Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone (The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.) The FY11 budget discussions are drawing to an end this week, and it will not be without sacrifice among all sectors of our workforce that ultimately a workable budget is passed. I submitted what I termed a "value driven" budget.

I have one very clear and specific charge when preparing a budget, and that is to deliver city services to our residents at the best value. When I talk about shared sacrifice I don't mean just cutting a percentage across the board. That is not leadership, that is a math exercise. I need to weigh all the options and ultimately make recommendations that will preserve what I know the taxpayers would view as services and programs that are meaningful to them.

To echo what Robert Kennedy once said, it is not enough merely to understand [these decisions]…the future will be shaped by those willing to commit their minds to the task. Each proposal offered throughout this process has been the result of painstaking, strategic discussions to ensure that we preserve essential services in the city and maximize the taxpayers' dollars. There will be, and have been significant sacrifices, but we still have a long way to go in a limited amount of time.

This is one of the toughest budget processes Somerville has faced in decades, and next year is expected to be worse. With more potential cuts in State aid in FY12 combined with continued escalation in health care and other costs, increased debt service and pension obligations, the projected FY12 budget gap could be upwards of $10 to $12 million.

We are also facing a very real possibility of 9C cuts at year's end or in early 2011. This budget crisis cannot and will not be solved with short-term fixes and across-the-board cuts to programs and services. We have and will continue to make balanced, strategic decisions to cut costs while maintaining core services.

I want to personally applaud those employees who have already stepped up to help shoulder the burden, even if it means facing personal hardship. Last week the City's non-union workforce again agreed to a one-week pay cut – a move that enabled three librarians to retain their jobs. On Tuesday, I also received a communication from the Superintendent of Schools that the Schools' non-union employees have also agreed to a short-term pay cut along with the entire membership of the Board of Aldermen and School Committee.

Year after year, the non-union workforce answers the call of "shared sacrifice," and does so without question. However, if we are to save the jobs of all employees currently facing layoffs, it will require sacrifices to be made by their brothers and sisters inside the City and School Department workforce.

Negotiations with school custodial unions resumed last week, and we will make every effort to come up with an agreement that will save as many jobs as possible while still exacting much of the savings the taxpayer would enjoy using a competitive service.

Similarly, after the very moving outpouring of support and solidarity from many unions during last week's budget hearings, we also presented to some of the city's largest collective bargaining units the opportunity to identify sustainable cost savings totaling 2.5 percent within each of their unions to help shoulder this financial burden.

We cannot and must not repeat what occurred last year when only certain segments of the workforce agreed to a wage freeze or furlough (notably the Police Department, E-911, non-union employees and elected officials) while most others refused to share the sacrifice. The numbers simply will not work if this is not a collective effort.

We all independently understand what is at stake, both short and long term. What remains to be seen is the level of collective commitment to our shared goal, and to our brethren within the workforce.

There will be shared sacrifice. There will be consequences – positive and negative – for any and all decisions. But there is light at the end of the tunnel, and I have faith in our employees, from public safety officials to non union employees to teachers, and I have faith that we are all completely committed to Somerville's residents, and the future of our community.