Mayor Joseph Curtatone offered a presentation to the Somerville City Council outlining his recommendations for the FY21 city budget.

By Alberto Gilman

Somerville City Council President Matthew McLaughlin called a Special Meeting of the Council for consideration of the Fiscal Year 2021 municipal budget and all related financial matters on Friday, June 19.

All eleven councilors were present. The first item on the agenda was a request for the appropriation of $246,471,192. This would go to fund the FY21 General Fund Operating Budget.

Mayor Joseph Curtatone gave a presentation on the FY21 Budget to the Council. Before he began, he first recognized Juneteenth and then asked for a moment of silence for the thirty residents who were confirmed to have died due to COVID-19.

Next, the mayor addressed key points of the FY21 proposed budget: Facing unprecedented challenges, targeting new operational investments and racial and social justice investments.

The continued battle against the virus, the concern of healthcare, the economic backlash, and the outcry for social justice across America is a difficult series of crises that Curtatone hopes the city can overcome together.

“This time is truly difficult for all of us,” the mayor said. “What we can provide in the face of all these changes is stability and dependability. Our residents deserve the peace of mind.”

Curtatone acknowledged his staff and other members who contributed and worked on creating the budget for the city. The budget would cover the next 12 months and if debate on it continued, a provisional appropriation would be put into effect.

The mayor discussed several economic highlights: $6.7 million lost in State Revenue, $3 million lost in Fines and Forfeits, $700 thousand lost in Licenses and Permits, $1 million lost in Parking Meter Receipts and $2.3 million lost in Excise Taxes. While federal aid is not currently optimal, the city itself is maintaining and managing this crisis on its own.

Curtatone thanked all the government and city departments that have gone above and beyond their usual duties during the pandemic. With that said, there will be no furloughs or layoffs during this crisis.

In order to help bring back revenue and stability going forward, the mayor discussed additional money going into the budget through previous savings and plans, and the implementation of a construction safety fee that will bring in a projected $590,000 in additional revenue.

Even with the idea of the budget and getting back on track, Curtatone emphasized the need to remain alert. “We have to certainly keep in mind and remember that COVID-19 pandemic is still with us, people are going to continue to get sick, we’re going to be faced with a resurgence and undoubtedly people will die,” the mayor said.

New operational investments highlighted by Curtatone are the Somerville High School Green Building Manager, new cyber security services, Stormwater Program Manager, and $20,000 in supervised consumption site planning.

The Racial and Social Justice Project concluded the presentation by Curtatone, highlighting the works and efforts taken during this time of civil unrest. Implementing 10 new commitments for police reform, drawn up by community leaders and other city officials, that will soon be put into effect.

The mayor described the project’s five different areas: civilian oversight, reimaging policing, a new public safety model, a racial and social justice fund, the appointment of a Director of Racial and Social Justice and investments into this project.

The proposed investment amount for this project is $1 million for FY21. As of right now, according to Curtatone, the Somerville Police Department already has one of the smallest forces out of the 25 most populous cities in Massachusetts. Most of the resources and additional focus will be devoted to the Racial and Social Justice Project Fund.

Other initiatives proposed will target the future of the children and youth of Somerville. The school system will be increasing family and community liaisons: The Becoming a Man mentoring program, replacing security guards with Deans of Students, a second bilingual adjustment counselor at SHS, increase in funding for external student counseling, stipends for Equity Champions and increasing funding for Enroots services for new immigrants at SHS.

The mayor concluded with a thank you to all in attendance and the hard work they are doing. The meeting continued with a variety of questions from the remaining councilors about the budget and other items on the agenda.