Revere to feel the squeeze; budget cuts take effect this week

REVERE-The reality of a shrinking city budget comes home to roost for local residents this week when City Hall hours are reduced and retired teachers confront city officials over proposed health premium hikes.Starting this Friday, City Hall will be closed on the last Friday of every month to help save the city money. The other closing dates are March 27, April 24, May 29 and June 26.Mayor Thomas Ambrosino and city budget makers will reassess the closings in June as they prepare to tackle spending challenges for the fiscal year that starts on July 1.The closing days are part of Ambrosino?s plan, outlined to City Council members two weeks ago, to deal with a $1.2 million reduction in this year?s state aid reduction.Other elements of the plan include reducing city employees? hours and salaries effective Friday. Nineteen mostly part-time workers will be laid off and three police officers undergoing training will not start work.Fire Chief Eugene Doherty this week said at least one fire truck will be regularly placed out of service in order to save the city money through the rest of the year.The personnel reductions save about $300,000 so Ambrosino is turning to other savings sources to cover the $1.2 million deficit. He proposed reducing the city?s share of health insurance premiums for 300 retired teachers from 90 percent to 75 percent.He will meet Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in the City Council Chamber to discuss the hike in their share of the premium with retired teachers.City Councilors are scheduled to vote on the premium reduction on March 23.This “bleak financial figure,” as the mayor has characterized it, gets worse after July according to current city budget forecasts. Reductions in state aid could confront the city with a $3 million to $4 million spending shortfall.The reduction may not exceed $3 million if the city can bring in more money from meals and hotel room taxes.But the cut could approach $4 million if these added tax revenues promised by Gov. Deval Patrick do not materialize.Patrick?s reduced spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1 includes cuts in state community policing money.Ambrosino said this reduction leaves the city without money to pay eight police officers whose salaries were funded by the state money.?In the absence of this line item, eight police positions will either need to be absorbed within the Police Department budget or eliminated,” he warned.Schools so far have been spared cuts but that trend could end once the scale of Fiscal 2010 spending cuts becomes clear.School Superintendent Paul Dakin oversaw $1.5 million in school spending reductions so far this year, mostly through energy savings and layoffs of 13 paraprofessionals who assist teachers and secretaries.Schools have mostly eliminated night time events to save on heating and lighting costs and reduced the amount of time boilers operate during the school day.Dakin said the current $60.2 million school budget matches the minimum school spending threshold and the spending amount required to meet state education goals. That goal-oriented amount, called “foundation spending,” jumps under a state spending formula to $65.6 million next year, leaving local schools with a $5.4 million potential spending shortfall under current state spending projections.?This is very disturbing. If I have $5.4 million in cuts it will be the largest proportionally speaking in the state,” Dakin said, adding he hopes federal officials will provide stimulus money.?If they don?t, 77 teachers will be laid off and there will be other cuts as we can muster them,” Dakin warned.