Good evening and well uh can I have a motion to um resume from recess? Motion has been made by council Marl. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by councelor Luzon. All those in favor say I. I. and the
eyes have it. Counselors, we're now in day two of budget hearings. Um, today we're going to hear from the city council, mayor's office, office of planning and development. That includes office of community development, planning office, planning boards and commission, planning, zoning
board, economic development, and the police department. Okay. All right. We are going to start off with the office of planning and development. Do we have the director here with us tonight? I believe she was trying to get in
remotely. Nope. The department heads need to be here in person. So, this office is going to be rescheduled. Um, next we have the police department. Oh, can you put Is it on the mic? Oh no,
sorry. My apologies. Good even city councils. Uh Rosa Sheper from the Lawrence Police Department, 90 Low Street, Lawrence, Massachusetts. I am here to present the fiscal year uh 26 for the Lawrence Police Department. Um we
um as as a requested we we did a balanced budget for uh and the balance and the budget for this for this year is 17 million uh $18,520 with $380. on page 867. Council says we're on page
67. 67 and 67 through 69. Oh, I'm sorry. There's more. Six 67 through 74. 74. Thank you, director.
I'm sorry. Can we start over? No, not a problem. Thank you. So I so I'm here to present the uh the police department budget for the fiscal year 20 uh 2026. Um we did a balanced budget per request after they do it
every year. And this year we it is $18,520. Okay. With an increase of $72,413 which is a 3.84% from last year. Okay. Can we go over uh specifically where the
7002,413 is being allocated towards? Sure. If we go to page 69, which is which is a police administration, there were salary increases. Uh there were a salary increase on the deputy chief. It was in last year for
$175,000. There was an increase for the director of police and community relations. She went from 95365 to 99,000 $99,500 which is an increase of $4,135.
the director of support services. From last year, we have an increased uh went from n 90 90,346 to 94,600 which is an increase of $4,254. We had a decrease of the confidential secretary which is
uh budget for for two and which is a decrease for $8,80. So, so we have we have we have budgeted two confidential secretaries with a decrease of eight a
little bit over 8,000. Why is that? Uh because it's just going to show yes the exact amount of what they're getting paid. Madam Chair, if I may give me um give me one second, counselor. And can you explain the need
of a deputy chief for a deputy chief? Sure. And and I would like an honest answer. Do we actually need a deputy chief or not? Uh madam chair. Uh good evening. Good evening to all. Um in full disclosure
here um I got uh confirmed less than 24 hours ago. So, I had absolutely no input or say as to the uh composition of this budget or no suggestions or uh you know uh uh consultation with me in any way, shape or form. Um at this point, what I
have is the proposed budget. Um and I still haven't gone through it with a fine tooth comb in so far as trying to figure out what is required and what isn't required. Um, to your more direct question as to whether or not a deputy
chief um is needed, uh, my answer is no. And, uh, what I don't want to do is, you know, make a mistake here and lose 175,000. I need that money. I just need to reallocate it in a way that makes us
more operationally efficient. Um, I could use that money in in other places if allowed to do so. I'm still learning as to how that can be done. we have been in in communications and I will continue to be in communication and I would like the opportunity if I could maybe to come back and and uh you know explain a
little bit of that but the answer to that question um for one particular individual when I could basically use it for maybe advertising hiring more individuals and like um I'd like to have the option and opportunity to do that. Okay. Actually, you were you just said
what I was thinking as you were speaking. I was going to um uh present you the the option of coming back to the budget hearing. We do have additional days if that u makes okay
um because you just got confirmed. I mean you just you just got sworn in a few hours ago. So congratulations and welcome as you're making your first appearance as chief. Um so I know there's a lot of catching up to do. Our last day we have from tomorrow on until
June 2nd. So if you would like review those those dates and let me know what date uh you guys prefer to come back. That way you guys can have time to sit down and and connect um and go through your budget appropriately. Is that fair? Does that seem It sounds fair enough,
Madam M. And and and and to be honest, I I mean and to be clear, it's I'm not saying indefinitely. Um, but my priority list is at a on some my sight's on other things. So, for now. All right. Cool. So, I will look forward to to a
communication from the police department of when you guys will be returning. Certainly. Thank you, Chief. Oh. Oh, hold on. Council, council president. Oh, okay. uh a little bit of clearance on that. Essentially, what I budget is that when you have the uh personal
services, if you want to transfer to another section, you're going to have to have council approval if we approve this budget as is, right? Yes. Unless he is looking to use it in the same section of personal services. Yeah, personal services. You can use it
within personal services, which is hiring people. That's fine. and but you can you won't be able to transfer it over to professional services perhaps if this budget get approved now that we are in the process of approving the budget that can be transferring we just need to reprint the book right correct I just
want to make sure like we're clear on that and if this is the time for the chief to make any potential adjustment if the administration and the chief sit down and discuss together together with you so it's better off to do it now so
he has the whole division of the police department not only the admin. So we look at the whole division. So it includes the operations, it includes the administration side, it includes the uh the animal control. So all the divisions. So it can be amongst all four
or three departments that money can be used in the personal services section. Yeah. Which is basically employees. Mhm. Yeah. I just want to like we're clear on that. So before we approve the budget, it's better off to have those discussion now which because I mean I understand
that you just come in and we just throwing in a question but I mean is it needed potentially? Yes. Is the position needed? I don't know. It's based on how you feel based on how you want to manage the police and also the administration how they feel about things. But I mean
this is the right time to have those type of discussion. I just want to have the cafo to kind of like you know clarify that because the question was raised uh in general but thank you. Hi um chief before you well chief and director before you guys leave we do
have one other question from councel zone council zone. Thank you, Madame Chair. And um CAF mentioned uh yesterday uh that they were proposing a level budget and the lady uh representing the police
department mentioned a um balance budget. There's a difference there. Can I can you explain why are we seeing a different type of budget for the police department? So I think she meant uh level funded but actually yes actually
uh the increases here are representative of the Quinn bill as you know that was approved as a package for the police department. So someone with an associates will get uh percentage increase with the bachelors will get 20% and with the masters will get 25%. So we
have seen a lot of the police officers getting their education credits and therefore that's something that needs to be adjusted in the budget. So this is state level with the exception of those things that we need to honor per the Quinn bill.
