By GAIL LOWE
WAKEFIELD — Only four months after signing the Fiscal Year 2015 budget into law, Governor Deval Patrick yesterday unveiled a plan to impose immediate cuts to close a $329 million mid-year budget deficit that would include a $25.5 million reduction in local aid to cities and towns.
Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio said, however, that a reduction of approximately $81,000 on the initial unrestricted local aid allocation of nearly $3 million is unlikely as the governor will need legislative approval.
“I have already spoken with State Rep. Paul Brodeur and he agrees with this. I will have a letter ready for the Board of Selectmen on Monday to send to our delegation,” said Maio.
The more likely cuts, he said, are as follows:
• Reduction of $2,500 in charter school reimbursement from the previously budgeted $167,106
• Reduction of $523 in library aid from the previously budgeted $34,909
• Reduction of up to $28,182 in transportation costs at the Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School (a worst case scenario, according to Maio)
Maio said he is still working on what the impacts of the cuts to reimbursements for METCO, SPED funding and sewer rate relief will be on the town.
He added that “our conservative budgeting of revenues in other areas will more than cover what is likely a cut of $31,205.”
“I do not believe the State Legislature with a rainy day fund of $1.2 billion will cut unrestricted local aid,” Maio said. “We do, however, need to be aware of the strain on the School Department, especially in the area of Special Education.”
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Stephen K. Zrike agreed with Maio’s assessment.
“At this time I do not fully know how cuts will impact Wakefield specifically but from what I can tell, the most significant impact would be cuts to the district’s Circuit Breaker funds (SPED reimbursement),” he said.
Maio said that over the last few years there have been talks about how beneficial it is to the town to be self-sufficient.
“We receive approximately 10 percent of our revenues from the state, not including SBA funding,” he said. “A cut of 10 percent of our aid is mitigated. While no one whines more than I do about the lack of local aid, particularly Chapter 70 funding, it has made us a stronger, more self-reliant community.
“We, as a town, at the suggestion of Dr. Zrike, funded a SPED fund — we may look to this here.”
Maio said he is actually “invigorated” to analyze the budget issue.
“We have spoken about stress management and how we as a town are prepared to handle such an unexpected drop in state aid is an exogenous stress that we must be ready to address. I look forward to working through models with the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee and our very capable management team in the near future as we meet the challenges ahead.”
Department of Public Works Director Richard Stinson was unavailable for comment about the potential impacts to his department.
According to the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA), the Governor’s budget cuts would hit every city, town and local school district with an unexpected loss of more than $65 million in promised funding used to deliver important municipal and school programs, including:
• $18.7 million from regional school transportation (27 percent)
• $7.1 million from regionalization and efficiencies reserve (49 percent)
• $3.86 million from SPED reimbursements (15 percent)
• $2.88 million from Chapter 70 “pothole” account (85 percent)
• $2.24 million from vocational school transportation (100 percent)
• $1.3 million from charter school reimbursements (1.5 percent)
• $1.1 million from sewer rate relief (100 percent)
• $1 million from extended learning time grants (6.8 percent)
• $359,000 from kindergarten expansion grants (1.5 percent)
• $287,000 from METCO (1.5 percent)
• $283,000 from library aid (1.5 percent)
The Legislature is meeting in informal sessions for the remainder of the year and any member can block the advancement of bills. At this time, it is unclear whether lawmakers will attempt to pass a bill before Governor-elect Charles Baker and the new Legislature are sworn in in January.
“These cuts are very bad news for cities and towns in every corner of the state and will shift the state’s fiscal problems onto communities in the middle of the fiscal year,” said MMA Executive Director Geoffrey C. Beckwith. “By slashing education funds that have been promised to reimburse communities for the cost of Special Education programs, charter schools and the transportation of students, these budget cuts will be harmful to schools and the Governor’s proposal to cut unrestricted municipal aid by $25.5 million would further hit local schools because cities and towns use their local aid to fund local education budgets,” Beckwith said.
He further stated that the cuts will “feel much deeper” because the reductions are being implemented five months into the fiscal year.
“With only seven months left in Fiscal Year 2015, a 10 percent cut in an account will translate into a 17 percent cut from now to the end of the year and a 50 percent cut in a program will translate into an 85 percent reduction in remaining reimbursements due to cities and towns,” he said.
In addition to the $40.3 million in mid-year cuts to municipal and school accounts in the state budget, Gov. Patrick has filed legislation calling for a $25.5 million reduction in Unrestricted General Government Aid, the main municipal aid account that goes to every city and town.
“We strongly oppose this proposed local aid cut because it would destabilize municipal and school budgets in the middle of the fiscal year and force reductions in community services.
“Unrestricted municipal aid is already $400 million below fiscal 2009 levels and any additional cuts will be painful for cities and towns across the state,” said Beckwith. “On behalf of communities across the state, we respectfully ask the Legislature to reject the Governor’s proposed municipal aid cut.”
