I’m responding to the May 20 article about the mayor’s presentation of the proposed 2024 city budget (“Mayor’s $171M Budget Focused on ‘Pavement, People, Parks,’” Page 1, The Westfield News). The article had some accurate numbers, but I think it left the wrong impression with some folks.
First, I support this mayor, and in general the budget he has proposed. There are tax and spending increases, as we both mentioned last Thursday evening. However, given the inflation that has affected all of us, this budget is no surprise, and it does not contain any significant low-hanging fruit that can be cut. The mayor and his team have reviewed this budget in painstaking detail over the last five months. The mayor has done a great job using the resources that are available to accomplish his goals. “Pavement, parks and people” are important priorities that are shared by many residents, business owners, department heads and city councilors. Much of the capital spending is being paid for with ARPA money — money that the federal government “gave” to cities and towns across the country, and money that your kids and grandkids will have to pay back over the course of their lives.
Second, my comments were addressed to the council and the public — not as a slight to the mayor, and my goal was to make it clear that the budget included increases in taxes, the use of one-time money to balance the budget, and that there will be more challenging budgets in the future. The reason I brought this up now is because over the last few years a few councilors seemed surprised that we had to raise property taxes for homeowners when setting the tax rates in November. The budget is set now. This is when tax increases have to be addressed — not in November.
