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To the Malden City Council: We appreciate the opportunity to voice our opinion on this year’s General Fund Budget. At this time you have the current City budget that the Mayor presented last night and our opinion is that the public should have the opportunity to review it instead of the one that brings us here tonight. Based on this fact we feel at this time to offer any specific suggestions based on it are very premature from our group. However we have questions that we want to ask the Council from our sixth month discovery of the facts by attending your committee meetings. We hope the public will decide if they are valid ones to make. As we feel after you or anybody reads this report did the taxpayers of Malden need to buy the trash tax bags and did the City Employee’s need to help City Hall balance their budget?
Our questions:
1. We’ve reviewed the tentative budget and want to ask you how the following items listed below will affect it. Also, when you ask for people’s vote this summer how can any of you explain to your constituents that there’s a potential loss in revenue because of the elimination of the blue trash bag tax? 2. Why aren’t there ever any references of estimates of revenues in any of the budgets? 3. Why doesn’t the City ever discuss the Public Financial reports from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and how they equate to our budgets? The Council gives authorization to transfer our surplus and this year you are being asked to fund possible Capital Projects such as the revitalization plan for City Hall. And the Council and Administration wants to villainize us for possible employee cuts if our ballot question wins voter approval? 4. We advocate for you to question the Administration where these monies will be allocated in the budget: Trash Bag Tax with recycle efforts Minus 3.6 million
McFadden Manor Minus 2.7 million
Enterprise Fund transfers Minus 1.3 million
Salary increases/decreases past two years Minus 1.1 million
Leftover monies from the Senior Center 2.1 million * Negotiated in good faith raises without apparent
Council knowledge Minus .700K Reimbursement from State to build the
new school 5.0 million *Mayor veto of an Ordinance that would give Council notice of start of contract negotiations. ----- Grand Total = 16.5 million From this initial report even if the State does make the estimated cuts of $6 million it still leaves us with approximately 10.5 million. Again, the MTFA wants to state why should anyone have to lose their job in our City (1.5-2.0 million in teacher salaries) and still not have a compromise on the bags? Recycling by the City met expectations of nearly 40% The group supports the City of Malden’s efforts and believes these same results or better ones could have been achieved with community input and buy-in before PAYT implementation last fall. Our facts are based on the numbers and results from these recognized recycling programs in other communities by the State of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection: Single Stream * The storage of all recyclables (bottles and cans and all paper) mixed together in a single container
* Collection and transport of the mixed recyclables in a single compartment on the truck
* Separation of the mixed recyclables mechanically and with labor at a processing facility
* Boston: recycling tonnage up 50%; trash down 20%
* Springfield: recycling up 90%; trash down 20%
Automated Collection
* Trash or recyclables
* Fully or semi-automated
* Carts and mechanical lift arm
* 1st year results:
Holden MA trash tonnage down 30% and recycling is up 73%! Recycle Bank-incentive based program * Single stream recycling with cart
* RFID tag tracks tonnage per household
* Points converted to coupons – local businesses, national chains
* Everett and Revere have seen 300% improvements in programs. While Southbridge is 125%.
The MTFA believes if the community had been made aware of these programs there wouldn’t be a ballot question in November.
We offer the Council this solution-before it gives the Administration millions of our tax dollars from the General Fund surplus which could fund a multi use sports facility (which the City says none of its monies will be allocated for this purpose), the City Hall Revitalization Plan and other projects that might be too excessive given the tough economic conditions that exist in our City and Nation. In our opinion there should be a provision that the voters have the chance to voice their opinion on the question to either eliminate or keep the Pay as You Throw Trash Bag on November 3, 2009 before the Council releases the funds to the Administration.
We also ask the Council after last night’s dissertation from the Mayor-how can you even consider these projects with the economy in shambles, unemployment at record rates and city employees told they don’t have jobs in the fall? We realize we must always move forward and build our future, but, given the resources that currently exist in our City in our opinion the excessive plans listed above do not warrant our tax dollars. We hope your actions in regards to the 2009-10 Budget will reflect the realities that we all face as a community.
In the spirit of cooperation
The MTFA Committee
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