Margolis. Here. Here. Alderman Majerus. Alderman Mortimer. Here. Here. Alderman Tramontozzi. Here. Here. Alderman Wright. Here. Here. Alderman Zwirko. Here. Here. President Kahn. Here. Here. Ten members present. Okay, ten Constitutes of Quorum of the Board of Aldermen.
▶ 0:51 school committee members christine casatelli uh elizabeth de cellum here here mayor robert dolan here jessica dugan here here jamie mcallister grande here here edward o'connell here here and chairman margaret driscoll here here six members present and superintendent cindy taymor is here okay it looks like we have a quorum of both bodies and as required by the charter we We also have the superintendent present. If everybody could please rise and join me in saluting the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. President and Chairman of the joint meeting, the agenda list notwithstanding,
▶ 1:51 I make a motion for suspension, if necessary, and to open the floor for public participation. Second. The last chair. I think the way the meeting has been posted is we're going to have to have public participation at the conclusion of discussion on the order. Well, I would make a motion to suspend the rules and have public participation in accordance with our usual practice at the beginning. Okay, Alderman Mortimer is making a motion to have public participation in accordance with the rule of the Board of Aldermen 29. Is there a second to that motion? Okay, there is not. At this time, we will hear from his honor, the mayor, please, and then we will proceed with the rest of the meeting. Mr. Mayor, could you come forward, please?
▶ 2:54 Thank you, and please forgive my voice this evening. Good evening. Tonight I present the FY18 City of Melrose budget in the amount of $77,397,009.19. This represents a consistent practice of conservative budgeting during my tenure as Mayor, and in fact, with a 2.75% increase. It is the smallest percentage increase in the City's spending since FY14. This is a balanced budget that was developed using a combination of efficiencies, diversified revenue sources, and reductions. The majority of the increases we see in this budget reflect school spending, health insurance costs, contracted salary and wages, and necessary operational adjustments. This budget also represents the most transparent budget in the city's history.
▶ 3:45 It does not irresponsibly compromise reserves. It reflects the will of the people regarding staying at our levy limit and follows our 10 principles of sound management that we have been practicing for the past 15 years. Although a variety of constraints present operational challenges, this city clearly is moving forward with many important initiatives. and I must be clear the challenging times that we faced in the past ever presented this administration in each of you from taking on major issues in this community head-on and finding solutions we have found solutions to problems in the worst of times that were never solved in the best of times that is going to continue and I would like to focus on some of that this evening first
▶ 4:35 First, I will submit to the Board of Aldermen, 0% increases in water and sewer volumetric rates. Furthermore, there will be a 0% increase in ambulance rates. The challenges of water and sewer rates are not simply a Melrose issue, they are a burden shared by the 55 towns and cities under the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. We have two obligations when it comes to water and soil rates. One, our right structure must be legal under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. And the amount of revenue attained through this rate formula must meet our fiduciary obligation to the MWRA and the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. This Board of Aldermen and my administration has learned in the past that when the rates
▶ 5:28 do not meet the financial obligation the Department of Revenue will come to Melrose as they did a few years ago and demand that we institute conservative practices to ensure the solvency of both the water and sewer fund the steps we have taken to manage water and sewer are absolutely working they are not driven by politics or quick and easy fixes. Although a 0% increase is rare, this year's rates are driven by three circumstances. First, due to last year's drought the MWRA brought on many additional communities on a one-time basis. As a result, these additional members this year will pay the MWRA assessment and therefore that assessment is lower than usual secondly we have successfully completed our reserve plan one here early in four years instead of
▶ 6:30 five these reserves are critically important to the long-term stability of rates in the financial health of our system due to meeting our goal a year early there is no need to raise rates to meet any reserve obligation third we have been able to cut indirect costs by 6.5 percent in both water and sore budgets this was a goal we set out last year and we have achieved that goal our collective actions although difficult have set up water and soar rates for greater rate stability in the future not only for the aforementioned recent reasons but also because we have now fully begun the multi-year ini program which will reap great benefits we have also made great gains with the new water meter installation program which has
