Acting Holyoke mayor cuts funding requests by $3M
GAZETTE FILE PHOTO GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Published: 5/17/2021 7:16:29 PM
HOLYOKE Acting Mayor Terence Murphy has proposed a budget for fiscal year 2022 that reduces funding requests from city departments by around $3 million.
Murphy introduced his $144.6 million general fund spending plan at a special meeting of the City Council last week. In an accompanying letter, he said that his budget request is 2.28% higher than fiscal year 2021, though he did make substantial cuts to department requests.
“It has been my goal throughout this process to provide as many services as possible while also being fiscally sound,” Murphy said. “I have made substantial cuts to budget requests, not because I thought there was little value in the proposals but simply because projected revenues could not sustain these additional expenses.”
In Swampscott, civil service resurfaces with a price tag
FinCom plans to discuss collective-bargaining agreements on Monday night
Wicked Local
On Nov. 16, Swampscott Town Meeting members passed Article 7, officially kicking off the legislative process to end local police and firefighters’ participation in the Massachusetts Civil Service.
Now, the financial cost associated with that affirmative vote – cumulatively totaling more than $300,000 to Swampscott police and firefighters – is slated to come before the 2021 Swampscott Town Meeting in mid-May.
Some Town Meeting members have expressed anger and disappointment that town officials did not fully disclose the financial implications (in the hundreds of thousands of dollars) when they voted on Article 7 - even if they agreed with the merits of revoking the town’s civil-service participation.