Councilors Holding Framingham 'Hostage' On Deficit Issue: Mayor

FRAMINGHAM, MA — After nearly two months of discussions between a City Council subcommittee and Mayor Yvonne Spicer's administration, the two sides have still not arrived at a compromise to fix a deficit in the city's water and sewer fund.

The Council Finance Subcommittee met again Thursday night to discuss how to pay down the $2.5 million deficit, but adjourned without an agreement. The meeting was at times contentious, with Spicer accusing some committee members of holding the city hostage over the issue.

The $2.5 million deficit has prevented the state Department of Revenue (DOR) from certifying the city's 2021 tax rates. That means third and fourth quarter tax bills have not been sent yet. Spicer proposed on Dec. 4 the city use a combination of rainy day funds — called "free cash" — and cuts to the water and sewer and school departments to cure the deficit.

That proposal has largely been rejected by City Council, which voted in December to "table" the issue to allow the Finance Subcommittee to find a fix. Subcommittee members George King, Michael Cannon and Janet Leombruno want to see Spicer propose long-term solutions to problems in the water and sewer fund before moving forward with the current deficit problem.

One item that came up Thursday was a possible increase in water and sewer rates. Spicer's administration says a 12 percent increase may be needed in the next fiscal year, which would add about $25 to the average quarterly bill.

READ: Framingham Councilors At Impasse Over Water, Sewer Deficit Fix

The issue has started to bleed into residents' lives. The mayor's office put out a statement on Thursday to explain why tax bills haven't gone out yet after getting questions about their absence.

Framingham has to send tax bills out by March 31 to have time to get them to residents before taxes are due on May 3. The state DOR has to approve the city's tax rates before March 31, and the city has to print bills, among other administrative work. Residents can pay their taxes right now even without the bills.

If Framingham doesn't come up with its own solution to the deficit, the DOR will add the $2.5 million to the 2021 tax levy, which would mean about an $84 increase for the owner of a home of average value.

During Thursday's meeting, King proposed a new solution to pay the $2.5 million deficit. He asked for $500,000 in structural cuts in city government — cutting three "middle-management" jobs — and for Spicer to in turn negotiate $500,000 in cuts from the School Department, plus a $200,000 cut to the water and sewer department and $1 million from free cash.

King withdrew that proposal when it became clear it would not get the support of all five members of the Finance Subcommittee.

Spicer said the back-and-forth over the deficit problem was "not good management."

"It's about holding me hostage in order to have your way to cut things you arbitrarily want to do," Spicer said. "That does not serve us as a city growing."

Subcommittee Chair Adam Steiner adjourned the meeting noting that the body has only about one more meeting left to reach a compromise on the deficit before time runs out.