Knapik delivers proposed FY12 budget early

Date: 5/11/2011

May 11, 2011

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Editor

WESTFIELD — Mayor Daniel Knapik made a point of emphasizing the time frame when he submitted his proposed $121 million fiscal year 2012 (FY12) budget to the City Council on May 5.

"I want you to note this is one month early," Knapik said in his opening remarks. "This is the only time in my recollection this has happened during my 10 years in city government. "

Knapik served as city councilor of Ward Two before winning the mayoral seat in the 2009 city elections.

City Councilor At Large David Flaherty told Reminder Publications he was "glad it is early. There's a lot of details [in a budget] and the more time we have, the better."

Knapik also told the council he felt in a better position presenting this year's numbers, saying at one point "last year I walked into the office on a cold start; there are a lot more metrics in this year's [figures]."

In addition, he pointed out "there are no furloughs in this budget."

Under the FY11 budget, the offices of the City Clerk, License Commission, Plumbing and Electrical Inspectors all saw mandated furlough days for employees.

"In terms of service to the taxpayer, this is a level service budget," Knapik told Reminder Publications.

As presented, the FY12 city budget reflects a 3.49 percent increase over the amended FY11 spending of $117 million. Knapik said the proposed spending was based on what he referred to as the "House one" numbers for state aid to cities and towns.

"I'm pretty confident the House numbers are as low as they're going to go," he said.

Key points for the FY12 budget included a projected $32 million in Chapter 70 aid for the schools and $4.9 million in unrestricted local aid for the general fund.

Additional monies projected for the school budget, a proposed $56 million of the $121 million total, include $2.7 million in Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) reimbursements and a projected $445,00 in future reimbursements for green repair feasibility studies. The school budget also reflects $923,792 in carryover of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), a drop of $2.8 million from the ARRA funds in the FY11 budget.

Knapik noted the danger of relying on ARRA funding to support school programming, noting that the monies had "artificially propped up the school budget" for the past three years.

He presented a conservative estimate in new revenue growth for Westfield, including only a half-million in the budget, noting that there was "only in one year — 1989 — when new growth did not reach a half-million" in the city.

Among the new business growth Knapik said he expected to see in 2012 was groundbreaking on the $20 million Keystone Assisted Living facility, negotiations on two possible projects at the Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport and movement on two projects proposed for the downtown area.

He indicated the projected $15 million appropriation for health insurance spending would likely not require an adjustment as the city was poised to "unveil to our [collective] bargaining units a pretty innovative health plan."

The budget also reflects an estimated $5.1 million from the city's Stabilization Fund and $2.6 million in free cash.

"Like a lot of other communities around us, we're relying on our rainy day account," Knapik said after the meeting. "It's likely that the worst is behind us, but we are going to be living in a lower revenue environment [for the foreseeable future]."

Other areas where Knapik noted changes from past budgets included the $1.2 million appropriation for the Technology Center, which he said now falls entirely under city funding as a line item. In the past, the School Department provided Technology Center funding.

"As we begin to move government toward consolidation, the Technology Center is important," he said. "We need to staff it appropriately so use of technology efficiencies can be utilized."

The Council on Aging's (COA) $196,766 appropriation also reflected $30,000 earmarked "so they can hire an architect to get the new center to schematic design," Knapik said, adding that the COA already had $60,000 in a gift account toward the $90,000 total cost of design work.

Public property and building appropriations — which were up 16 percent for necessary ADA compliant and water damage repairs — and severance payments which were given a set appropriation in the FY12 budget — were other areas where Knapik noted spending saw adjustments.

He said the city could no longer work with projected numbers of retirees, particularly from the police and fire departments, as that required too much capital be tied up in severance accounts.

"We're struggling with severance," Knapik said. "Ideally I would like to cover the payments in the same year people retire, but there is not enough money to be able to put aside with the thought someone might retire. I need to know how many are definitely going to retire [in a given year]."

Knapik closed by indicating the budget would be posted on the city's Web site, www.cityofwestfield.org, in the very near future.

Ward Three City Councilor Peter Miller asked if the mayor's early budget presentation meant the council would be required to pass the budget in an earlier time frame than the past.

City Solicitor Susan Phillips, indicated she believed the council would still have a 45-day period to review and evaluate the numbers prior to giving its approval.