Correct. Okay. And if I may madame chair another question for the chief of police. Um and in regards to the position that the ma madame chair refers,
um would you be looking into the captains to do the job that it may be that this position will be doing because you have now how many captains you have now? I I have four captains
right now and uh there there is going to be as part of our organizational restructuring there's going to be a u redistribution of responsibilities as so far as the captains are concerned. Um and again uh you know uh the council
president's uh uh point um perhaps down the line we can revisit the utility of that but my initial reaction in particular when we do have to take issues like the uh the Quinn bill into consideration um my initial uh response is uh no not at this time. We perhaps
later down the road but right now there are priorities and they'd have to do with personnel. um the more officers that I hire, the more that I reduce the overtime need um and the more relief that I bring to the men and women of the department in so far as you know uh
burning them out. Um so I'm thinking long term as far as the reduction of our expenditures um and especially with the overtime which is one of the biggest uh one of the biggest issues that we have there. Um and through you, Madame Chair, I just want to remind the new chief of
police that last night he mentioned the chain of command uh for me and for as the uh counselor for district B, it is important to keep that uh in order. Um
that's one. The other thing is that based on uh some issues that we are seeing with the budget um and it's important to take a look of the races salary salary raise that it was
presented uh because I think that it's time to be conservative uh with the entire city budget. So please take a look of that and when you come back um I would like
to hear from you but I mean please take in consideration those um salary raises that are being proposed. I think there's no it's not the time for that. Um and hopefully you can have an answer for
us but but from my point of view we need to uh think about that seriously. Uh this is not the time to be spending money due to the issues that we're seeing in the city budget. Thank you
chief. Certainly, I I want you to know that um the budget is something that is of utmost importance to me. Um I just met with human resource uh director Garcia today. I wanted to clarify that we do have in fact and and I believe
that director Shepard could speak more about it. Uh we do have in fact a clause that um any hires that are going through the police academy uh must serve the city of Lawrence at least uh 3 years uh before that they go anywhere else. um if they don't uh they have to repay us back
100%. Uh additionally um I spoke with them and now all letters of employment that are going to be going out are going to reiterate that. Um so nobody can say something slipped through the cracks. Um if you're going to serve our community, if we're going to invest in you, we expect that you invest back with us. So
yeah, I'll keep all that uh for foremost and uh at the forefront of my considerations always. Thank you. Um thank you, Chief, and thank you, Madam Chair. and we know that you have not have a chance to review your budget that this was not proposed
by you. You just got uh you just got to the job. So I'm assuming that um you're going to take a look and take our my recommendation uh series. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So when you vote
your questions we don't and and with with no expectation of an answer so they can write it and they can President Yeah, I have I have I I have a few questions that I'm not expecting you you guys to answer because I mean it's not fair but eventually once you come so we
don't have to repeat the same questions. So essentially I would like to you to go over I mean probably Shapper will be will be able to answer this right away but I mean when it comes to the grant reimbursement that's the 58 grants that we approve here at the council that add
up to that amount um throughout the year. That's correct. We only base it on the three main grants that we usually get every year, which is the 911 training grant, the 911 supporting incentive, and the staffing municipal
staffing grant. Those are the three big ones that we um we really dedicate a lot of time to make sure that the state approve it for for us. You're welcome. Another thing I would like other thing that I would like to know is that bas on based on previous
years I see that there is an increasement significantly um I see a significant increasement on holiday pays compared to previous years. Uh I see that in 2024 we have well no never mind. Um it is not
significant. Um I was looking at it one and it's really a five. I don't have my glasses. Uh but yes I wanted to know also a quick explanation about uh about the grand reimbursement. Can you just mention it and also the lo the
the lost on the lost time factor which is I believe is the retirements for some officers. No, it is uh the the vacancies that we have for the uh for the police uh for the vacancy that we have at the police department. That's the the time loss factor. Mhm. The vacancies. Yes.
