The Fall River Herald News
Monday, April 1, 2002
City officials mull 2003 budget cuts
By James Finlaw
Herald News Staff
FALL RIVER -- Fall River's fiscal 2003 budget will take a
massive $11.7 million hit if state lawmakers decide to slash local aid to communities by 10 percent, a move members of the
local legislative delegation have indicated is all but certain.
When the potential funding cut is combined with the fixed
salary and health insurance cost increases the city must factor into the upcoming budget, Fall River finds itself in a nearly
$25 million budgetary hole.
The dire fiscal situation has forced local politicians to
consider using terms like "layoff" and "tax increase" when discussing how the city's upcoming budget will be fashioned,
something all are loathe to do.
But while city officials are wary of the gloomy predictions
from Boston, which come as legislators try to find ways to reduce the state's anticipated $2 billion to $3 billion budget
shortfall, many members of the City Council aren't ready to panic.
"It is premature for me to talk about anything ... we have
to wait and see what is going to happen with the state," said City Councilor Alfredo P.
Alves.
Alves' stance on the budget issue mirrors that of many of
his colleagues, who are waiting for the first week of May, when the state House of Representatives finishes its budget. At that
time, the city will know exactly how large the local aid cut will be.
"I think the first thing is not to panic. Everything is
rumor. You hear the worst and then you actually deal with the facts," said City Councilor Raymond Hague.
But while many councilors have adopted a wait-and-see
approach, most said drastic measures would likely have to be taken if the 10 percent cut comes to pass.
"It's the biggest nightmare I've ever had in my 20 years as
a city councilor. It's the worst budget," said City Councilor Leo O. Pelletier. "People are going to get hurt. Either people
are going to get laid off, or we're going to have to raise taxes."
At this point, Alves said he refuses to believe the state
would actually cut the aid so dramatically. If the cut takes place, he said the impact on Fall River, which funds 64 percent
of its budget with state aid, would be unfathomable.
"Until I see it, I won't believe it. I think it's so
inconceivable. The ramifications of such a cut would be extremely difficult to even comprehend ... it would be
devastating," said Alves.
Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr. and his staff have already taken
some action to ready the city for the potential budget crisis.
Lambert said the city has purposely left 30 departmental
vacancies unfilled, and has implemented a hiring freeze for all but truly essential positions. He has also asked all the city's
department heads to submit budgets that are at least 5 percent less than those on which they
operated last year. Lambert said the city would examine all its options, but stopped short of
saying whether he felt layoffs or a tax increase would be necessary.
Lambert, along with the members of the Massachusetts Mayors
Association, of which he is president, has been urging the state to move the income tax rate back to 5.5
[sic - 5.95] percent. The
rate currently sits at 5.3 percent, and is set to drop to 5.0 percent in fiscal 2003 as a result of
a voter referendum that passed in 2000. Lambert said he doesn't believe it makes sense
to reduce the rate in a year when the state is hungry for revenue.
City Council Vice President Joseph Camara said the upcoming
budget is the most difficult he has encountered in his seven-year council career.
"It just doesn't look as if it's going to be an easy task,"
he said.
Camara said the city should look to cut costs where it can,
and potentially use some of the $10 million it has in free cash to soften the blow of the funding cut.
"I wouldn't be jumping the gun to say we need to raise
taxes. That's not where you start. It's a last resort," he said.
Hague agreed. "I don't think you raise taxes in a bad
economy," he said.
Lambert has said he does not want to tap into the free cash
account to fund the budget, a philosophy with which Hague disagrees.
"We do have some free cash around. I don't believe it should
all be hoarded," he said.
City Councilor Pat Casey said she was hopeful the local aid
cut wouldn't be as deep as legislators are saying, but noted that the city must deal with it, however large it is. She said
the city must consider all options, including layoffs and a potential tax increase, when forming
the budget.
Councilor Ann O'Neil Souza also said all options, no matter
how unattractive, remain on the table.
"Myself and my colleagues don't want to look at a tax
increase, but you have to be realistic. I think it is seriously going to have to be looked at if the cutback is 10 percent,"
she said. "You don't want to cut public safety and I don't want to see any teachers lose their jobs."
City Councilor Kyle Riley said he planned to sit down with
Police Chief John Souza, Fire Chief Edward J. Dawson, Public Works Director Terrence Sullivan and Director of
Municipal Services James Smith to determine the status of the city's departmental budgets.
Council President William F. Whitty said he didn't think it
was possible to say what action the city should take, when the dimensions of the budget crisis are not yet known.
"I don't think the city can put together any hard figures
until we learn what the state is going to do," said Whitty. "I'm not going to speculate."
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