With $546 million budget, finance stability, Cambridge is envied throughout the state
From city councillor Marc McGovern, May 28: As the finance chairman for the City Council, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who 
worked so hard to deliver yet another bold and responsible budget to our city. A special thanks goes out to Louis DePasquale, assistant city manager for finance, and Jeana Franconi, budget director, as well as all the hard-working employees of the Finance Department. I also wish to thank our city manager, Richard C. Rossi, and deputy city manager, Lisa Peterson, and all the department heads who once again managed to find ways to increase their services to the community while remaining fiscally responsible. The fiscal year 2016 budget requires a property tax levy increase of 4.5 percent, which is consistent with the city’s 10-year average increase of 4.4 percent. Property tax bills, which are certified in October, are anticipated to fall in line with the city’s nine-year average of 73.4 percent of taxpayers seeing a tax bill that is reduced, has no change or increases less than $100.
With a budget of approximately $546 million and a capital budget of another $85 million, Cambridge is the envy of every city and town in Massachusetts. Our financial stability allows us to do things that other municipalities can’t even contemplate. One example was during discussion on the public celebrations budget: The council spent almost an hour thinking of ways we can spend more money on public art and public events. Other communities are cutting these important cultural activities, if they fund them at all.
Some of the highlights from this budget include 12 new full-time positions, including a net zero planner, a housing planner, an organics recycling manager, a Public Works landscape administrator, a Department of Human Service Programs community engagement team leader, a Steam coordinator, a parking control officer, a licensed social worker for police and new information technology positions. These positions come from policy initiatives set by the City Council and the community and represent a commitment to expanding the incredible services the city already provides. In addition, the city will allocate another $10 million tax dollars under the Community Preservation Act to create and preserve affordable housing, bringing the total since 2005 to $115 million, which has led to the creation of more than 1,000 units of affordable housing and the preservation of 1,100 units, helping keep low- and moderate-income residents in our city.
The capital budget also represents a city committed to its residents. As the new Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School and Putnam Avenue Upper School building prepares to open this September, the city will embark on construction of a campus for the King Open Elementary School and Cambridge Street Upper School, which will include renovations to the public library and public swimming pool. While other communities struggle with school buildings that are falling apart, Cambridge is able to move forward without Massachusetts School Building Authority funding on these projects because of our financial stability and AAA bond rating.
One of the most exciting projects in this budget process was the Participatory Budgeting Process. Thanks to its introduction from councillor Leland Cheung last term and the hard work of those in the Finance Department, we were able to initiate a citywide outreach campaign to involve the community in deciding directly how to spend just over $500,000. This process resulted in 380 ideas that were whittled to 20 and then to the six winners, which included a public toilet in Central Square; 100 new trees in certain areas of the city; 20 new computers for the Community Learning Center; six free, public Wi-Fi locations; eight bike repair stations; and 300 bilingual books for children learning English. This process was so successful that the city has committed to continuing it next year.
As I have often said, as great as Cambridge is, we must never become complacent. We have more work to do to ensure that our community provides a safe, secure and sustainable future for all of our residents. We must bring more affordable housing to our city, we must make early childhood education universal and affordable for all and we need to continue to be a leader on environmental issues and public safety. With that said, our ability to be bold and responsible in our fiscal decisions have placed us in a position where we can continue to serve our residents in incredible ways while building for the future. Again, my thanks to all of those who work for our great city and participated in this year’s budget process.
“public toilet in Central Square; 100 new trees in certain areas of the city; 20 new computers for the Community Learning Center; six free, public Wi-Fi locations; eight bike repair stations; and 300 bilingual books for children learning English.”
Is the Councilor telling us that planting trees in shadeless, densely populated, low-income neighborhoods, delivering bilingual books to children outside CPSD who are learning English, and supplying adult Eng.-lang. learners with 21st-century tools for Western Ave. Camb Learning Center’s classes, GED and vocational exam preps and trainings, citizenship test preps, literacy, numeracy, more — that none of the foregoing would be funded through the City Manager’s 2015 citywide budget unless fewer than 370 residents “chose” those 2015 Participatory Budget items?
