With the city already facing a tight budget, Haverhill Mayor James J. Fiorentini told school committee members last night he will likely be unable to cover a roughly $1 million hike in school costs.
A proposed budget for the Haverhill Public Schools in the next school year shows a $1 million dollar spending increase caused by salary increases and rising pension costs.
The Haverhill school committee Thursday night heard a presentation from budget consultant John Sullivan projecting a 3.4 percent spending increase in fiscal 2016.
In addition to covering step increases in salaries, plans call for a carryover of current non-salary spending for “level funding” as well as adding $500,000 to make the current school year “break even.”
However, Fiorentini, committee chairman, said it would be “a difficult budget.”
“I have a big deficit that I have to meet on the city side even without adding a single police officer, firefighter, all of the things the city council, almost on a weekly basis, asks me to do. The police department budget will be up by several hundred thousand dollars without adding a single cop, to make up for the cops we added in previous years. All of these things are going to make for a difficult budget year and I wanted lower expectations. I’m not at all certain that I can meet the lower of the two numbers here,” Fiorentini said.
School committee President Scott Wood also suggested they hold budget workshops with the district’s administration.
If he can’t make up the one million dollar deficit, maybe it’s time for change. Let’s look how departments are being run from an operational standpoint. Stipends to do extra jobs doesn’t mean you are saving money. The fire department needs a new rescue truck, counting on a tired spare pumper to carry tools doesn’t cut it. Put in young energetic people with creative ideas to send Haverhill into the future. Time for a change.
How about all the money the cable TV board is sitting on ? water dept, cable probably cover the whole amount and still have money for pot holes!
Why not shake the money tree…you know that tree you have hiding over on Kenoza Lake. Yeah, that one , the water dept. Plenty of money over there Mr. Mayor that you seem to use for other things, no ?