(Newton TAB opinion column, May 24, 2006)

At last Wednesday’s budget meeting, members of the Board of Aldermen proposed resolutions to restore some of the most severe cuts in the Mayor’s proposed Fiscal Year 2007 City Budget.

While not all of the resolutions were adopted, the Board sent a clear message that we will not sit idly by while important City services are being reduced or, in some cases, eliminated altogether.

I’m proud of the work of my colleagues to stand up for maintaining high quality local services in tight fiscal times.

The resolutions offered included:

• Alderman George Mansfield offered a resolution requesting that the Mayor’s proposed 37.7% reduction in preventive maintenance of City buildings be restored;
• Alderman Scott Lennon and others sponsored a resolution that would restore the two police officer patrolman positions that were eliminated in the Mayor’s proposed budget; and
• Alderman Amy Sangiolo and I proposed (jointly or individually) resolutions to reverse the proposed elimination of the City’s zoning enforcement officer, to add funds to the library for purchasing books and materials, to restore an important position to the Information Technology Department, to restore some of the past reductions in funds for maintaining Newton parks and open spaces, and to restore recent cuts to the Newton Public Schools, including the reduction of art and music programs and library hours, as well as the elimination of a family and consumer science program.

The Board passed five of the seven resolutions on which we voted and each of the others had the support of about a third of the Board. The main argument of opponents to these resolutions was that the City does not have sufficient revenues to restore the Mayor’s cuts.

I respectfully disagree. According to an analysis conducted by the City’s Comptroller, the Mayor’s budget underestimates state aid by $1.6 million. Further documents provided by the Comptroller reveal that the Mayor underestimates other revenue accounts by significant margins, including shortchanging the investment income estimate by more than a million dollars.

Supporters of the Mayor’s budget approach have defended it on the basis that by underestimating revenues, funds are made available for capital projects later in the year as what is referred to as “Free Cash.” However, the reality of the past several years is that rather than using these additional funds for badly needed repairs and improvements to existing City buildings, the Mayor has set aside most of the difference between his revenue estimates and actual revenues for the Newton North High School project.

This approach might be defensible if the Mayor had a new, dedicated revenue stream with which to fund the remaining portion of the Newton North project, but even with state aid and the funds saved up over the last few years, only about a third of the projected costs for the project are accounted for. That means that to complete the project, the Mayor will need to divert significant resources from the City’s operating budget and other badly-needed capital projects.

The bottom line is that it would be prudent to use resources that are available now to address the City’s already-existing infrastructure needs and to close some of the budget gaps, and then to ask voters whether they are willing to pay additional property taxes to fund construction of the new high school separately.

Newton residents should know that their Aldermen are working hard to achieve restoration of some of the cuts to maintenance of public buildings and parks, enriching programs for Newton students, and resources essential to maintaining the excellence and efficiency of other City Departments.

The next budget session will be held on Wednesday, May 24 at 7:45 PM at Newton City Hall. I and other members of the Board of Aldermen welcome the suggestions of Newton residents regarding what the City’s fiscal priorities should be. Please email me at ken@kenparker.org or call me at home at (617) 965-3723 with your concerns and ideas.

I am confident that if Newton residents take the lead in expressing concerns to City officials, we will come together as a community to restore some of the important programs cut in the proposed budget.
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Ken Parker is an at-large members of the Newton Board of Aldermen. His web site is www.kenparker.org, his email address is ken@kenparker.org and his home phone number is (617) 965-3723 where he looks forward to hearing from Newton residents.