▶ 7:25 reduced estimated reads allows us to track illegal hookups and losses in water it also allows us to begin an opt-in program for monthly billing second this budget represents year one of a major three year road program for the city of melrose over the past year our engineering team has done a comprehensive study of our city streets and has ranked them based on need for repair as well as anticipated utility and water work this program will touch every corner of the city and will also include a new state program complete streets the goal of the complete streets program is to improve and connect roads and sidewalks for all modes of transportation and for all ages and abilities the complete streets program is a partnership between the commonwealth of massachusetts and
▶ 8:19 municipalities and we will be very aggressive in pursuing the funds available over the coming year major targeted areas include intersections school neighborhoods and business districts our direct elementary schools and other community meeting places beginning this month the city of Melrose will convene a working group to help identify and prioritize up to 15 complete street projects that will be submitted to the Commonwealth for funding as part of this initiative third this budget includes increased downtown parking over the last year we have made great strides in improving downtown parking with the expansion of Dill's Court lot with the addition of 23 spaces. We also partnered with the Chamber of Commerce to
▶ 9:07 implement a parking plan that places emphasis on customers for prime parking and granitary and over spaces. It eliminates abuse of the previous parking permits. In addition, I'm happy to report tonight that we have reached an agreement in principle with the Archdiocese of Boston to add 19 additional spaces to downtown parking lot I will submit this agreement to the Board of Aldermen in the coming month for approval and it is funded in this budget excuse me fourth the bids are in and the money has been approved and the construction has begun on the expansion of the Winthrop and Hoover schools and the renovation of Horace main elementary school included in this project is significant site work at all three schools as well as improved handicap
▶ 9:57 accessibility and greater educational equity throughout the district when summer turns to fall we will deliver a top-notch project of great quality and on budget with kindergarten placement complete we continue to see classes of well over 300 students which will continue to present an operational financial challenge with regard to hiring this is clearly not a bubble but trend which shows the health and collective success of a community that is desirable to families in a place where people want to raise and educate their children one year ago we announced the formation here the public safety building committee which included citizens public safety officials is chaired by a former fire chief John O'Brien president Khan and I also serve
▶ 10:49 on this important committee we begin the process of bringing to the sport of Waldman in this community a solution to the issue of we have a police and a fire station that are both over 100 years old I am pleased to announce that the committee has narrowed the selection process to two architectural firms in the coming few weeks a firm will be chosen they will present a possible solution to the public in the fall the committee will then deliberate and recommend a solution to be presented to this Board of Aldermen for public dialogue and debate and the final decision will be made by the citizens of Melrose I am also excited about the following initiatives in 2018 in this budget which include a Citizens Academy which will increase civic engagement the
▶ 11:44 launch of an online building permit system which will allow homeowners and and contractors to start filling out building permits and applications 24 hours a day seven days a week in a software system that will allow online payments for building permits live tablet inspections by staff in online permit inquiries the ongoing the opening of the community garden in June which will allow people who do not have yards of their own to have gardens and improve the health of all of Melrose the planting of over 100 trees citywide the The construction of the World War II monument at the Knoll. The improvements to the West Knoll soccer field. Using the funds from the National Grid Energy Challenge that this group of citizens here
▶ 12:33 in Melrose competed for and won will be used for solar lighting at the dog park, a solar-powered bench at Melrose Common that will allow people to charge their devices, a solar water-filling station at fred greenfield and the retrofitting of a dpw vehicle to reduce emissions in partnership with northern bank a new handicap accessible shuttle will contribute to over 8 000 rides for senior citizens this year in partnership with the friends of the milano center the renovation of the second floor classroom of the milano senior center as well as full exterior painting a partnership between the library and the council on aging to bring books across the city to homebound seniors an upgrade of the city and school website the release of a new master