Mhm. Okay. Perfect. So we allocating about $500,000 for that. $588,000 for that. Yes. All right. In general, I see that you have five captains. We want to we want I want to know like you know how many of those are active, if it is any that are
down. I mean uh when is the if there is any plan to have them back. Uh and essentially uh how we going to reallocate those resources on the budget is funds but in reality is resources to
make sure that we corresponds funds to people and subsequentally uh services. So that's going to be the main idea about you know any type of uh any type of uh safety uh uh funds that
we have we allocate perhaps the police department as well as the firef fire department. So in general those two those three four questions around that. All right. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you. So when you guys are ready um email our
secretary Yes. um with the date that that you guys are available to come back and she will let me know or you can even CC me too that way. Most definitely. We'll do. Thank you so much. Thank you. Um I see that director Ailda Pimentel is on Zoom. Uh director, if you can hear
me. I actually I sent uh your your department home. Um all department heads need to be here in person. Um unless notifi unless I'm notified ahead of time. Um, I was not aware that you were going to be on Zoom. So, I did say to
your team that the budget hearing for the office of planning and development actually will be I'm sorry director. Yeah. And I and I and I did read the notice last night about department heads
needing to be here in person. No, not last not last night. Monday night. Monday night. Okay. All right. We're going to continue. Um CAPFO, we have a presentation um the revenues and expenditures
presentation that we um decided to to do today. So we are ready when you are and I think we have the revenues you counselors you you do have the revenues presentation in front of you I'm going to have it on screen. Yeah.
The reason why is because Yeah. is because we talk there. They don't see what we see. Absolutely. That's I get that I get that complaint yesterday like you guys talk a lot about numbers but I mean what are those numbers? Yes, I agree.
Okay. So, I'm going to review some of the terminologies that we all use here and probably we're all used to it, but maybe of the residents may not be used to a lot of the terminologies we use. So, I'll try to explain it to make it simple for them to
understand. The revenues for the FY26 budget the revenues total is 469,611,865. It's made up of mainly four categories. The first one is taxes and excise which comprise of personal property tax and
real estate tax. The sum of the two is what we call the tax levy which I'm going to explain on my next slide. State revenue 351,000 and that is mainly uh from the
school chapter 78. It's 30 317 million in unrestricted general governmental aid. Those are the two major ones in the um state revenue section. Local receipts I presented to you a few months ago what makes up all the local receipts. The
biggest one being our motor vehicle excise $6.5 million. We also have charges for services uh licenses and permits interest income and so forth. Other financing sources that's made up of two major things. We have the
$5 million which we're transferring from the stabilization reserve fund and indirect costs from the enterprise funds. Okay. Proposition two and a half. Here we go. It was adopted by the Massachusetts voters back in
1980. This is meant to limit the amount the property taxes can be charged to a community each year. Before the community used to create this budget and they just used to charge the taxpayers whatever was necessary to make up the revenues. Now we're capped at 2
and a half%. This is this doesn't apply to your bill. So if somebody's looking and say my bill is going to go by up by two and a half, that's not necessarily how it works. Um I I'll explain later how that is um derived at. The tax levy is
the amount a community can raise every year through real and property and real and personal property taxes. This is the uh the total um like we saw on the previous page is the personal property tax and the real estate taxes. So it's
basically all the revenues needed to raise uh to be funded for all the revenues in the um in the city except for the state revenue, the local receipts and the other financing sources. The levy limit, the levy limit
is the amount a community can levy in a f in a fiscal uh year. It can grow by 2 and a.5% from the prior year's levy limit plus the new growth. This year's new growth is a million2 and it varies every year and we get these numbers from
the assessor's office. Excess levy capacity. This is basically the levy limit minus the levy. The two um these two um items we described in the previous slide. This is what makes up the excess levy capacity.
And I have another slide that's going to show you what the cap excess levy capacity is for the city of Lawrence. Right now it's at $13 million. The new growth is the calculation of the increase in property values due to different things. New
constructions, new buildings, additions, exempt property being returned to the tax role and the like. This is a little um interactive map that I I'd like to share to show you
um where Lauren stands uh within the state. I'm going to go on the internet and I'm going to show here. So, this is an interactive map that the DLS, Department of Local Services, um,
creates. So, as I click on the city of Lawrence, it shows that the maximum levy is $101 million, $449,628. The excess levy capacity as of 2025 was $13
million66735. The percentage of our tax levy capacity over the levy is 12.8%. And if you look at the color of our city, which in this graph is green, and then we go to the green section here, it
shows that in 2025, 44 communities from the Massachusetts, 351 cities and towns are falling in this section. So 44 communities are at the U 10 to
20%. Oh, I lost that. There it is. So this is the city of Lawrence. Where'd it go? Here we go. 12.8% which is in this 10 to 20%. So like I said only 44 communities fall in
this range. So our tax um excess levy capacity is pretty pretty healthy. Okay. Going back to the presentation. Okay. So I think this is a very important slide because it shows how the
tax is really calculated. First we start with a 2024 levy limit. We add the uh sorry Okay. So, um to I want to show you how
we came up with the um the tax levy for 2026. But before we do that, we have to start with the previous year. When we came up with the 2025 tax levy, we have to use the levy limit from the prior year. And I'm sorry to use
these terms, but these are the the technical terms we have to to use. um we add two and a half% of the levy limit and then we add the new growth which was a,420. So the $101 million you see minus
the levy for 25 created an excess levy capacity of $13 million. All right. So let's go to 2026. 2026. We start with the levy limit from
25 and then we add the two and a half% which comes up to be 2,536,241. Then we add the new growth which was a million2 105,000 million185869 is the levy limit. That is
the amount that the state of Massachusetts allows a municipality to tax. We are not taxing the whole levy limit. We are deducting the excess levy capacity of
13,66735 and we're also reducing it by the allowance for abatements and exemptions. These are the the abatements that we allow for we have an assessor right here. um the amount we allow the taxpayers um for the tax bill to be
reduced due to an abatement or an exemption such as um elderly veterans and blind. I believe those are the exemptions we have. So we do put money aside. We reduce the total uh levy by the 575 that we um apply this year. So
the levy for 2026 is 91,544,131. What does that mean? If you look at the 88, million 382893 from 25 minus the 91 million, the levy for 20
the levy increase between 25 fiscal 25 and fiscal 26 is 3,161,241. That's the amount of money that the taxes will go up for FY26. that includes uh personal and real
property. Any questions? I know it's a lot. Um so, let me let me show you another another interactive map, the DLS website that um Yes, you have it.
