Mayor fails to turn in FY10 budget by deadline

Date: 5/19/2009

By Katelyn Gendron

Reminder Assistant Editor



AGAWAM -- Mayor Susan Dawson failed to turn in the fiscal year 2010 (FY10) budget to the City Council by charter deadline last Friday, citing that there were too many unanswered questions and unsound revenue streams to calculate an accurate budget.

She is requesting that the City Council pass a resolution allowing the town to operate on a continuing appropriation budget for the first month of FY10 because of questionable local aid numbers.

Dawson noted that Agawam may operate under a continuing appropriation budget for up to three months, as mandated by state law.

"I anticipate that within the next few weeks we will have a more definite picture of our local aid and we will be able to finalize the budget and submit it to the City Council," she said. "Until that occurs, the government will operate as usual under the continuing appropriation budget and no services to the residents will be impacted."

Members of the City Council's Finance Committee told Reminder Publications this delay prompts concerns that they will not have adequate time to review the budget prior to its passage.

"We still haven't seen any figures yet [with the exception of the School Department's Budget]," City Council Vice President Cecilia Calabrese, also member of the Finance Committee, said. "I would like to see the numbers ... it's hard to make a blind guess about what we're supposed to do [with the budget without proper knowledge of the figures]."

Several budget meetings have been scheduled already, however, including a joint meeting of the City Council's School Budget Subcommittee and the School Committee on May 26 at 6 p.m. at the middle school.

Dawson previously requested that the School Department cut $1.4 million from its FY10 $35.3 million budget or 10.5 teachers.

"The harsh reality is that we're going to be faced with some very difficult choices," City Councilor Robert Rossi, also a member of the Finance Committee, said, noting the School Department's possible layoffs. "The School Department needs a total overhaul in terms of their spending."

The City Council Budget Subcommittee #1 is also scheduled to meet on May 27 at 5 p.m. at the Agawam Public Library.

"This is really uncharted water for [Agawam]," Rossi said. He added that compared to other municipalities that have faced millions in cuts, Agawam has been relatively unscathed up until this fiscal year.