Strong Local Economy Bolsters Proposed Beverly Budget

BEVERLY, MA -- Mayor Michael P. Cahill presented his proposed, $129 million budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 to City Council Tuesday. The budget calls for a 4.9% increase in government spending over this year's budget. City Council is scheduled to begin public hearings on the budget on Thursday.

Increased local tax revenues, thanks to a good economy, helped lessen the blow of what officials had anticipated as being a difficult budget year. The city will hit the peak point on debt service this year for construction of the new Briscoe Middle School, which is scheduled to open this fall.

"While planning the construction of the new Beverly Middle School four years ago, we understood that the financial burden of bringing on significant debt payments, while addressing additional operational costs for the new school would create short-term, manageable budgetary pressure for which we needed to prepare," Cahill wrote in his annual budget letter in reference to the $1.5 million increase in debt payments included in the proposed budget.

Despite the stronger-than-expected local economy, the budget does rely on some one-time revenue streams, including the sale of the Mckay School for $650,000. The proposed budget allocates $2.5 million more to Beverly Public Schools, bringin the total school budget to $57.6 million, and $1.5 million to sidewalk repairs and improvements.

Other key line items in the proposed budget include:

• An $835,000 increase in public safety spending, bringing Beverly's costs for police, fire and other public safety services to $14.9 million.
• $10.6 million in spending on annuities and pensions, up $443,000 from the current fiscal year.

Read the Mayor's proposed budget. Subscribe to Beverly Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.

Photo of Mayor Cahill by City of Beverly.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).