▶ 13:20 plan new solar part powered speed signs on howard street upham street franklin streets and west wyoming avenue and the completion of the wiring upgrade in our public schools to provide reliable wi-fi to every student in the city in all classrooms and in all schools and allow them to implement computer-based testing for mcas as we complete fiscal year 17 it is my professional obligation as mayor chief executive of the city to advise you of the quite obvious challenges that are before us i have said for years it has never been truer than it is now that the state and federal government are withdrawing from cities and towns you've heard me say it again and again the federal government provides 2.2 million in direct aid to the city of melrose
▶ 14:12 most of it goes to help those citizens most in need special education students children and elderly that need free and reduced lunch and dinner programs and federal mandates on on our environment. As that money goes away, there is nothing to replace it. Congress is deliberating a new health care bill, which has the potential to blow a multi-billion dollar hole in the state budget. Those are not my words. Those are the words of our governor, Charlie Baker. There is no question in the coming years that education and municipal budgets will suffer to close this gap. Current state revenues are $462 million below projections with only two months remaining in the current fiscal year. That is a gigantic number. This
▶ 15:20 This means spending is on track in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to exceed revenue by nearly a half a billion dollars, and with the Massachusetts Senate deliberating on the FY18 state budget next, their projections need to be modified and readjusted, and tough decisions will have to be made for this fiscal year and for next every year increased state assessments chip away at our local aid and unfunded mandates continue to grow that includes this coming fiscal year our total state aid increased by two hundred and six thousand six hundred fifty two dollars but as you turn the page of the cherry sheet to the second page we see that half of that is immediately taken away in assessments which leaves the city with about 1%
▶ 16:22 increase in state aid over the current fiscal year I do not anticipate anything stopping this trend and neither should any of you around this table local aid makes up 18% of our budget and there is no money to replace this loss or pay for new unfunded mandates but let it be known this that the city Melrose budget is balanced our revenue projections are accurate this year and next our spending is in line with those revenues and we have positioned ourselves with reasonable reserves to maintain a strong bond rating but let no one think in this room that this year's state this year's school budget did not include real pain not only the pain of eliminating needing positions but the most pain is preventing
▶ 17:21 the public schools to reach their fullest potential due to the need for increased staff particularly at Melrose High School the predominant reason for this and it's necessary and right is that we are spending the majority of our money to address the needs of an increased student population K through three that requires additional staff there's no debate there almost all of our money which city contributes to the schools which is generous is going to address this issue as well as providing our teachers with a modest and well deserved pay raise as someone who has developed and implemented budgets for many years I have learned through very good difficult times and some good times we have never been on our more on our own than we are today and if you wish
▶ 18:26 the state to salvage whatever our needs are or the federal government that's simply not going to happen I have also never seen as much instability at both the federal and state levels of government as I do today and that's in over 20 years of service to the city but these are our realities but I might also add that the answer is not always that we need to tighten our belt or do things a different way that's the easy answer we have been tightening our belts for 16 years we have reinvented this city in 100 plus different ways to make it more efficient it doesn't mean more can be done but those are facts and that has allowed us collectively to serve us our constituents and survive it has made us
▶ 19:30 the most desirable community in Massachusetts by all indicators did we get through this year unlike the state yes we did and does this budget get us through the next year yes it does we did and yes it does but these trends are real folks this is a solutions based business in a results oriented business i get that and those who stand for office this year must focus on real solutions not cliche or ideology my administration has delivered results and solutions for over a decade and i and the people in the back of the room have a lot more to give and we'll work with anyone but But we need your help. The people in this chamber who are elected, the people who are at home. It has never been harder, and it won't get easier.