All right. So, it's also um another nice tool that the DLS um has out there for anybody that wants to go and check it out. So, if we go to the city of Lawrence, this little yellow town here, it shows that the average single family
assessed value is 450,18. The income per capita for the city of Lawrence is $20,919. Yes. The number of single family parcels is 4,293 and the residential tax
rate in FY25 was800 $8.80. If you look at the Essex County cities and towns, there's about 34 cities and towns in the Essex County.
Lawrence has the third lowest tax rate at 880. Okay. If you go here to this the tax bill range legend, Lawrence falls in the second um lowest tax bill in the state of
Massachusetts. I have another slide to show you here. This is the last forget why it's going there. This shows the last five fiscal years. It shows the residential
and the commercial, industrial, and personal property tax rate. So back in 2021, the residential tax rate was at $12.27. But if you look at the total assessed
value, it was only 5 bill251,39,912. That total assessed value is the total fair and full value of all the tax um properties in the city of Lawrence. But notice
2025, it dramatically increased. It went to 8 bill4 1,670 41,670,520. A lot of people ask if you're not increasing taxes that much, why is my tax bill so high? And it has to do with the value. The value of the
properties have increased tremendously in the whole state and I want to say maybe the whole country. And as you can see, the residential tax rate, it's very low compared to previous years, is the lowest in 5 years. It's only 880, but
they don't see a reduction because their value is making up the difference. So, their value of the property is a lot higher even though the residential tax rate is so low, they don't see a
reduction in their tax bill. This is another um DLS um tool that I thought will be very helpful. So then I enter the city of Lawrence. I enter the amount that the taxes will go by, which is what the amount I shared with you earlier, which is a tax levy, $3
million, $161,241. By doing that, the tax rate, which currently is at $880, I don't know if you can see it right there. I'm circling it, $8.80. If I put the $3 million that we are proposing the taxes to increase by,
the tax rate will be at 911. Again, this is an estimate. Um the 911's right here. us how much the $3 million um effect is going to be on the new tax rate. Now for
a an average house uh single family assessed value property that right now is assessed let's say $450,000. The increase that we are have in the budget of 3,161,000. It will be an estimate just
so that nobody's calling everybody and saying my taxes went up for more or less is an estimate. It's not an exact number. There's a lot of numbers that come into the the equation here. The estimated increase will be $139 for a property, a single family
house that is currently estimated at $450,000. So again, the tax rate right now for the city of Lawrence is 880. By increasing the taxes to 3,161, which is the
levy, the estimated new tax rate is going to go from 8.80 to 911. And the estimated impact on the increase on the taxes will be approximately $139. Okay, that was a lot.
Um, so before I go into a little bit of a summary of the expenditures, I'm open for questions if you want to review any of the terminologies for the sake of uh, whoever might not understand it in the public. I'm willing to do so as well. Have a first question. Council
President, thank you to your madam chair. Uh, Ramona, thank you for the presentation even though I believe this is presentation which should be on November when we set up the rate, right? But that presentation, it shouldn't be now. No, but that's what we're
estimating the taxes to go up by. So, you do need it now. No, because the thing is is like we we we now dealing with the total amount of taxes that we're going to increase, not the percentage uh based on the average of the household of the average of the uh of the estimated value of the property.
