Framingham Council Votes On Budget: Some New Cuts, Additions

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Deliberations over Framingham's next fiscal year budget leaped ahead on Tuesday night after the City Council voted on nearly every item in the document — making some new cuts, and adding back some spending.

City leaders have been debating the fiscal 2021 budget in some form since April. A downturn related to the coronavirus pandemic has forced officials to make deep cuts, including reducing the schools budget — the most expensive department in the city — from an initial $147 million request down to $140.9 million.

Mayor Yvonne Spicer first released her recommended budget in late April. But on May 18, she amended the document due to the coronavirus, making cuts to many departments, and ordering layoffs and furloughs.

READ: More Layoffs, Furloughs In Framingham As Mayor Rethinks Budget

The City Council finance subcommittee then took over, holding hearings for several weeks. On June 1, the subcommittee voted to make 10 percent across-the-board cuts to each department on top of what Spicer cut. A majority of the subcommittee also proposed funding a few departments only through Dec. 1 to force department heads to come up with additional cuts.

Framingham and cities across the state are dealing with two major problems related to the pandemic: first, local revenues are way down due to business closures; and second, the state has not released its 2021 budget proposal, so municipalities don't know how much local aid the state will provide.

On Tuesday, the full City Council went through the finance subcommittee's recommendations line-by-line, making changes in some areas. Here are some key votes from Tuesday:

Police Department

The Councilors voted 10-1 to reduce the police operating budget by $85,000. That's on top of a $115,00 cut the finance subcommittee made. The Council also voted 6-5 to prevent the department from buying new police cruisers in 2021.

School Department

The full Council voted unanimously to accept the finance subcommittee recommendation of a $140.9 million fiscal 2021 budget for schools. That's about $2.5 million higher than fiscal 2020, but about $832,000 less than what Spicer had recommended.

Mayor's Office

The finance subcommittee had sought to defund the mayor's membership in the United States Conference of Mayors and the Massachusetts Municipal Association. The subcommittee also wanted to lay off a special assistant to the mayor. The full Council voted 6-5 to put those items back, and asked the mayor to submit a new request to fund a vacant position that would oversee diversity.

City Council

The finance subcommittee wanted to cut the $5,000 stipend ($7,500 for the Council Chair) each Councilor gets by 25 percent. The full Council voted 6-5 to restore those stipends in full, which will cost just over $14,000.

City Solicitor

Councilor John Stefanini requested an additional $70,000 reduction for the city's legal department. That failed to pass, but the Councilors did vote to commission a study on whether Framingham could benefit from hiring an internal city attorney.

50 percent reductions

The full Council reversed a subcommittee recommendation to fund salaries for a few city departments only through Dec. 1, which would essentially mean a 50 percent pay cut in those departments. The departments whose funding was fully restored include Human Resources, Department of Public Works Administration, Capital Projects and Facilities, and Technology. A vote to restore funding for Planning and Community Development was tabled.

On June 16, the City Council is expected to vote on approving the entire budget, plus the capital projects budget and the water and sewer enterprise funds. The 2021 fiscal year begins on July 1.