Haverhill City Council votes 6-3 to pass city budget
Jun. 26—HAVERHILL — Following weeks of hotly debated negotiations, the City Council voted 6-3 Tuesday to pass the city's amended budget for fiscal year 2023.
The budget is set to take effect on July 1.
The approval was a result of the June 16 meeting, during which several councilors paused budget approval, citing concerns over what they said were insufficient funds for firefighter staffing and youth mental health programs.
During Tuesday's meeting, Mayor James Fiorentini presented a new outline of the city budget. His proposal included a slate of amendments to the original budget to aimed at appeasing some of the City Council's concerns.
The changes mainly included a $742,000 school department increase, $50,000 for additional sidewalk funding, and a deal to add an extra $250,000 in federal COVID relief money for youth mental health programs as requested by the council.
To balance the spending plan with revenue increases, Fiorentini said, there would be more than $420,000 in budget cuts.
Fiorentini said his budget provides more funding for the police department to add social and psychological workers and more for education, which he called "record amounts." Allocated funds will also allow the hiring of four new highway workers and pay for sidewalk repairs.
Addressing the council before the vote, Fiorentini said he believes the negotiated spending plan is a "great budget" despite being unable to do "everything that people ask."
"Overall, it's not just a good budget ... it's a great budget, and I ask for your support," he said.
Fiorentini said the budget also adds four new firefighters, touching upon one of the major sticking points some councilors had with the mayor's original budget proposal. Haverhill Firefighters Local 1011 has continued to press the mayor to increase staffing levels as a matter of public safety.
The addition of four new firefighters, however, was not enough to fulfill safety requirements proposed by the union.
"Adding those extra bodies was not enough," said Council President Timothy J. Jordan, one of three councilors voting against the budget. He was joined by Council Vice President John Michitson and Councilor Melissa Lewandowski. They explained their opposition is a result of the mayor's refusal to provide additional staffing until the issue has been researched.
A study is currently underway to determine the minimum amount of staffing needed at the Fire Department.
"It's really up to you, mayor, as the CEO of the city, to break the logjam with the fire department and do the right thing," Michitson said, pointing at Fiorentini to meet the fire department's pleas. "I don't care about the politics; it's all about the safety of citizens and the safety of the fire department."
Jordan said while he is "pleased to hear" that the mayor matched one of the council's requests over additional funding for youth mental health, the discussion over firefighter staffing cost his vote for the budget.
"I think we can help reduce (the danger) by having more firefighters on duty," he said of the hazards of firefighters' tasks.
Councilors Michael McGonagle, Joseph Bevilacqua, Thomas Sullivan, Catherine Rogers, Melinda Barrett and Shaun Toohey voted to approve the budget.
McGonagle said despite grappling over the "morale" of minimum manning, he believes the mayor has proposed a "good budget."
"I still think it's a good budget and there are some areas we need to work on, namely the one resounding issue that I struggle with the most is ... the manning of the fire department," he said. "I wish we could find a way to make that right."
