FALL RIVER --- The City Council in an 8-1 vote rejected Mayor Paul Coogan’s proposed 1/12 appropriation for the month of July on Tuesday, rather sending it back and requesting the administration create a level funding budget for fiscal year 2021 that could likely lead to layoffs and cuts to city services.
The Legislature, including the Senate’s House Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues, recently passed legislation allowing municipalities to miss the June 30 deadline to vote on their new budgets and go on a month-to-month appropriations due to the fiscal uncertainty of state aid due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It allows cities and towns to appropriate on a monthly basis until September.
Coogan had submitted a budget for 2021 on May 15 to the City Council, but rescinded it before Tuesday’s lengthy council meeting.
Exchanges between some city councilors, in particular Shawn Cadime who proposed the level funded budget, and Financial Services Director Mary Sahady were at times reminiscent of skirmishes between former councils and administrations during the budget process.
“If this isn’t the biggest cluster then I don’t know what is,” said Cadime. “I’ve never been part of something like this and I’ve been part of some bad budgets.”
Before the vote, Cadime argued that if the city waits until September to deal with the loss of revenues, cuts would be harsher than if the administration identifies fiscal deficiencies now.
A level funded budget would appropriate the same amount of money to each of the city departments, but with certain factors, like inflation, level funding is essentially budget cuts from 2020 appropriation.
Cadime equated the city’s financial situation to a personal budget.
“We need to see level services and we need to start planning for that,” said Cadime. “If you didn’t know what your revenues were you wouldn’t continue spending for the first two months or three months without planning for the worst case scenario. I think level funding is a worst case situation. We should be having that conversation to see exactly what those cuts look like,” said Cadime.
Cadime said if they were not satisfied with the cuts they identify, like in public safety, “we have time to get back to the table.”
Sahady said that communities going to a form of 1/12 budgets has the support of the legislature and Rodrigues and that other communities like Fall River are taking advantage of the opportunity like New Bedford, Brockton, Springfield and Lynn.
“There are a number of Gateway Cities that rely heavily on state aid that have chosen to present a month-to-month appropriation as opposed to presenting a budget with uncertainties,” said Sahady.
Cadime shot back that Taunton just passed a level funded budget, to which Sahady noted was done with a $2.5 million appropriation from its reserve fund.
She also argued that if there are lay-offs sooner rather than later, the city could incur unnecessary unemployment costs.
City Councilor Linda Pereria, the lone dissenter to reject the 1/12 appropriation proposed by the administration, said she would be willing to put a deadline on the proposal for the end of July.
“If the governor is allowing it and all these communities, everybody is in the same position as we’re in and we don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Pereira.
Email Jo C. Goode at jgoode@heraldnews.com.