ITEM FILE PHOTO
Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy.
By THOMAS GRILLO
LYNN — Less than a week after Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said she had no choice but to seek a tax hike to fill a budget gap, the city’s chief executive changed her mind.
The mayor now says she is confident City Hall can close a massive shortfall with cuts and without seeking a Proposition 2½ override.
“I had a knee-jerk reaction last week when Peter (Caron, Lynn’s chief financial officer) said we must do a Prop 2½ override,” she said. “I jumped and I shouldn’t have. I should have considered my other options before I spoke publicly. I’m taking a step back, looking at my options and I think I will be able to do this.”
ALSO: Take a step back into shoe history
The administration began considering how to solve its budget crisis last week when the state Department of Education threatened to withhold its $11 million November payment in school funds until City Hall came up with more school spending.
The budget deficit list includes a $7.5 million shortfall in school spending; how to pay for a wage hike for the Lynn Police Department over four years that will cost more than $3 million; and the city’s prospective share for the cost of building two new middle schools of $68.5 million.
In addition, the Lynn International Association of Firefighters Local 739 is in arbitration discussions on a wage hike.
Caron said he was working on a list of possible tax and fee increases and potential cuts.
The components include more aggressive collection of the boat excise tax, implementation of a local option meals tax that would impose a .75 percent local tax on top of the state’s 6.25 percent meals tax, raising fees for a building permit, a hiring freeze, job cuts and approval for every non-school department purchase.
Caron said he did not know how much could be saved by trimming the budget and was not sure of the exact amount of the shortfall.
The list of possible new taxes and fees along with cuts followed a request by the city council earlier this week when some members wanted cuts to be identified before any new taxes are approved.
“I have produced a laundry list of steps that must be considered to go forward,” Caron said.
The mayor said given the budget challenges, she has three options: raise taxes, cut personnel or cut services.
“By far, the least odious of those choices is to cut services which could mean some extreme cutting, but that’s my focus right now,” said Kennedy.
“It requires me to go through every bit of spending that’s anticipated between now and June 30 and try to come up with the money to close the gap. If something is not absolutely necessary, then that is one of those line items that will be cut. Everything is on the table.”
Still, taxpayers are not out of the woods on a possible major tax hike next year.
If the city is to build two new schools to serve students in the Pickering Middle School district and West Lynn, voters will be asked to support a so-called debt exclusion next spring.
The $183 million proposal includes a 652-student school to be built near Breeds Pond Reservoir off Parkland Avenue and a second facility to serve 1,008 students would be constructed on McManus Field on Commercial Street.
If approved, the measure would add $163 annually to the real estate tax bills for 25 years.
City Council President Daniel Cahill said it’s important for the council and the public to know what course of action will be presented in the near future to address the budget issues raised by Caron at a council meeting this week.
Councilor-at-Large Brian LaPierre said he was pleased to hear that a Prop 2½ override is off the table.
“I’m glad to hear that things are progressing in different ways because the city has never had an override in the city’s history,” he said.
Thomas Grillo can be reached at [email protected].