Board of Aldermen 1-02-2020 Page 2
One thing that | am concerned about is building into our budgets increases that at the end of the day we
cannot sustain and will in the end of the day result in reduced services. If we can only increase a budget 2
4, 2 %% in order to keep the tax rate at a level we think is acceptable, but we’ve built budgets that have to
go up 3 or 4% in order to sustain current conditions, we now have an unsustainable budget. It will result in
service reductions because there won’t be enough to pay for the services that are currently being provided.
We have been talking about this increase in healthcare for quite some time. It is not a surprise that Fiscal
21 is going to go up a lot again. Ms. Kleiner and the City’s expert went to the Budget Committee on July
22™ just the 22™ day of the Fiscal Year and projected a major increase for Fiscal 21. So we know we’ve
got a serious problem that is more than one year, two years and it could go beyond that.
In addition to that, you remember in the escrow process, we talked about this again. We put $2 million
dollars of funds in the escrow process into healthcare. Then, when we got the money from the State, we
put another $900,000.00; so the idea that this is going up, shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. In addition to
the non-sustainable budgets, we have raised a couple of other issues. Number one, these two contracts
together definitely create a precedent, and although some people have said, “OH well, it doesn’t matter’, it
does in terms of negotiating other contracts which are in negotiations right now. Plus we have got groups in
City Hall who are seeing what is going on and they are beginning now to petition through grievances for
higher wages and other things are going on.
| guess | am asking, are you sure that we are wrong about all of this? Are you sure that when | say that this
is establishing a precedent that we are going to have to follow with other employee groups, are you sure
that | am wrong? And are you sure you don’t want to take the time to, if you don’t believe me, to talk with
the people who negotiate these contracts and find out? That could occur, discussion regarding
negotiations could occur in a non-public session. And are you sure, one thing | want to add is that as we
look at this budget and the next ones, | think people are going to see that to sustain what we have, we are
going to have tax rates, at least in this coming year and if you do this enough, for a series of years that go
up far more than people are used to.
Some of you have not been in an environment where the tax rate becomes an issue, because | think we
have maintained some degree of stability and we have exercised fiscal discipline to that we haven’t seen
the tax rate become an issue. But if it goes up 4 or 5% a few years in a row, my experience tells me it will
become an issue. So are you so sure we are wrong? | am trying to work with you and | am trying to
compromise with you. You approved two contracts | said we should limit to 2%, OK. | didn’t Veto one of
them, the Officers, we have a great Police Department, | don’t argue with any of their Police activities; they
are doing a fantastic job. | am just thinking about the financial management of the Department and the
City.
Are you so sure that this has to be rushed through now? You sure you don’t want to take the time to at
least hear from the people who do negotiations in Public Works, in the Fire Department, in City Hall, to find
out before you make the decision that | am absolutely wrong? Are you sure that you don’t want to talk to
them? And if you think that | am wrong about the tax rate, are you sure you don’t want to bring in CFO
Griffin, Ms. Kleiner, Dave Fredette and the other people who work on the budget to kind of explain and we
can give you figures, projections as to what you are looking at? Are you so sure you want to decide so
quickly that we are wrong? | am trying to work with you. OK we let the Supervisors go through; but
creating two precedents is worse than one.
| do question the Police Commission here, you know, they are fine citizens and they are trying to do what
they think is best for the Department. But | raised an issue about the extension of an unfunded liability
which is the payouts for sick time; we pay at a certain level but the City fought for 20 years to bring that
expenditure, that unfunded liability, meaning a commitment that has no money behind it, bring that down. It
started around 2001, for 17 years the City fought. So when the bill came before us last year and again
when this Commission agreed to extend, in the first version of this contract, the unfunded liability, almost
doubling the City’s obligation to pay out when people resign or leave for retirement.