That presentation will be in order in November. Right. So you talking about in November what you're going to do is decide the percentage between residential and uh commercial industrial in November in November what we do we
set up the rate between anywhere between 170 to 175 which 175 mean the maximum amount of dollars that the people are going to be saving based on residential compared to commercial. I got it but I mean this is what you're describing right now is just that. But do you know
that in order for you to get there, you need to address the 3 million one that we are proposing to increase? Right now, what we need to address perhaps is um is that the fact that we going all the way to the to the 2.5% increasement on the t
on the tax levy. Yes. And also what we need to address the fact that we have a uh $1.2 2 million estimate new growth which everybody's going to be paying for it. And if we put those two in in perspective and in percentage that's
going to be an average potentially of over 4% increasement. 3.58 to be exact. 3.58. So that's going to be a significant impact because as you mentioned within your presentation
uh the household per capita in the city of Lance is just $20,000 and that's why I kind of scream from here that's important number because I mean I don't want to be kind of like you know be talking out of kind of like you
know out of order but I mean it's kind of like you know it is fair to recognize that Lawrence is not anywhere near any community within the Mar Valley. Yes, that's why it impact on the
taxes is significant for our community because we don't we don't have that household uh household income that is over 77 $70,000 perhaps like any of few communities around us per meaning that
the little kids also make 70,000 uh in average. So it's like essentially it's it's like it's significant and I'm not saying that uh I'm against taxes. I'm not saying that but I'm saying that
it is it is it it is it is very very it is important to recognize the impact within our community even though potentially we vote one way or another way. So it's like that's why I'm saying the presentation you're giving us is is great but it will be in order in
November since we are actually accept the fact that we are going to increase taxes through the through the budget approve it and then back in nove further up in November we're going to talk about how they're going to distribute those. I thought it was very important to note
because a lot of people make the assumption that it's taking last year's um real and personal taxes and tsing it by two and a half. It's it's not it it's actually
um and then when they do the percentage they say okay so why is it more than two and a half because we're actually calculating it including the excess levy capacity so that makes a big difference you're not just doing the levy you're doing it like I showed on one of my
pages you actually take the whole levy limit times two and a half which is a a larger number it includes the uh 13 million of excess is living capacity. Okay. So, ex expenditures. I think you have the
second. Okay. So, you do have these numbers in the book, but I thought it will be helpful to kind of give you an overview um including the increases and I can explain what them um the differences are. General this is
expenditures by function and this is the uh the functions detailed by the department of revenue. It's not anything that we came up with. This is the uh the way they we're supposed to to budget. Uh general government includes
city council um the cathode u division controllers treasurers. It mainly includes all the administration offices uh within the city. Public safety includes the um police, fire and
inspectional services, education, it's uh Lawrence public schools, the charter schools, greater Lawrence technicals school assessment as well. Public works and facilities includes uh public works and the cemetery, human services, uh
council on aging, the veterans department, culture and recreation. It's uh the recreation department as well as the uh Lawrence public library. The debt service, it includes the principal and interest that we have to pay for both the city and the
school. Intergovernmental um those are the assessments we receive from the sherry sheet. The sherry sheet is what the um the mechanism that the state uses to send out the revenues and assessments for the year. the miscellaneous, that's a big number that
includes the pension assessment, the health and dental insurance, the Medicare unemployment, property and auto insurance. Um, I want to point out to you the increase in
um the education is a $31 million uh about 10%. Um the school will be here presenting their budget but basically it has to do with the student opportunity act how they the form the the calculations different and now they have
uh so many years where they will uh add to the various communities to bring them up to where they believe the education should be. Uh Lawrence we have various things that um affect that. It has to do with the um the income as well as the
ESL students that we have and maybe the special needs and so forth. The school is better at it, but I'm just kind of giving you um a little overview of that. The culture and recreation, it's mainly the library. As you recall, the library used to be under a waiver and uh per the
municipal appropriation requirement which is the MAR uh we're supposed to meet certain level of uh appropriation for the library and that is per the library commissioners. So we are we are I think officially out of the waiver and
that's why you see that significant increase there and it's that was what took us to come out of the waiver. Um I want to take you to a different view of our expenditures. This is by function. Now I'm going to show it to
you by category which we also call character code. You might be familiar with that terminology if you look at amunas report. So in this case we're showing you the personal services which includes salaries, overtime, uh longevity, uniform allowances and so
forth. purchase of services, things as utilities, repairs and maintenance, advertising, auditing, snow removal, that's in in the purchase of services category. Then we also have supplies, operating supplies, intergovernmental is
a big number that includes the pension and also includes other state assessments. Again, from the sherry sheet, other charges and expenses that is a big number. What is there? that includes $46 million of the charter
school assessments that is assessed by the state. We we have no choice in that. Um health insurance about $16.8 million. Property and auto insurance, dental insurance, unemployment, Medicare, all that is in the other other charges and
expenses. Capital outlay pretty straightforward. debt service. Again, we talked about that city and school principal and interest and other uses. That is the pay as you go that the city puts aside every year, which is a 1.7
1.5% of the previous year levy. Um, and the contingency reserve, that's just the city side. It excludes the school department because the school department only submits is they're only required to present a one line item for their budget. they are um
they have the control over their internal allocations. So that is the total there. We don't have that breakdown from the school. So that 469 is the same number on the previous page. It's just on a different um format that
shows the expenditures by category. And we're going to touch upon a lot of these sections when we go on onto the different sections in the budget that you have in the agenda. But this is kind of more like an overview that shows
everything uh in one page. I don't mean to overwhelm you with a lot of numbers and a lot of details, but if you have any questions um I'm more happy to respond. Hopefully I have the answer. Counselors, any questions or comments?
