By Oliver Bok

The massive frozen mounds may have melted, but the impact of the snowiest winter on record is still being felt on Somerville’s balance sheet. The February blizzards left a $9 million deficit, forcing Mayor Joseph Curtatone to trim the 2016 budget he presented to a special session of the Board of Aldermen on June 4.

“Before the storm in February, we probably would have entertained more program improvements in the departments where it warranted,” Curtatone said in a media briefing.

Despite the snow, the 2016 budget will still rise to $211 million, a $7 million and 3.7 percent increase from the 2015 budget. According to Curtatone, the city can afford to increase the budget because of the sound fiscal management of the last decade.

“We were prepared,” Curtatone said. “This Board worked with us for the last decade to implement prudent, smart, practical fiscal and budgetary policies that put us in a position to meet this crisis, meet this liability and still make critical investments moving forward.”

The city plans to pay $2 million of the snow deficit from the Rainy Day Stabilization Fund, $3 million from free cash — money that the city budgeted but didn’t end up spending — and $600,000 by transferring money from other parts of the budget. The city is also set to receive federal assistance from FEMA, although it’s unknown how much money FEMA will give out. The city will pay off the remaining deficit over the next three years, as state law allows municipalities to run deficits coming from snow removal.

30 percent of the 2016 budget will go towards the school department, which received a 3.6 percent bump in funding from last year. The added money will fund six full-time positions, including a psychologist, an elementary teacher and a full-time English Language Learner Department Chair.

The 2016 budget also includes money for a Sustainable Neighborhoods Initiative Coordinator, two full-time Program Coordinators for the Recreation department, a new building inspector and a full-time arborist to tackle the Ash Borer infestation. Much of the rest of the budget increase will go towards fixed costs, such as pensions and healthcare. The 2016 budget will also pay for several programs and positions that were previously funded by outside grants, such as the salary of the director of Somerville Cares About Prevention.

On the revenue side of the ledger, property taxes will increase by a total of 5.6 percent, leading Board of Aldermen President William White to note that a decade of successive 5 or 6 percent increases could increase property taxes by 60 percent.

“A lot of the landlords pass on the rent increases, and a lot of folks who are paying rent now, with incomes not really going up, if their rent increases over the course a decade, that could be a hit to them,” White said. “So I think as we discuss the budget we really have to keep in mind the effect we have not only on the homeowners but a lot of the renters as well.”

Curtatone emphasized the importance of finding additional revenue sources to supplement the property tax. He expressed hope that the meals tax and the hotel/motel excise tax could provide more revenue in the future as more eateries and hotels open up in Somerville.

66 percent of the city’s budget comes from taxation and 23 percent from state aid. Curtatone noted that between 2002 and 2014, state aid decreased by 44 percent, forcing cities across the Commonwealth to rely more heavily on taxes.

Curtatone also said that the city plans to receive $539,000 as Payment in Lieu of Taxes from Partners Healthcare, currently constructing new administrative offices in Assembly Row. As a non-profit, Partners is exempt from paying property taxes. Alderman Mary Jo Rossetti stated that she felt the mayor had not consulted the Board of Aldermen on the agreement with Partners. Curtatone responded by saying that negotiating with Partners was an executive function.