The city, which plants trees all over leafy neighborhoods, would just not fund concrete ones? Would leave Camb Learning Center in 2015 lost in the pre-digital era of past centuries and in paper-pencil dust in our digitalized schools and knowledge economy? That public toilets are frills, enhancements? That the Council’s bike lanes across our car-choked streets never included bike-repair stations — as necessary for rider safety as gas stations are? (Why not put bike-repair stations next to every gas station in the city so bikers can find them? Bikes aren’t exotic, new-fangled modes of transport, as the Councilors already have acknowledged.
My take away is that the Council does not view annual city budget as the people’s budget, for voters/residents to participate in developing.
BTW, regarding wi-fi in public spaces, check out what other cities fund as a matter of course:
Add these FY16necessities, now that they’re funded through June 2016, into the FY17 and beyond budgets: maintain those trees, computers, bike-repair stations, expand public, free wifi, more public toilets, books, etc., into the future.
Next year fund pocket-money enhancements worthy of 1 fiscal year rather than essentials filling deep holes in our city’s community.
Free wifi in public is not a luxury or an enhancement, according to San Francisco’s Ron Vinson, the city’s chief marketing officer. Vinson believes that the $1.7 million that [SF] has spent to outfit its network with public wifi (not including a $600,000 grant from Google) is totally worth it. “We are not going to stop, probably, until all of San Francisco is connected to the internet. There’s absolutely no downside being able to provide access to the internet, whether you are parking your car or waiting for a MUNI bus. It’s one of those fundamental things. We fill potholes, we clean the streets, and yes, now we provide wifi. And our citizens expect that.” — Mother Jones, 2015 article
For Participatory token budget’s $500K, city gets 6 things: “public toilet in Central Square; 100 new trees in certain areas of the city; 20 new computers for the Community Learning Center; 6 free, public Wi-Fi locations; 8 bike repair stations; and 300 bilingual books for children learning English.”
Is the Councilor telling us that planting trees in shadeless, densely populated, low-income neighborhoods, delivering books to children outside K-12 public schools, and supplying adult Eng.-lang. learners with 21st-century tools for literacy & numeracy classes, GED, citizenship, and vocational exam preps and trainings, more — that none would have been funded unless fewer than 370 residents had chosen those “Participatory Budget” items?
The city manager’s budget, which plants and cares for trees all over leafy neighborhoods, would not green up concrete areas? Would leave Camb Learning Center lost in the pre-digital era’s paper-pencil dust while our schools are digitalized and work lies within the knowledge economy? Did the Council’s plan/fund for bike lanes across our car-choked streets never include bike-repair stations — as necessary for safety as gas stations are? (Why not bike-repair stations next to every gas station in the city so bikers can find them?)
As Councilor McGovern puts it, “…Cambridge is the envy of every city and town in Massachusetts. Our financial stability allows us to do things that other municipalities can’t even contemplate.”
My take away is that many members of the Council, not unlike the School Committee, do not view annual budgeting as a process to “involve the community in deciding directly how to spend.” Those $546 million and a capital budget of another $85 million, along with “Participatory Budget’s $500,000, come from residents’ pockets.
Councilors, please add the FY16 PB 6 items, funded through June 2016, into FY17 and beyond city budgets: maintain/replace as necessary trees, all city computers; expand public wifi and book giveaways; add more (& clean/maintain) public toilets, bike-repair stations, and bus stop shelters too, which didn’t make the final list.
Next year choose enhancement items for your participatory exercise, rather than pot-hole type essentials for our community. And please ask residents in advance of FY17 process what they consider the essentials to be for our 100,000+ residents and our flood of visitors/tourists within 6.5 sq. miles.
Thank you in advance.