Give them a second. Oh, council mad madam chair essentially council president essentially we're going to have multiple question throughout the budget that are going to be reflecting this same number. Yes. Uh and we're going to be questioning per department
which is basically yes same thing. Great council councelor uh yes I do have a question u thank you kafo for presenting uh a lot of information. Yes. A lot of numbers. Um and actually can you share your presentation? Um
absolutely. What page? I know all of it. All of it. Okay. Yeah. Absolutely. If it's possible. Yeah. Yeah. Um that way I have it ready if anyone ask. Um uh I don't know if you mentioned it but uh intergovernmental
uh what is that? Okay. So are we what page are we on? uh we are in I think are you are you referring to the the term itself or to the term okay so intergovernmental means that is within the government so for
example it's one of the pages in in your in your in your book so we have there I can point you to the page that will be probably a little more helpful it's towards the end of your budget book yeah that's well I presented
a budget Yep. And it's on page 144. So that includes um special education assessment, air pollution, regional transit authority, RMV charges.
All those come from the cherry sheet. We don't have a say on them. They're given to us by the state. the Marry Regional Planning that's also sent to us based on um the Marrammac Regional Planning has um various municipalities from the area
and they charges an assessment based on the population and then the state assessment is the non-contributo pensioners for the cola reimbursement and we've had that for about 10 years and we hope to be pay uh paid up with that
um in 2034. So these are assessments that we have no choice. They're given to us by the state and they're they call intergovernmental because it's within the government government entities. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you so
much. Mhm. So essentially um on page 144 we see in here that the regional transit authority they're going to be getting about $1.3 million that's correct from the city of LMS and
also I'm seeing here that the registered motor vehicles are charged it's about $389,500 which is basically basically uh anything related to ticket that they
that they actually Yes. So uh when when when somebody doesn't pay their uh motor vehicle excise tax bill the registry marks the vehicle so that owners cannot renew their licenses until they pay
that. So they do charge a a certain amount for each uh mark that they do and they charge us via the uh the cherry sheet. It's an assessment and then essentially how we get that $389,000 back. 390,000
once they uh once the people pay Yes. the bill. Yes. So that reimbursement um there is there is a fee that they keep and and we get a percentage of that as well. Um and then they come once they they pay their excise bill we get a um a
fee or something that we charge. Yeah. Essentially we we ended up getting that that money that we gave them through the charity sheet. Um I believe there is a portion of it that we have to pay as a fee to the RMV but we do get the money when they do pay the excise tax bills.
The city does get that. All right. Just just get a little bit of clarification with that and provide it with the number from previous year so we clear. Absolutely. So essentially the the the transit the regional transit authority is just to provide transportation around the regions and that's also including
that the the the cherishy. No no no I know that's included on there. Mhm. But is that's also including the free ride free fairs that we pay. Yeah. Oh my gosh. No.
Oh my gosh. You can't see nothing here. That was scary. We're going to go into rec recess. Motion has been made. Is there a second? Actually, we're we're going into recess.
We're going into recess. Okay, we are ready. All right. Um, we're coming back from an an emergency um um recess. Um, Oh, hold on. Okay, we're good. All right, we're we're
back from an emergency recess. Um the city council chamber um we experienced an emergency safety situation where we thought something happened and it ended up being um a rock that was thrown at one of our windows.
Um everyone's safe, everyone's here. Uh we want to thank LPD for their um rapid response. uh they they were able to get here quickly and and handle the situation and um I'm sure they will have
more information for us um as they as they continue with their investigation. So we apologize for that obviously safety first. But now we are back um and we are going to continue with our uh budget hearing me meeting. I believe I
don't even re I don't even in my mind right now. I I I I do know uh I do remember council president you were in the middle of asking our cap a few questions. Um so I'm just going to give you the floor again and and let you guys figure out where you guys left off.
Where were we? Thank you. My I don't remember your question. Sorry. Yeah, that's good. Oh, essentially I was um I was um elaborating the buses, the transit authority. Yeah. Yes. So, it's
my understanding they do charge an assessment through all the municipalities that participate in in that program. So, that's what that represents. Yeah. Then I was saying if this uh this amount in court into the total amount that we use uh in
relationship to not just being part of the authority but perhaps uh also providing free ride uh if this amount is is including that uh due to the fact that that's that's a program that we initiated here in Arens and uh and
people use people take advantage of it. I just want to make sure like whether or not we seen the total amount with the free ride or perhaps we're going to see another allocation in the future for that. Um I don't believe we'll see another
allocation from the budget. Council Marl, the debt that the city currently has, which is a little over, what is it? 13 million. Um, I'm not sure if there are, you know, with future presentations with other
departments if we're going to have the opportunity to discuss um what is the city's plan in repaying this debt. Um, I'm not seeing, and you could correct me if I'm wrong. Um, so for this fiscal year, is the city making any type of
plans in um making any payments towards that debt? And if so, um what like what seems to be what is the plan of action? Are we allocating a certain specific dollars? Uh, and we're
hoping to see this $13 million resolved within the next what five years is like what seems to be the long-term plan. Yes. So, if I may take you to page 170, it's a page we kind of touched upon on Monday. It shows the schedule of debt
outstanding. As of the end of FY25, our outstanding debt was 100 or will be 158,850,000 and including the principal payments that we'll be making along with the interest payment. Our outstanding
debt is expected to be 150,560,000 at the end of FI26. Now, this is just the school in the city. The next page, page 171, has the date outstanding for the water and sewer department.
