In a speech before Newton’s Board of Aldermen last night Mayor Setti Warren unveiled his third budget last night and reminded us of how grim things were when he was elected back in 2009..
When I campaigned for Mayor back in 2009, I saw a city that was not living up to its full potential and in troubled financial waters. We were a community divided with no clear financial path for the future, drawing down on its “capital stabilization fund” and not building any reserves. Expenditures in health care and compensation were out-pacing revenue growth at a 4.4% expenditure rate and 2.5% revenue growth. This resulted in layoffs of positions the city and schools needed and an erosion of the quality of services across the board.
Our city had not assessed our municipal buildings in many years and did not have a comprehensive capital plan that included and prioritized all of its infrastructure. As a result Newton had not been investing properly in maintenance and infrastructure over time which was costing residents millions of dollars.
Our city did not have accountability or performance measures in place so that we had a pathway to improve the quality of our city services
And our city was not proactive in promoting robust economic development where we could to improve the quality of life in Newton as well as increase our tax base.
And then it was time for the good news: Among other things, Warren’s fiscal 2013 budget avoids layoffs, adds arts and counseling staff back the schools. It provides funds to repairs pipes and the sewers. There’s even money to maintain the Garden City’s trees.
Oh and Moodys likes us. Newton is still a safe place to live. We’ve instituted a new performance management system. And we’ll have a plan for fixing our infrastructure before you can say “Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren and Congressman Elect Joe Kennedy.”
Woo-hoo! These are good times!
Of course, being a pragmatic fellow , Mayor Warren reminded us of this…
With all of the great progress that has been made in the last two years, we know we have tremendous challenges ahead. Our growing student population, increasing traffic and the need to catch up on many years of deferred maintenance of our buildings and infrastructure is what we must meet head on.
I’m feeling much better about Mayor Warren since he abandoned his pursuit of the senate. A quick reality check is certainly in order though…
While he’s demonstrated good management skills, he’s yet to actually FIX anything. Many of our children still go to schools that are in appalling physical condition. The Mayor spent $500,000 on a study that to date has done nothing more than prove that contention. So until I see that he can actually deliver and start fixing our school buildings, I’ll walk along side the Setti bandwagon, but I aint jumping back on.
I am very happy there will once again be forestry employees to make a dent in the huge backlog of pruning, and do some things that have just not been possible or cost effective with the budget for contractors, like planting, and getting rid of the strangulating tree grates where it is not too late. The three of them are going to be very busy.
Maureen Lemieux gave a brief overview of the FY13 budget and the planning process to the Programs & Services Committee last night. As I said last night, I am very pleased with the bold new direction the city is undertaking with the budget planning process, as reflected in the budget document itself. The city has adopted most of the Government Financial Officers Association’s (GFOA) recommendations of best practices for strategic planning in budgeting. The GFOA adopted these recommendations in 2005 and I have been advocating ever since for Newton to follow these policies in putting together the budget. In 2006, Ald. Johnson and I docketed an item (#245-06) to amend the charter to require strategic planning in budgeting that incorporates these best practices, which I would still like the Board of Aldermen and the Mayor to support and formally adopt. In the meantime, kudos to the Mayor and his administration for its efforts in putting together a budget that is based on the GFOA’s recommended best practices for strategic planning and budgeting.
The budget binder found on the city website is very impressive — conveys value and professionalism, and the consistency of information is very readable. Many thanks to all involved in this change. Great result
Anyone know what the “School Building Assistance Aid” in 2010 of $5mm was all about? If this was a one-time state payment which it appears to be — did we take it into general funds or apply it to a specific use?