Westfield Council begins budget reviews with process challenge

June 15, 2021 | Amy Porter
amy@thewestfieldnews.com

WESTFIELD – The first of a series of virtual Finance Committee of the Whole meetings to review the city budget began on June 10 with a public hearing followed by a review of four departments: School, Law, Assessors, and Treasurer/Collector.  During the meeting there were objections expressed to this year’s format.

There was no live participation by the public at the public hearing. At-large Councilor Dave Flaherty read portions of a letter sent in from Lisa Okscin, president of the Westfield Taxpayers Association, which expressed concerns about the increased new spending with many major plans/funding absent from the city budget, according to the letter.

Okscin also took issue with having the public hearing before the department reviews. “Last year’s presentations were quite informative, and I expect this year to be the same. It is tough to compile meaningful public participation prior to hearing all the departments’ pitches for what is in their budget. Potentially after these presentations we will be able to provide more guidance on what should be cut,” she said.

Flaherty then expressed similar concerns about the process. “I think the format this year is not good for anybody except for the early departments. I don’t like these Finance Committee meetings of the Whole, it’s the Finance Committee’s job to do the early work of reviewing the departments. It doesn’t make sense to go through the Law Department without seeing the big picture. I’m going to make a motion to table the vote on all these departments. If that doesn’t happen, I’m going to be a no on the budget,” he said.

Ward 1 Councilor Nicholas J. Morganelli Jr. agreed with Flaherty. “We can’t get feedback from the public. There’s no avenue to do that, because we’re asked to vote on it right after we hear from the department heads,” he said.

“It has not been easy trying to allow for questions from councilors,” said Finance Committee Chair Ralph Jr. Figy, who set up the meetings. In the past, councilors have complained when the Finance Committee conducted the review of the department budgets without permitting questions from all the counselors except in writing, due to Open Meeting Law quorum restrictions. 

“That’s why we did it last year, and it received rave reviews. I would welcome anyone who would like to change this to become chair of finance next year,” Figy said.

When the meeting reconvened at 7 p.m., department reviews began. Only one reduction was offered for the School Department that was rejected.

Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski presented the FY22 budget of $64,396,647, which he said had been through a public hearing and several meetings with the School Committee, which had passed the budget with no cuts.

During the discussion, Czaporowski said the increase to the city of $2.3 million over last year is not as high as it appears because of the CARES Act funding of $1.14 million that the district received last year for the budget. He also said that the city cut the school budget last year by $2.5 million.

Czaporowski said the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding available this year to address the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be used to offset the budget. The district is planning instead to use the three-year ESSER funding for the Virtual School Academy and to hire school adjustment counselors, among other items.

“I’m going to be asking for a cut of $300,000, and I would like that money to go back into Flood Control. I think Flood Control should be given an administrator – it’s being managed by a chairman who makes $900 a year. I’m looking at the big picture for the entire city,” Flaherty said before making the motion to cut $300,000 from the School Department budget.

The motion failed 9 to 3, with At-large Councilor Kristen Mello, Flaherty and Morganelli voting in support of the cut. 

Flaherty then made a motion to table the vote until after the council reviewed the rest of the city budgets and heard more from the public. That vote failed 9 to 3, with the same three councilors in support.

At-large Councilor Richard K. Sullivan Jr. then made a motion to approve the district budget as presented.

“I have to say after that last vote I’m very disappointed. It wasn’t too much to ask for the taxpayers to allow a little extra time, and we’re not even doing that. Councilor Flaherty offered a very small, not even cut, but a reduction of the increase. I don’t know what else to say, I’m in disbelief,” said Morganelli during the discussion.

“As a parent, I’ve seen first-hand how difficult the pandemic was on our children,” said Ward 3 Councilor Bridget Matthews-Kane, adding that this is not just a Westfield issue. She said recent studies have shown that 55 percent of children in the commonwealth need to catch up academically. “This is not the year to cut the school budget,” she said.

“I want to thank the School Department especially for the visuals with their budget,” Mello said, a reference to the letter from Okscin that requested then city budget be presented with pie charts/graphs for more transparency and easier understanding for the less ‘budget savvy’ taxpayers.

“I think that this is one of the budgets where money could be found in other places, particularly with special needs funding. I completely support the budget, but I need to support the Flood Control budget, which is why I voted the way I did,” Mello added.

At-large Councilor James R. Adams said he was also hoping for a little bit of a cut, because he knows how much more the cost of the new elementary school is going to be with the increasing costs of construction materials.

A vote on the school budget as presented then passed on a vote of 10 to 2, with Flaherty and Morganelli voting no. Also passed with no reductions were the law, assessors, treasurer and collector’s budgets by the same margin.

Finance Committee of the Whole department budget reviews will continue through June 21, with a Special City Council Meeting for budget reconciliation scheduled for June 24 at 6 p.m., followed by a Special City Council Meeting at 7 p.m. for approval or rejection of the 2022 City Budget.

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