During March 9-16, the School Committee and NPS convened three public budget meetings to review detailed information from NPS departments regarding their budgetary methodologies and priorities. These meetings continued the dichotomy of the Superintendent, Mayor, and School Committee all acknowledging what they say is an improved budgeting process and working…
Posts published in “Budgets”
On March 2, the School Committee, including Mayor Marc Laredo, met with Superintendent Anna Nolin and NPS Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Liam Hurley in a public but unrecorded budget meeting at the Education Center. The meeting was also attended by Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education Ayesha Farag and observed…
After the recent blockbuster snow storm, City officials expect costs of snow and ice removal in Newton to surpass their $5 million budget as expenditures continue to rise. The City Council’s Finance Committee unanimously approved the recommendation to transfer an additional $1.5 million from the snow and ice reserve in…
On Friday, November 28, City Councilor Lenny Gentile (Ward 4) filed a late docket item asking Mayor-elect Marc Laredo to explain how his planned increase in Mayoral Office staff from 7 to 9 will fit within the current fiscal-year budget. The docket item also asked the Mayor-elect to submit a…
The final Healey-Driscoll Administration’s public listening sessions regarding the funding of education will be held from 4:30-6:30PM on Wednesday, December 3 at Newton North High School. The Healey-Driscoll Administration is completing a series of public listening sessions to solicit feedback on the Chapter 70 school finance formula, the primary funding…
The Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) joined Mayor Ruthanne Fuller at City Hall on Thursday, October 9, to announce a new report warning that cities and towns across Massachusetts are nearing a fiscal breaking point. The report, A Perfect Storm: Cities and Towns Face Historic Fiscal Pressures, was produced in partnership…
I read Mayor Fuller’s financial outlook for Newton. The mayor believes that Newton’s debt is stable and manageable. NPS believes that annual budget increases are insufficient. School families want much more spent on our schools. This, according to many, means regular overrides. Unfortunately, Newton taxes are among the states highest. How…
Mayor Fuller’s address introducing the City’s Long-Range Financial Plan to the City Council on October 6 (also transmitted in her newsletter) contained the same contradiction that we hear from this Mayor in every fiscal address: The City’s financial health is very strong and yet doomed at the same time. Setting…
On June 30, the Massachusetts state legislature passed, almost unanimously, a $61 billion state budget for FY2026. This budget and the Fair Share supplemental budget together contain $1,773,000 in earmarks for Newton, sponsored by members of Newton’s state delegation. Not since the FY2017 budget has the legislature completed the state…
Chris Brezski, the highly active and vocal Chair of the Newton School Committee, has announced that he will not run for re-election this November and will leave the Committee at year-end. In his relatively brief, two-year tenure as the Committee Chair, he oversaw momentous events such as the implementation of…