PEABODY — The City Council approved the city-side of the fiscal year 2022 budget Tuesday following a presentation by Finance Committee Director Michael Gingras at the Wiggin Auditorium.
Peabody Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt Jr. is proposing a total budget of $163.2 million, which represents an increase of $6.2 million from FY2021 and an increase of $4.4 million from FY2020.
The portion approved by the council on Tuesday totals approximately $82.2 million. The approval process continues Thursday when the Finance Committee presents the School Department’s proposed school budget of $80.9 million to the council.
“Over the past few months, I have worked with our department heads and school officials to produce a balanced budget, which helps our city recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, deliver the municipal services our residents and business owners expect, and maintain the affordability and quality of life for which Peabody is renowned,” said Bettencourt. “The budget restores staffing and services to pre-pandemic levels to help meet the needs of a vibrant city.”
In a June 15 cover letter to the council, the mayor said the majority of the budget increase is attributed to “personal services ($3.2 million).
“This increase brings back positions that had been funded in previous budgets prior to FY2021,” Bettencourt said, adding that several new positions totaling $2.06 million have been added, including seven firefighters ($268,110), four police officers ($330,912 which includes grade increases) and an IT network administrator ($80,888).
“I have concerns on filling new positions as the financial outlook is still uncertain,” Councilor-at-Large Anne Manning Martin said. “These positions trigger not only the salary amount but benefits of health insurance and pension. We have residents on fixed incomes and now is not the time to add new positions.”
Ward 5 Councilor Joel Saslaw also had concerns about the budget, citing increased taxes.
“The decisions and votes made last night will have a direct impact on the residents’ increased tax bills,” he said. “I wish there was more of a will from my fellow councilors to rein in the spending to minimize these increases, but at the end of the day I am only one vote. I proposed and supported a few cuts in the proposed budget, but unfortunately they did not prevail.”
The largest chunk of the city-side of the budget goes to employee benefits, which topped out at $27.5 million. That figure represents approximately 17 cents of every budget dollar in the city’s overall proposed budget.
The budget for public safety came in at $21.6 million, a bump up of approximately $1.4 million over the previous year. That figure represents 13 percent of the total budget.
The budget for public works increased by approximately $579,000 in FY21 to $11.97 million. That figure represents 7 percent of the city’s total budget.
General government, culture and recreation and human services also saw significant increases from FY21. General government increased approximately $525,000 to $5.5 million, which represents 3 percent of the total budget. Culture and recreation topped out at $3.9 million, which also represents 3 percent of the budget, an increase of approximately $488,000 over last year. Human services, which represents 2 percent of the overall budget, came in at $3.9 million, an increase of approximately $910,000.
The Water and Sewer Enterprise and Recreation Enterprise, which includes The Meadow at Peabody Golf Course and McVann O’Keefe Ice Rink budgets, was also approved with Water and Sewer set at $18.49 million and recreation was set at $2.25 million.
“I want to thank the City Council for their thoughtful consideration of my budget proposal,” Bettencourt said. “I appreciate their support and look forward to working together to make Peabody a better place to live, work and raise a family.”
