Appropriations & Oversight Committee — 2020-06-11
Transcript
▶ 2:00:28 Migliorelli. Vice Chair McClure. Vice Chair Migliorelli. Yes. D'Auzi. Yes. Councilor McMaster. Yes. Councilor McNaught. Yes. Councilor Eccles. Yes. Yes. Councilor Garipay? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Thomas? Yes. Councilor Jamaleddine? Yes. President Grigoraitis? Yes. Chairman Sonnella? Yes. 11 yes. If there's anyone in the digital room wishing to speak about ambulance rates, the public comment section is open. Please raise your digital hand. Motion to close public comment. Motion to close public comment by Councilor Stewart. Second. seconded by councillor mcnaught vice chair Migliorelli yes councillor Tramontozzi yes councillor mcmaster yes councillor mcnaught yes councillor eccles yes councillor Garipay yes
▶ 2:10:26 public comment in the council thomas seconded by councilor stewart and i'm third please follow up vice chair Migliorelli yes councillor Tramontozzi yes councillor mcmaster yes councillor mcnaught yes councillor eccles yes councillor Garipay yes councillor stewart yes councillor thomas Yes, yes, Greg writers. Yes. Chairman. Yes. 11. yes. Public comment open. If there is anyone in the room that wishes to speak to public comment at this point, please raise your digital hand. I have Jerry, I'm going to unmute him. And if anyone else, you could just raise your hand while. Mr speaks Jerry, if you could Mr, if you could please name an address for the record. My name is Jerry 62, Mount Vernon street. I'd be happy to defer to if I'm the only person to the health director, finishing her presentation to you if that's if that would be helpful for her.
▶ 2:11:32 Unfortunately, we have to close this public comment session out, so. Okay, well, I speak to you tonight of 1 element of institutional bias that acts through the proposed FY21 budget for Melrose. The way the city manages the water and sewer enterprise funds actually manifests in some classist outcomes. it wasn't always that way for decades the city supported the water and sewer system as a public good having residents pay for the marginal costs of their volumetric use for only the last more than half dozen years the model of providing for the public good has been turned upside down now the rate payers of the waters and sewer systems are not only funding the entire cost of their systems but they're actually funding part of the city functions
▶ 2:12:29 the functions of city government as well i hope i hope that you'll recognize this institutional bias at work and correct it in the budget this year it won't be easy to stand up to the status quo in this way because the mayor's budget in front of you is powerful it applies undue pressure for you to approve it especially in this short time scale. So something you most already know that some money paying for city's expenses is not included in the tax rate, but comes from the water and sewer enterprise funds. Some is appropriate, but there's a whole lot that's beyond the level of reasonable. Melrose has done this to in some ways circumvent the spending limits of Prop 2.5. The city wants spend more on government functions than prop two and a half would allow and charges the expenses
▶ 2:13:21 to the water and sewer enterprise funds to keep their tax assessment below the statutory limits. This end run around prop two and a half in the funding of city government functions and I'm saying funding them from other than the real estate and personal property tax base inappropriately makes others pay the costs. Passing them through the water and sewer rates, these costs are apportioned according to the proportionate use of water and sewer and not according to the relative property wealth of taxpayers as our tax system is framed. This tactic causes an extra regressive tax on Melrose residents. The status quo bestows a benefit upon the most wealthy property owners in the city at the expense of typically less affluent
▶ 2:14:09 renters and owner or occupants of lower priced homes and occupants of lower priced condominiums there is about 400 to 500 000 and i'm sure the city could provide you the number of city building and parks water and sewer use which the city charges the rate payers and pushes those costs away from the owners of expensive expensive homes it's regressive it puts those costs costs on the citizens who inhabit the lower wealth property. It also harms households with more people living in them, those more likely to have lower discretionary income and who have more people living in a place for economic purposes. The tiered system sees to that. In the same way as the above about putting expenses and charges to the water
▶ 2:15:06 and sewer ratepayers, the egregious amount of indirect costs charged to the water and sewer enterprise funds pushes even more city costs onto the lower wealth population and onto the larger households and condominium owners. Given your care about a just society, I expect you care about these classist manifestations of the status quo in Melrose. Please know that you won't be acting consistent with those beliefs if you approve or defend proposed budget for the water and sewer enterprise funds which rely on the rate payers paying water and sewer expenses that are from the city buildings and that put extra costs onto the rate payers that are functions of city government. I had hoped that a new mayor would have had fresh
▶ 2:15:56 eyes to see the inequity of the old ways and correct them. I had hoped that he would have charged his administration to leave behind the exploitive manipulations of the past and begin an era of honesty, transparency, and social justice. Through the perpetuation of unfounded funding assertions, this mayor in this budget reinforces the status quo. It is demonstrably classist as it exists in Millers. As the most status quo power issues, those who are privileges are very comfortable with it because they benefit from the inequitable distortions the status quo creates. The status quo benefits them while harming others who may appear faceless. But those people do have faces. They are children. They are parents. They are grandparents.