We do have a amortization schedule that I kind of share with uh um the group today and it shows the plan to pay the debt and each debt has its own um issue
day maturity and it has its own um specifications in terms of the payment. So the amortization shows what our um yearly payment is for principal and interest for each of the loans. So we do
have a plan to pay it off. And as we pay off debt, we do add more debt. We just added the the tuna schools and the police station. So that was added on. Um so our debt capacity is pretty high right now. So as debt drops off then
we'll be adding more capital improvement for the infrastructure of the city and the schools. Out of curiosity, our um and this is uh on for my end um getting to learn
what debt means um and what is cons oh sorry and what is considered um normal. Mhm. Uh so our neighboring cities and towns, what is there? Uh do you happen to know the amount of debt
that they're in? So I can have an idea if we're kind of like on the excessive end of things. So we do work with a financial advisor when it comes to debt and they advise us and they make sure we're on track. The
mass general laws also um shows what the level of debt is allowed for each municipality based on the ability to pay it back. So it's not just like we're just going to go and borrow money all the money that we want. There is a a a statue in the master laws that says this
is how much debt you can borrow based on your revenues and based on your ability to pay it back. And we are within those um those um Yes. Exactly. Yes. But what what is the level of debt
according to um the Mass General laws? Um I can I can provide you a lot of detail when we come to that section in the the budget review. I believe that's in a future agenda. Um so I'll definitely bring that up to tell you read you off
what that says and um master laws. um site you the chapter and the section and and and and bring more information from what the financial advisors have provided to us in terms of I do have a schedule that I can share with you that shows their calculation. Okay, this is our revenue. This is how much we're
allowed to have and we are within the limits. So I'll share that with you. Maybe that will help you a little better. Thank you. Thank you. Um Cath, I have um a concern and two questions that perhaps you may know. Um and on the first page of the
expenditures at the bottom, the miscellaneous um totals seem to be really high this year for FY26. And I'm wondering
um does this cover like is does this cover some of the cityowned um vehicle insurance costs? Does that is that under miscellaneous? Yes. So under that section we have the pension assessment which went up 400 and something thousand. The health and dental
insurance health went up over a million dollars this year. Um Medicare also went up because that's based on the salaries and salaries have gone up. unemployment um stayed uh the same and we also have property and auto insurance. So that
covers the properties that the city uh pays as and also all the fleet police, fire, DPW, all the vehicles that we own. Do we have any personal trucks that the city insures for employees under that?
Are there any personal trucks that that's use city um insurance or that they use mainly for work or anything like that? Um, personal trucks meaning like personal vehicles. Yeah, personal vehicles. No. No. So, we don't have any
personal vehicles that use city insurance. Not to my knowledge. Okay. All right. So, this is So, so so this is like all the police vehicles, the fire trucks. Got it. Okay. On the DPW vans and so forth. Okay.
Thank you. Yes, sir. Um, council president, just a piggyback on that on the insurance. Uh, state entities, they also have the same type of insurance for the vehicles, but something that the state does is
that they they limited the amount of vehicles that can go to people's properties. Mhm. Uh if they're not on call, they need to come over, they pick them up at the yard and it's more productive and the insurance reduced
significantly because that that pro that vehicle actually stay within the city limit unless they justify to take those vehicles out within the state. The second most important part of the
state does is that they don't allow vehicles to go out of state because they have the policy built in that those vehicle those vehicles cannot go out. That doesn't happen in the city of
Lawrence and I would like to see how we can reduce the insurance by limiting the use of those vehicles if they are out of state. if they out of city they need to be justified uh and maintain those vehicles within
the city limit will help tremendously. So that's that's something that I have brought up before. The fact that we have so many uncertainties coming up to the budget and to the funds. I think that that's a
way uh to reduce potential amount of money. I know that that that went up by over 5%. Can you give us the exact amount of when how much it went up? Yes. So one of the things that we try to
focus on is the claims that are brought up uh to of vehicles and we have um u met with the various departments when we do have department head meetings to make sure that um the employees are aware of
have like training to make sure that they uh reduce the amount of claims that we have. obviously you know police and and fire it it's it's part of the job in terms of um maybe the aggressiveness of the driving or whatever they have to do
but um I have talked to the personal director and try to implement ways so that an employee is a um a person that's known to have multiple uh accidents that there will be disciplinary actions or something um
will be done because obviously the more claims that we have within insurance the more expensive it's going to be. Who's in charge of that bill? Who's what department is under the hill? My department. Yeah. But I'll I I'll suggest you as a department head for
that is considering that to create a policy that is is on a is on a base by case by case situation when it comes to taking the vehicles out of the city because that will reduce tremendously the not just the claims. Therefore it
will reduce the claims because there that vehicles is less exposed uh driving it. Uh and also more importantly is that the the fact that this the vehicles stay within city limits when it's not needed.
