The Finance Committee met on Monday and voted to establish an NPS Educational Stabilization Fund and fund it with $22 million (see NewTV video). Chief Finance Officer Maureen Lemieux presented the item to the Finance Committee and explained that the impetus to create the fund began when the City accumulated a…
Posts published in “Budgets”
Newton will contribute $43.5 million to its pension plan in fiscal year 2024, $37 million of which (7.4% of budget) to fund our $300 million pension deficit by FY2032. Pension contributions will grow 6.6% per year, far outpacing growth in revenues. Without adjustment, the budget share going to pension contributions…
On January 31, the School Committee and Newton Teachers Association (NTA) continued to meet, and at the end of the day, each side acknowledged some progress was made and that the remaining gap is primarily financial. Late in the evening, the parties continued to meet as the strike continues. Schools…
Fig City News recently spoke with David Helfman, a Newton resident with significant experience in labor strike negotiations, advising unions on collective bargaining packages, as well as serving as a trustee on pension funds. The notes from this discussion are condensed for this article. FCN: You have a background serving on…
On the morning of January 28, the School Committee and Mayor Ruthanne Fuller each published detailed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) documents responding to questions about the Teachers Strike and City finances. NPS and SC Frequently Asked Questions, issued by the School Committee, addresses 21 questions in a Google Doc that…
Regarding comments by NTA President Mike Zilles about Mayor Fuller’s designation of federal pandemic funds for Newton Public Schools (NPS), I’d like to clarify the information. Mayor Fuller invested over $28 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and CARES funds, approximately 40% of the City’s total, in the…
On Tuesday, January 22, Newton Teachers Association President Mike Zilles sent Fig City News this response to the analysis that former Newton School Committee Chair Matt Hills had provided to Fig City News the previous day.
School Committee files Petition for Strike Investigation. Since the start of the new year, rumors regarding an imminent strike by Newton Public Schools (NPS) educators have gained traction, first on social media, then in the Charles River Regional Chamber of Commerce newsletter on January 12, and then over this past…
On Sunday, January 14, over forty Newton parents, teachers, and elected officials met at the Scandinavian Cultural Center for an informal discussion about school funding. Horace Mann parents Alli Franke, Dan Evans, and Matt Mazer organized the meeting just days earlier and publicized it with the assistance of the Newton…
Minnesota just chose a new state flag in an open competition. The current (and longest-tenured) version of the U.S. flag was designed by a high school student. Why does Newton need to pay consultants $25,000 to design a new seal? Lucia DolanNewton Centre
In an e-newsletter sent on Sunday December 17, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller announced that she had indicated commitment for “70% of $26 million” in property tax Overlay Surplus funds to supplement the existing Newton Public Schools (NPS) budget. Background: Since the March 2023 operating override vote was not approved and the…
After a lengthy debate, the City Council rejected Mayor Fuller’s proposal to establish an Operations Booster Stabilization Fund — a fund designed to help pay for a portion of the annual general fund appropriations for the City’s pension system. As the Mayor explained in August, the fund would hold $20,500,000…