▶ 20:34 I have great hope for the future. We've been through much harder times. My first few years, we closed schools, laid off 20% of employees, added fees. Many of you were there. Those were hard times. These are tough, but now's the time we have to stand up with solutions and move our city forward on our own so I'm proud of this budget but the budget process now I turn into the hands of the Maurer's Board of Aldermen an excellent group of public servants in the legislative body of this city whom I respect once this budget is passed this is not the end of the process but the beginning of a new year and like every new year there will be new resolutions and opportunities but it can never be forgotten that the process must always be guided by the citizens of our great
▶ 21:30 city I thank each and every one of you members of the school committee and the Board of Aldermen for your service to our city you do an incredible job and I offer this budget for your consideration in your passage thank you very much motion to open the floor for public participation Alderman Mortimer moves that we commence public participation the motion is seconded by alderman medeiros all those in favor of the motion please indicate by saying aye aye anyone opposed motion passes public participation is hereby open this is the portion of the meeting where any member of the public can come forward identify themselves and speak on any issue relative to the city budget for the the upcoming year sir could you identify yourself please hi my name is Jerry
▶ 22:34 Moroz I'd like to address a few things about the budget in whole tonight obviously as different items come up in the in the coming weeks I'll have more comments on some specific things the first point I'd like to make is that the mayor represented just now that he's turning the budget over to the Board of Alderman and we all know that based on the rules of how things operate that the Board of Aldermen he has already taken discretion away if we believe that there are limited funds I'm not implying there aren't if there's a certain amount of limited funds that the city has available to it the mayor has already coerced the school committee to adapt his allocation of priorities for the schools versus his allocation of priorities for the city side I believe
▶ 23:41 that the school committee certainly didn't ask for what they think is a competent amount of funding for what they believe they need to do their job it was expressed so in the school committee process wouldn't it be better if there's a limited amount of funds for the board that's here ready and able to do it and elected by the citizens to determine how we allocate the limited funds of the city to the schools versus the city by the mayor setting a figure for the school committee and at some level coercing them to meet it he's taken that away from the board of alderman he's done an end run around the board of alderman in this process as we know the board of alderman can't increase money to an item that's been asked for they can only reduce it some people might
▶ 24:35 argue that that this is just meaningless that what i'm raising but the truth is is that i believe that for the city to establish policy for this board of aldermen and for the school committee to establish policy that you abrogate your responsibility that way by allowing the mayor to do what he's done the mayor spent a fair amount of time at the beginning of his talk just now talking about water and sewer issues and um and i'm sure we'll get into those eventually But one of the issues of the water and sewer is that water and sewer is paid by rate payers. In the trash part of the city, it's basically paid by the trash fee to the different units in town. The problem with both of those things is that both of those charges to the rate payers
▶ 25:34 and to the user fee for the trash fee is that you have rate payers now actually paying costs to the city through their rates rather than those being used by the tax base. Again, it's kind of an end run around, in this case, Prop 2 1⁄2, where things that ought to be borne by the tax base, paid for based on the tax rate of the city, are now being paid by water and sewer rate payers and the city is blatant about that the indirect cost the mayor says that he reduced them i think he said 15 percent or something this year oh no six six six and a half percent maybe um you know the indirect costs a lot of those are clearly costs of the city that are being foisted upon the rate payers to do that um i haven't looked
▶ 26:27 the details of it but last year the city solicitors salary half of it was paid by the rate payers of water and sewer i think we'd all can pretty much establish that the city solicitor did not spend half of his waking moments and working moments on water and sewer issues these are the structural issues around the city that the mayor isn't addressing the mayor actually is manipulating and the board of aldermen and the school committee are basically passively accepting and i believe you know i take the mayor at his word that i think that it is up to the citizens to determine what they need to do for their community except every year we come to this meeting to this room and the mayor has taken away the options from the citizens through our elected
▶ 27:18 representatives here to determine how we want to allocate our funds our tax base um and i find that troubling i can't not raise the issue here tonight of inflow and infiltration under the water and sewer under the sewer part of the enterprise fund um you know mwra through the rates that we pay to to the MWRA provides back to us money to use to work on inflow and infiltration things. And just in case anybody here doesn't know this already, that we have essentially about the leakiest pipes, leakiest sewer pipes in the MWRA. More than, or about 50% of the water of the sewerage, I'm sorry, I keep misspeaking about this, about 50% of the sewerage that we provide to MWRA actually isn't sewerage at all.
