CITY OF LAWRENCE
FISCAL YEAR 2009 PUBLIC FORUM
Questions & Answers
Question: Energy costs are sharply rising - what portion of the budget is spent on energy? What is the city doing to reduce the impact of rising energy costs?
Answer: The city has a Master Energy Plan that is currently in place. This plan aggregates our electrical usage (Kilowatt hours or KWH’s per year) in a “bulk purchase” of anticipated usage. In addition, the city is studying the potential for added savings by partnering with other regional cities and towns.
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Question: What will the city do to make sure that the city budget reflects Lawrence residents’ priorities for spending? What strategies (aside from tax increases) will the city implement to increase revenue?
Answer: The approval of the Comprehensive Technical Corrections Plan for Fiscal Year 2008 by the City Council and Mayor allowed our budget to be certified as “balanced” by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR). This plan controlled 10 non-personnel expenses for the current fiscal year, thus reducing the overall need for additional revenue. The city is exploring all facets of expenditure control, while reviewing revenue sources that will help in future years.
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Question: Does the Mayor meet with Department Heads on a regular basis as to what is going on in each department… e.g. what the department’s priorities are and accountability for each employee, job duties and responsibilities?
Answer: Yes! The newly formed Financial Management Liaisons Working Group encompasses all Department Heads and Division Managers to review cost saving measures and to uniformly implement financial action plans. For example, all Department Heads had vital input with the recently enacted Comprehensive Technical Plan passed by the City Council on January 22, 2008.
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Question: With all the recent foreclosures, are the taxes on these properties being paid in full and at the true value of the property, using the 2006 evaluations and are they paying their taxes early?
Answer: Yes. This is required by Massachusetts General Laws for all cities and town.
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Question: When is the 13 million dollars owed the city going to be collected? Last time (with the Amnesty Program) the city got $3million… 14% waivers.
Answer: The city is working diligently to collect back taxes and has recently partnered with Plymouth Park Services, Inc. to aggressively collect all back taxes owed.
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Questions: How else is the city planning on getting citizen input concerning budget priorities?
Answer: This Budget Forum was established in a joint effort by Mayor Michael J. Sullivan and Councilor Grisel Silva, Chairperson of the Budget and Finance Committee of the Lawrence City Council. It was part of a Comprehensive Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Time-Line with 36 key decision points. We welcome citizen input at each of these points in time. The time-line can be reviewed at the city’s website (www.cityoflawrence.com)
Also, the city has established a “cost savings and revenue enhancement board” on our Intranet for city departments.
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Question: We at Lawrence Community Works are very happy that you continue the work that we and Mayor Sullivan started in the year 2004 and that continues today, for a more participatory budget process. We also want to invite residents and business owners to participate in a test of the new city services satisfaction survey on Monday, March 31 at 6:00 p.m. at 168 Newbury St.
Answer: Thank you! No response required.
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Question: Can we have a budget preview every couple of months of all departments budgets with line items?
Answer: The city has established a 36 key decision point budget time-line for Fiscal Year 2009. This process is open to the public.
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Question: We have done this type of event in the previous years and unfortunately we have not seen much result. Why do you think this forum is different from the other ones? Why is this more doable than the previous ones?
Answer: Please note that it was generally accepted that our Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Timeline started earlier than ever this year. Thus, this year we have more time to plan and develop a rationale process for developing this FY 2009 budget with your input.
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Questions: The new high school has cost an enormous amount of money for electrical/energy costs. How can we save energy costs… e.g. use less a/c, have students wear warmer clothing, etc?
Answer: The new high school was designed to utilize the most efficient use of energy resources and overall energy management systems. We will continue to monitor this program.
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