Mayor addresses City Council after vote. The vote was 11- 13. I’ll post the video once NewTV posts.Full meeting can be found here: https://newtv.org/watch. Mayor’s address to council begins at 3:28.
Full Council votes NO on City Budget
by Amy Sangiolo | May 26, 2022 | Newton | 28 comments
Btw, what happened to all the tax revenue that was promised from high density housing rentals and weed?
Was it all a lie?
Time to consider a high density tax on “LUXUARY” rentals. This before an override
Or better yet, we stop with the high density housing all together and devote the space entirely to commercial. we dont need more housing, people can move to other towns. we need to have more business to support the residents we already have. We already are more densely populated than Worcester, Springfield, Waltham, Brockton, Quincy, etc etc. enough already.
commercial development pays taxes but has no impact on many resources provided to residents (schools, etc).
Unfortunately, the Riverside development cut down its amount of commercial space. Commercial development has a higher tax rate and does raise more revenue, but the same forces opposed to residential development are also opposed to commercial development.
MBTA is reporting a 50% reduction in usage now vs pre-pandemic and there have been so many safety and reliability issues, does transit oriented development (either commercial or residential) even make sense anymore?
How about some realistic ideas for once?
Ive got one. More commercial development. More biotech, science, office space. No more phony 40b. We do not need more housing, we need more revenue from commerce.
An override is not the solution. The more revenue simply allows cities to spend at an outrageous pace. ARPA funds are meant to supplement projects already budgeted for before covid slashed revenues. Newton must learn to spend at a sustainable rate. The time is here to rethink pension and other defined benefits. Many big institutions did this years ago for better financial reasons.
Just an FYI: Newton educators’ pensions are NOT paid for by the city. Educators pay 11% of each paycheck into the Mass Teachers Retirement System, which is comparable to paying into the Social Security System.
Per the mayor’s latest email, she was simply able to ignore the city council’s vote.
Perhaps I’m missing something, but I sure would prefer a system where a no vote from city council…means no.
That’s pretty much a big FU to the entire city from the mayor, elections have consequences.
There is NO WAY I can support an override unless something is done so that developers have to first contribute more to the deficit.
Not when we keep allowing said developers to rezone from commercial to mixed use at HALF the generated – $10 vs $20 per $1,000 assessed.
Not defending this decision by the Mayor. Just pointing out that the City of Newton has a “strong mayor” form of government that allows our chief executive to make this type of decision autonomously. In my opinion, that particular form of government has served Newton very well for many decades.
There are no election consequences in this city. If there were the mayor would have lost last Nov based off how she handled covid and the closing of schools.
Amen.
And ya know what? I guarantee all the NTA folks voted for Fuller, and now regret it. Perhaps next time they should listen to the candidates. If they did they would have realized Amy was a great candidate who deserved their vote.
Instead here we are. You real what you sow people.
Frank your guarantees are worthless. Stating that teachers voted for Mayor Fuller without a shred of proof doesn’t help your credibility. If Jane states that was a fact I would be more inclined to consider the possibility.
Haha.
Funny you think your opinions or views are any more valid than any one else’s.
Go back and look at the nta endorsements. Fuller was on the “ticket” with all their preferred candidates. Like it or not, it is what it is. They may not have officially endorsed, but any intelligent person knows whats up.
Big oops. Like you, I want more $$$ to go to schools. But this mayor dgaf about NPS.
I would be that that the NTA got exactly what they wanted from their endorsement of Mayor Full…they got the contract they wanted.
In the grand scheme of things….the less than $2m and that Mayor Fuller refuses to use ARPA for is but a drop in the bucket of the largest NPS budget…ever.
The teachers I know that reside in Newton didn’t vote for her. I know some that actively campaigned against her. NTA did abstain from endorsing this time but previously endorsed Lennon.
Checks and balances prevail in the result of City Councilors voting “no” on the City’s budget. Democracy flourishes when the Legislative Branch does the work of the people.
Mike Striar: What does a “strong Mayor form of government” mean exactly? That ain’t democracy. The revolutionaries ended that monarchy rule — or unilateral ruling on powers of the purse — 246 years ago.
Carry on!
Frank probably believes that the NTA is responsible for anything and everything that has gone wrong in his life. I’m gratified to see that teachers get some support in this community.
We support the teachers… but not the union
I support the teachers. I do not support the union. They are a political organization that leverages children to get their way.
I would love to see more money go to our teachers. Lots of $$$ in fact.
If you cant separate the teachers from the union that there is no sense discussing further.
Frank I’m gonna make a wild guess that over 50% of the teachers ARE MEMBERS OF THE UNION. I’m trying to figure out how you can say you support teachers when you oppose what a majority of them support?
If my numbers are incorrect I will withdraw my statement and agree with you.
Matt – NTA never endorsed Mayor Fuller.
This bog needs to be renamed “Five Guys” because that’s what it is at this point. A small group of men who spew misinformation.
Apologies. I stand corrected @jane. NTA supported Lennon in 2017 (not Fuller), but they also did not support Amy Sangiolo in 2021 (that I’m aware of).
https://village14.com/2017/10/30/newton-teachers-association-mayoral-endordement/
The majority of the darts being throw on this issue is towards Mayor Fuller on failing to commit to spending ARPA to close the gap, and I agree with that as well. That said, she has some valid points about longer-term fiscal responsiblity and viability. If we cannot get back the tax revenue friendly business zoning given away to Developers in recent years, then we must look at where programs can be streamlined given the agreed upon labor contract (the latter is immovable, therefore not a lever)…. but not at the expense of middle school kids in 2023.
Jane –
A woman (Amy Sangiolo) created the Blog. And three other women commented as well. I don’t know what the title of the Blog must be “renamed,” but it may be useless because no matter which way the City Council votes on a $400 million dollar budget. Mayor Fuller (or any previous Mayor) pushed ‘her’ version of the budget unilaterally down the throats of the majority of Councilors, as well as the Citizens. That ain’t democracy. And I learned majority rules in grammar school. So, scrutinize Mayor Fuller tapping precious AARPA funds two to a possible three times to the Schools! Why? Critical problems exist elsewhere. Newton’s schools will do swell without tossing money that merely are Band-Aid fixes. A Long-Term Plan is needed.
Frankly, I no longer read V14 except to check to see if there’s a thread about the schools. All of them appear to be dominated by a small group of posters, many of whom post anonymously. I don’t know how to have an authentic discussion with an anonymous person.
Matt Lai and I don’t agree on many issues, but I know him as a result of posts on V14, and learned offline that we share the same sense of humor. It makes my interactions with him and my responses to him authentic.
@Girard: I created the post – not this blog.