Municipal Spending Shows Decrease;Waiting for Free Cash Certification

By Sue Ellen Woodcock

The city is at 48 percent of last year’s spending level halfway through Fiscal Year 2017,  according to Mayor Brian Arrigo, but no free cash figure has been released yet by his office.

Although other communities have released their figures, such as Chelsea which found it has $34 million in free cash and Everett has $8.3 million. Free cash is the difference between what was budgeted and what was spent and the final figure is certified by the Department of Revenue.

The mayor’s office said it would release the figure once certification comes through.

Arrigo said the FY2017 budget, which runs from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017, made steps toward accomplishing some of the major goals of the administration, such as professionalizing city hall and improving city services.

When Arrigo presented his budget last year he included a chart of fiscal goals, many which have been accomplished.

“In the budget, we funded the creation of an Human Resources Department. We will have an HR director in place soon, which will help professionalize the work environment at City Hall. Even prior to the hiring of an HR director, we’ve instituted professional practices, including posting all positions online and going through a full, thorough interview process for jobs, allowing all qualified candidates the chance to apply for a position at City Hall,” Arrigo said.

The budget also funded a 311 system for the City of Revere, which will become a reality later this year.

“We’ve already built the office that will become the 311 call center, and are now working on getting everything ready to roll out. Once 311 is in place, residents will be able to make one call, text, email, Facebook message or Tweet to City Hall to report any issue or get an answer to any question,” Arrigo said.

According to Arrigo the current spending for FY2017 is tracking below FY2016, reflecting the administration’s commitment to fiscal discipline. Halfway through FY2017, non-school expenditures were $40.26 million. The total FY16 non-school expenditures were $83.81 million.