▶ 28:18 It's water that came out of the ground in Melrose and is going to MWRA. It hasn't gone through people's houses. It's not legitimate sewerage, except now that it's mixed in, they have to treat it all as such. If we continue to only use the money that NWRA makes available back to us to do inflow infiltration work, yes, we'll improve some, as we have, but we will not get to a point where we're significantly making our leaky sewers better relative to all the other communities that are taking their same proportionate amount of money to do that. The semantics of the mayor's office these days are, oh, we're not doing a project for water and sewer anymore. We're doing a multi-year program now. Well, guess what? Same funds,
▶ 29:13 same source. I do certainly acknowledge that there's actually some actual a thoughtful process behind identifying the issues finding out what zones are the leakiest and doing something with those but until the city makes a real commitment to invest in the water and sewer and i'm sorry in the sewer inflow infiltration we will be struggling with our rate paying all those extra fees for sewer on top of all the indirect quote indirect costs that the cities allocating to the water and sewer rate payers this stuff isn't rocket science you know it's pipes in the ground it's how do you fund issues it's how do you fund the schools whether anybody here and probably none of you agree with me in most things I would hope that you would acknowledge that
▶ 30:22 there's a conversation to be had there are possibilities to explore opportunities to take advantage of investments investments to be made despite all the talk and we've heard a lot of mayor's talks year by year by year all the talk is always how wonderfully the mayor's office has done presenting this quote balanced budget and at some point I feel that the aldermen need to sit down and have a significant conversation that the school committee needs to sit down and have a significant conversation about how we do things why do we do them as we do is it really important to do what we've done for the last 10 or 15 years and just keep doing it because that's how we've always done it or there is there a different way to look at different
▶ 31:23 problems how does the school system actually provide the opportunity for a student to actually have an education differentiated for that student in classroom we know it doesn't work when you put all the burden on to the classroom teacher give them the widest range of kids you could possibly create in a system and tell them oh well you're not doing well at that there are different ways to do it there are different ways that we could do it now whenever I hear oh well you know we're doing a five-year process we need to get buy-in and we need to make certain we go gently into this it doesn't ever happen I've seen it happen all over the country like this that you might even have great intentions but when you're trying to port it out five years I want to know
▶ 32:21 what are you doing for the students of Melrose today for the citizens of Melrose today for the taxpayers and ratepayers of Melrose today your best intentions for next year or the year after that or five years from now really are meaningless if you don't structure in today what's important for them so in in conclusion we have here essentially the same type of budget we've had the mayor controlled at whatever level people want to argue he set the number for the school committee he set the number for the city he set the numbers for his departments you could cut any one of those in in isolation but that's not allowing you to do your job the school committee already gave in to the mayor this year I urge the alderman not to I do want to point out
▶ 33:24 that if we had a valid budget process we could talk more about zero based budgeting a few years ago the school committee started on a better path and then they took a sidestep and went on a different path that is arguable whether it's actually benefiting us or not what what i know in the in the city side budget that was presented in for this meeting tonight is that the column that says projected expenses for fy 17 is another irrelevant column if you're doing real budgeting you need to know what an action take the actual year to date they should be able to get a good idea of what the next two months are going to bring for May and June to project out what the actual expenses are likely to be for the total of FY 17 when you're figuring your FY 18 budget it appears to
▶ 34:15 me from looking at the document that this year is no better than last year in having valid representations of that as long as there's a projected amount that's less than the actual year to date it's a little bit suspect in some fashion so I look forward to this budget process it's already constrained by what mayor has done and what the school committee has done but i think there are certainly questions you can ask not necessarily about the tiniest little details that might be important at some level but about the structural issues around this so that maybe through a budget process this year we can have a more authentic one for next year certainly i every year i urge the school committee at this time of year to why don't you start now toward evaluating your budget priorities
▶ 35:02 for next year so it's not about the money it's about the principles if you have principles and you want to fund according to your principles this is the time to discuss them prioritize them as the alderman i hope will prioritize their principles as well about what they feel is important thank you for your time thank you sir anybody else who wishes to speak this evening Julie DeLillo. As I sat and listened, mine isn't about the numbers, and this may not be your responsibility, but I'm going to put it all to you, is to make sure that this year that the budget that gets posted out there is accessible to the blind and visually impaired residents of Melrose. it hasn't been in the past I work with some of them and so I think in fairness
▶ 35:59 to them and for them to participate in this process that we make sure that that happens and as I listened about the changes to online building permits that we make sure that those those sites are accessible to those those citizens that we have in this city too that's it thank you motion to close public participation Mr. President. Alderman Mortimer moves to close public participation. Motion is seconded by Alderman Boisselle. All those in favor? Aye. Anyone opposed? Motion passes. Motion to adjourn the joint meeting of the School Committee and the Melrose Board of Aldermen. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Co-Chairman. Alderman Mortimer moves that we adjourn this meeting. The motion is seconded by Alderman Inferno.