School budget supported by $1.5 million Free Cash transfer

June 10, 2020 | Dennis Hackett

WESTFIELD – After a Finance Committee meeting on June 1, the Westfield City Council voted to move $1.5 million in free cash to help stabilize the Westfield School District’s budget for the 2021 fiscal year.

In a statement late Thursday night on Facebook, Mayor Don Humason wrote that he was happy the council and his team were able to find a way to stabilize the budget without cutting too much. He wrote, “I did not want to spend money that the city does not have or has not yet received from the state or feds. But I listened to the students, parents, educators, advocates and my colleagues in municipal government who spoke of this as a priority and I heard them loud and clear.”

During the city council meeting,  Humason said his team was expecting a $4 million shortfall in the school budget and residents were unhappy about the original plan for nearly $2 million in layoffs.

“$1.5 million for the schools leaves us with $1 million in free cash. We thought it was better to spend the money that way then borrowing from stabilization, counting on marijuana money, or counting on the state or federal government, which right now have provided us with no good advice and no good information,” he said.

Along with the $1 million in CARES Act funding going into the school budget along with the free cash infusion, the school budget is still short by $1.5 million and Humason said Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski would have a new list of cuts for the Special School Committee meeting on June 10.

Councilor Dave Flaherty then discussed his conversation with an auditor who did not recommend taking the money from free cash.

“This is not something the auditor is recommending but he is going along with this because people have asked for it. Like many auditors they’re very conservative and he believes we need free cash based on what’s going on with the economy and what’s coming from state aid,” he said.

Ultimately the city council unanimously approved the motion to transfer the $1.5 million into the school budget for FY21.

City Councilor and Finance Committee Chair Ralph Figy explained the committee meeting with Humason and his team on June 1 was merely a brainstorming session to figure out some of the gaps in the budget. From the meeting Figy said the sides found ways to work around the current budget questions by using the infusion from free cash and declaring a “health holiday” in November.

Because of the pandemic, Figy said this year has been a challenge when it comes to planning the budget for the next fiscal year. “Right now, our biggest challenge is not knowing where the state stands, they don’t have an inkling about what aid they are going to be able to provide to towns and cities,” he said, “While the state can do a one-twelfth budget we need a balanced budget and right now we’re just guessing at what that is going to look like.”

Currently, Figy said he is hoping the state provides a supplemental budget soon. “We want to have a fluid document where we can make changes accordingly, but I’m hoping for a supplemental budget, so we don’t have to go back and make too many changes,” he said.

Figy added that the city council will be holding a special meeting on June 12.

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