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Date: 6/22/2022
HOLYOKE – In a final hearing and overview of Mayor Joshua Garcia’s proposed fiscal year 2023 (FY23) budget, the City Council approved a budget of over $153 million after cutting close to $500,000 before the official vote on June 13.
The council in a 10-1 vote approved the FY23 budget, with At-Large Councilor Kevin Jourdain being the one “no” vote. At-Large Councilor Israel Rivera left the meeting before the vote but was an active participant in discussions throughout the meeting.
A page-by-page review of the entire budget allowed councilors to list a line item and motion to reduce or change the item. The floor was not open for debate, but councilors were encouraged to speak on behalf of their changes and voice any concerns with a proposed cut. The City Council cut six line items altogether and only had the power to cut line items and could not boost figures.
The School Department accounts for over half the city’s operating budget at $83.3 million. The council cut $17,000 from the Holyoke Police Department’s (HPD) “Education Plan” request, which Jourdain proposed. The cut was passed in a 8-4 vote with Councilors Peter Tallman, Juan Anderson-Burgos, Joseph McGiverin and David Bartley voting against.
There was significant discussion regarding the Police Department’s personal service budget. Rivera started the conversations by looking to reduce the number of full-time officers on the HPD staff from 92 to 87.
Rivera brought up that the department had not had 92 officers on their full-time payroll the last few years, so he felt the additional costs could be better used elsewhere. The requested cut of the five positions would total $313,097.77 in savings.
Fellow At-Large Councilor Joseph McGiverin said while it was a good point made by Rivera, that the 92 number listed in the budget reflected anticipated additions to the HPD through new recruits currently in the police academy expected to join by July, according to conversations with Police Chief David Pratt. He also noted that the city would be in violation of Massachusetts General Law if there was insufficient funding during the fiscal year for the officers on staff, and coming back to request funding later would cause too many obstacles and add challenges for the auditor.
Ward 5 Councilor Linda Vacon added that she was not in favor of any additional cuts as the Police Department was the only budget in the city where the overtime budget was cut for FY23. Vacon added the potential surplus of funding would just be transferred within the department to other areas that could lack funding throughout the year based on the department’s spending.
Rivera said he totally heard Vacon’s point and agreed it is a challenge already for the department with the overtime cuts.
“I can vote for it at 92 if the idea is transferring funds,” Rivera said. “The idea is to give whatever’s left over to fund the overtime line item so everything is funded at the level is should be.”
Rivera did add he would be “amazed” if the 92 staffing figure was reached even with the potential additions from the academy based on the operating levels in past years.
At-Large Councilor Jose Maldonado Velez thanked Rivera for filing the order and said the reality has been that the HPD is not reaching the requested staffing figure. He also added that as the department with the second largest budget in the city, there was room for these cuts.
Vacon and Tallman both expressed support for keeping the number of officers as presented and cited that they both receive calls about traffic and its enforcement in the city often. Jourdain also was in favor of keeping the request as is and thanked the chief and the department for doing a fantastic job.
“We need to support the fact that he’s a new chief and give him the opportunity to really fill these jobs. I know that’s difficult in the climate police are working in,” Joudain said. “If despite all our best efforts to fill positions consistently we don’t, then maybe we take a different approach. Our community wants these positions filled. I hear from everybody more enforcement and more police, not less police.”
Rivera responded by reiterating he would be fine voting for the 92 figure if everyone felt this was the best case but did not think the excuse of traffic enforcement officers was valid in how these positions and funding would be utilized.
“I just want to clarify, new officers does not mean they would be traffic enforcement. Officers doing solely traffic enforcement is not realistic,” Rivera said.
The proposed amendment to the budget proposal was denied in a 2-9 vote. All together in Holyoke public safety, the Police Department received $13.million and the Fire Department received $10.3 for operating expenses.
Additional cuts were made to the budgets for Holyoke Public Schools ($336,240) and the Office of Planning and Economic Development ($45,000). Items outside the General Operating Budget included the Waste Water Treatment Plant at $8.9 million, Holyoke Gas and Electric at $81.93 million and Community Preservation Fund at $783,808.