It doesn’t appear that the budget battle between Mayor Domenic Sarno and the City Council is cooling down.
Earlier this week, Sarno and Lee Erdmann, the city’s chief administrative and financial officer, sent a letter to councilors calling on them to make certain budget transfers in order to get the municipal budget balanced by the end of the fiscal year on June 30. The Council recently sent to committee the mayor’s request to transfer $16 million from free cash to a stabilization fund; a number of councilors would like to see part of that money instead go to offset tax increases for residents. (Check out the Springfield Intruder for coverage of the ongoing budget fight.)
The mayor’s letter even raised the possibility of the state imposing, yet again, a Control Board to oversee city finances, as it had back in 2004. “At this point in time, the Springfield City Council has not fulfilled its statutory responsibilities to adopt a balanced budget. The City Council is in danger of ceding its authority to the Commonwealth,” Sarno and Erdmann warned.
Council President Jose Tosado has said he’ll hold a meeting about the transfers before June 30, the deadline for the city to submit the fiscal 2011 budget to the state Department of Revenue. Tosado—who’s widely expected to challenge Sarno for the mayor’s seat next year—also publicly asserted that the Council would not simply “rubber stamp” mayoral proposals.
Meanwhile, Councilor Tim Rooke responded to Sarno’s letter to the Council with his own noting that DOR officials will be in town tomorrow to meet with the mayor and his financial team. “I would like to attend this meeting with the DOR. What time and where is the meeting? Have any City Councilors been invited to attend?”
Rooke also questioned references made by the mayor to additional cuts in state aid. “I thought the City had already based an anticipated cut of 4% from the State into the proposed budget? If we are anticipating additional cuts I would like to know about this.
“The fact that the City does not have a balanced budget is of concern. However, so is the amount being transferred and borrowed so close to the Fiscal Year end,” he continued. ‘Going forward I would recommend that that no financial transfers be presented to the City Council 60 days prior to the fiscal year ending. I will also recommend and ask for the full City Council’s consideration that any anticipated borrowing of funds to balance the City budget be done 60 days in advance of the fiscal year ending.”
So will Rooke and other councilors (he suggests that members of the Finance Committee, which includes himself, Michael Fenton and Tim Allen, be included, as well as Councilors Jimmy Ferrera, Melvin Edwards, Keith Wright and John Lisak) be allowed into the DOR meeting? Or will they be left fuming outside a closed door?
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Note: The following comment was sent to me by Tim Rooke, who asked that I post it on my behalf, as he was having technical difficulties.
It would appear that Italian machismo was chosen over intellectual exchange with the DOR. Councilors were not allowed to attend the meeting. Nor we were told when or where the meeting was to be held in City Hall. However, I found out that the meeting was scheduled well in advance for 8 am on Friday in the Finance Department and the Mayor was not scheduled to attend. The City Council can not get a simple answer like this answered by the new CAFO or the Mayor so we have to ask Boston for an answer. When I spoke with the DOR they welcomed City Council involvement on the financial issues.
It is yet another unfortunate opportunity that the Mayor missed to work with the City Council to educate us on the financial position of the City. No official reason was given to City Council President Tosado or myself as to why we could not attend. As a matter of fact our emails and attempts to communicate to determine the location and time of the meeting were ignored by the Mayor and the CAFO starting at 10 am on Thursday until 4 pm that afternoon. Ignored again, just like when I raised questions about the no bid contract and lack of a public RFP on the Federal Building lease with the School Department. Also known as the $12 million mistake.
The Mayor did cite as an excuse when interviewed on CH 22 "executive privilege". The same excuse he used when he banned the City Council form the budget hearings a year ago. Funny thing is this meeting with the DOR was not held in the Mayors Office nor was the Mayor in attendance. How is it possible to invoke executive privilege of the Mayor when those two criteria's are not met.
Here's a suggestion for the Mayor and CAFO. If you did not want the City Council invited to the meeting why did you specifically mention the date of the meeting in your letter to all City Councilors?
Tim Rooke