Woburn City Council Passes Mayor's $160.7 Million FY21 Budget

WOBURN, MA — Woburn City Council voted Wednesday night to approve Mayor Scott Galvin's proposed $160.7 million Fiscal Year 2021 budget.

The budget includes a $141.7 million general fund budget and a $19 million enterprise fund budget. That's a 2.99 percent increase to the general fund — including a 3.8 percent increase for Woburn Public Schools — and a 0.91 percent decrease to the sewer and water enterprise fund.

The combined $70.6 million school budget will be supplemented by $700,000 in grant and prepaid expenditures, Galvin said.

The city is projecting significant hits to state aid and local receipt revenues from meal and hotel taxes. Galvin said they expect to use reserves to supplement two years of expected revenue losses.

Former Alderman Paul Denaro recommended going to a 1/12th budget, to deal with coronavirus-related uncertainty. But Galvin argued the city has built up enough reserves to withstand that uncertainty.

"The capital budget for FY21 nonemergency spending will be delayed by one year," Galvin said when presenting the budget earlier in June. "As we move through the FY 21 budget cycle, COVID-19 could create additional, unforeseen financial obligations."

The full meeting is available here from the Woburn Public Media Center. The city budget is here.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.