Experienced sources insist to the Advocate that kidney stones are a terribly painful matter, comparable to the pain of childbirth. The Advocate will respectfully point out that we’ve never heard of anyone passing an eight-pound, 12-ounce kidney stone. Still, it seemed particularly cruel timing for Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno to be struck by some on-the-move stones last month, just as he was gearing up to begin the already painful process of passing a new city budget.
While the mayor’s medical woes caused a slight delay to the process—Sarno had to postpone his formal presentation of the budget to the City Council—the budget is now moving ahead, with a pressing deadline: The council must vote on the spending plan by the end of this week in order to get it to the Finance Control Board, which will then give the final stamp of approval. (At deadline, the council was scheduled to vote on the budget on May 13.) This will be the last budget overseen by the Control Board, created by the Legislature in 2004 to get a handle on Springfield’s finances, which at the time were circling the drain. The board will leave Springfield on June 30, the day before the new budget takes effect.
Sarno’s budget, put together with his finance team, calls for $529.5 million in spending, a reduction of almost $2 million from the current budget. It also, significantly, contains no new layoffs, after the recent layoffs of about 65 city employees, in reaction to a mid-year cut in state aid of $4.6 million.
A cover letter that accompanies the budget, signed by Sarno and T.J. Plante, the city’s acting chief financial officer, says the spending plan “embodies the restraint, resourcefulness and principle rules of government under which the City must operate to maintain our independence and continue the City’s path to a bright and healthy future.” The budget, the letter said, is built on a “fiscal prudence” that demands some sacrifices in the present but will ensure the city’s stability in the future.
Sarno’s plan assumes a cut in state aid of $13.5 million in the coming fiscal year. Figures from the House Ways and Means Committee would reduce that aid by an additional $1.77 million; if other proposed cuts also go through, that reduction could rise to more than $5 million. The budget also does not include the roughly $5.3 million the city could receive if the Legislature approves local options taxes, such as a higher hotel tax. Sarno’s and Plante’s letter notes that these factors mean the city’s revenues for next year remain a moving target, and said the city will make adjustments as needed.
While city councilors received copies of the budget a couple of weeks ago, Sarno didn’t make his official presentation to the council until last week. He may have found himself longing for a kidney-stone relapse, as some councilors seized the opportunity to try to inflict some political damage on Sarno, whose first term in office has been rocky. Bud Williams—who, not incidentally, is challenging Sarno in this fall’s mayor’s race—dismissed the mayor’s budget as unrealistic, since it’s based on state aid figures from the governor’s office, not the lower aid figures proposed by the Legislature. Councilor Jimmy Ferrera joined Williams in that criticism, apparently undaunted when Plante challenged him to explain how he would find more solid numbers, given the remaining unanswered questions about state aid. (“T.J., T.J., that’s not my job,” Ferrera responded.)
City Councilor Pat Markey said the mayor’s budget “made sense,” relying on the best figures available. “There was a lot of chest-thumping last night—‘Well the governor is probably going to submit a revised budget.’ But this budget anticipates that possibility,” Markey said the day after Sarno’s presentation.
Markey wasn’t happy about all elements of the budget; in particular, he objected to the deep cuts made to the city’s Library Department (about $600,000, or 14 percent, from the current budget of $4.2 million). Those cuts would result in branch hours being reduced to just 18 hours a week, from a high of 40 hours just a few years ago, and entail the loss of 17 full-time jobs. “I think the library [budget] has been eviscerated,” said Markey, who noted that the cuts to the library system run deeper than those made to other departments. “It’s not a popular sentiment to suggest the Police Department and some of the other departments should bear some of the burden,” he noted.
“I’m not sure I’m going to support [Sarno’s budget] in its current form, but I do think it was well thought out,” Markey said.
In the end, he pointed out, this year’s budget is “kind of an exercise for the council,” since the Control Board still bears final authority. And he, for one, is in no rush to see some of his council colleagues resume that power. “Based on some of the comments I’ve heard regarding this budget, I’m grateful the Control Board will have control over the budget for another year,” Markey said.