▶ 2:16:43 They are single. They are widows. They are widowers. They are all those who struggle every day to make ends meet. Through the water and sewer systems, the city of Melrose harms them far more than it helps them it harms them to help the privileged obtain more benefits you may believe i'm overstating the case but please use your innate sense and analytical minds to evaluate the data and the facts they are all in the public record at the june 4 city council meeting i spoke in public comment i attempted to highlight the unfounded and arbitrary nature in in which indirect costs are applied to the water and sewer enterprise funds as just one small example i noted that in prior years salary costs of the city solicitor's office had been built
▶ 2:17:31 against the water and sewer enterprise fund in fy 20 more than 50 000 of the city solicitor's salary line item was paid by the water and sewer enterprise funds paid by those low-income large families, low-property income people. Councilor Tramontozzi apparently misunderstood my point, because later in the meeting he asked the city solicitor to confirm my point, but implied that as if that I was saying something different than I had. My point was that they had charged the indirect costs in prior years, but not for FY21. It demonstrated one example of the arbitrary and exploitive nature that indirect costs are regularly charged against the water and sewer enterprise funds. Had there ever been substance to the charges for the city solicitor, you would be sure
▶ 2:18:27 they would have been included this year. I could give many examples of the overcharging of indirect expenses of the water and sewer enterprise funds to the charge against the water and sewer enterprise funds to benefit the city budget. fact is is that if you did things appropriately with the water and sewer enterprise funds you would not be able to fund as many things as you fund now in the city budget because we're at the property proposition two and a half tax limit over the last seven years i consistently raised valid points such as these regarding water and sewer at city council meetings the past meeting process in this chamber was skewed to support the status quo it takes work to unseat the status quo i think many of you recognize that it may be uncomfortable it may be
▶ 2:19:22 you may feel defensive but it only through open honest dialogue with facts in front of us in transparency can we work to unseat the status quo thank you sir that's you now at your 10 minute time mark. Thank you very much. I'm all set. Thank you. Madam Clerk? Yes. Ms. Clay? Yeah, I'm here. Okay. Are there any other questions for Clay? What is the will of the committee? Everyone jump at once. What is the will of the committee? Make a motion to move to bottom line. Do we need to close public common? Yes, that's right. You have to close public comment. Motion to close public comment. Thank you. Motion to close public comment. Paid by Councilor Stewart, seconded by who? Councilor Tramontozzi? Yes.
▶ 2:20:26 Second. Please call the roll. Vice Chair Migliorelli. Point of order, Mr. Chairman. Yes. Point of information. I'm just not clear exactly. At this point, are we moving the health director's budget or? No, closing public comment. Okay. And then, okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, yes, counselor McMaster. Yes, counselor. Yes. Counselor Eccles. Yes, I'm sorry. So, yes, it's frozen. Yes, Thomas. Yes, yeah. President Grigoraitis yes. Chairman Sinella. Yes. Councilor Garipay. I will note for the record there's also no one else raising their hand. There was no one else in there. Thank you. Do we have a motion to move the bottom line? I know it's... Move to bottom line, yes. 5-11 seconded by Councilor McNaught. Seconded. On discussion, any other discussion around this?