Um it it will reduce the insurance policies a significant amount. There is a reason why the state is doing it that way. Okay. and uh and and creating policies that actually look into that uh because I mean it will it will help not
just on the claim portion of it because I yeah understand the the claims are claims it's an accident but reducing the exposure of those vehicles to the street when they are not on service that
will reduce significantly significantly when it comes to uh the potential accidents or more importantly the use of the vehicles if they're not justifiable. What I mean by that is if you're on
call, you have to have your vehicle. If you're doing a snow and ice, you have to have your vehicle. But if you're just going home and you tomorrow morning at 8 in the morning, you're going to come back and you using that vehicle with no justifications, you know
what the state does? They charged employees $3 per trip. And probably maybe people might say, "Oh, it's $3 is nothing." It's 352 365 days. If you work out of that
200 days or more, 250 days, that's $750. If you just leave it on a place that is a stay on, that doesn't mean that you you're going to leave it at at your job site. No, you leave it on a place that is a stay home, meaning uh close to your
house and in the school or not stay home, it's a municipal own or stay home. Mhm. You leave it close to your house at their uh at the schools at their uh you know state facilities and stuff like that. That's
that's also fine. But at least they have the policy of not getting out of the state because those those uh potential claims are more significant. Uh because potentially we have have accidents outside of the state uh here in ARS we
have cases and you know I know that that have happened. So looking into that, creating policies that reduce that amount, it will significantly without asking the employees to be nice and to be polite and to be and change your behavior without asking creating those
policies that the responsibility we need to take um to make sure that that that cost get red that get reduced. Understood. Thank you. Any other questions or comments?
Councelor Luzon. Um, thank you, Madame Chair. Um, in here, um, the new school is under enlighten because I'm not sure. That's why I'm asking. Is a new school that the two new school under the
education budget, the school department budget? Um, are you referring to the debt service related to the new schools or are you referring to who's paying for the new school? The city. The city. Okay. Because when I see here education
in in in this So what that is is the chapter 78 that the school provide receives from the state as well as the charter schools. they get money also and the greater Lawrence um um sorry you
were in the expenses side right? Yes. Yes. So that is the the public schools Lauren public school the budget and um most of that money does come from the state um the charter schools we do have an assessment um because some students
from the city of Lawrence choose to go to a charter school versus the public schools. So what the the state does is they allocate based on the number of kids that go to the charter schools then they move that money with the students. So we do have an assessment that is uh
again coming from the cherish sheet based on the number of students that are enrolled in the charter schools and we also have to uh have an assessment for the greater Lawrence technical school for the kids that go uh live in Lawrence and go to the vocational school
the number is kind of is really high this year. Yes. the the school like I um the school got um additional 30 plus million dollars um for the student opportunity act. So
basically every money that they receive it's allocated on the expenditure side. So they did get a lot of money this year over 20 $30 million. I see. Thank you. Any other questions or comments?
Seeing none, you're off the hook. Yay. For today, for now, for today. Now, next we have um counselors. I did uh we did receive a call from the mayor senior advisor to to check in and make
sure that we were okay. Um and during that quick period, um we did talk about the budget. They they're going to be rescheduled. um and they're they're going to be before us on another evening. So, with that being said, we're going to move on to the city council
budget council president and councilors make sure to have good questions for the council president. Okay, council president. Yeah, I'll give it to you right now. Good evening, counselors. Um the uh
today we're going to present the city council budget and that's on page 25 all the way to page 27. So the city council budget uh represent uh the personal services which is today
uh about $342,300 which is salary for the city council. uh for each city counselor which is uh consists of uh $25,000 each and the city council present uh it will make uh
27,500. Uh purchase and services for this year recommended budget it will be $108,000. Professional services it will be $30,000 and uh supplies will be about
$12,500. Uh we have other charges and expenditures. We have about uh $10,000 for the total amount of dollars for the total amount of 500 500 502800. So a little over uh half a
million dollars for the budget of the city council. Uh within that we have uh personal services which is uh the salary of the city council and also the um the salary for
uh the secretary the executive secretary of the of the city council. We have the purchase and services which this year is about seven uh purchase and services which is in this year we have $17,000 more uh which is basically uh it a
transfer from uh the professional services previous year's um amount that we have a cut on that $15,000. Slow down just a little bit. Thank you. Yeah, we're going to I'm going to get a few questions. Yes, no
problem. So the professional services we have it uh a $15,000 SC uh but that money was um also allocated on the uh other purchase services or purchase of services uh which we're going to have more ability
to spend on the professional services. We have about $30,000 uh for this year, which is basically we paying every accounts that we have for professional services like uh people that help us out with the TV, uh people help us out with the different uh POS that we have for
the city council. Uh we also have different allocations on that which uh corresponds of multiple POS including business cards, including any type of uh location that we have for professional services. We have the supplies which is
office supplies and oper uh operating supplies which is basically everything we the city council uh uses for uh when it comes to printing when it comes to uh supplies for that for the office and when it comes to any other um any other
activities that we uh we use uh for that funds we have POS with Amazon we have POS with different printing facilities which allow us to to function as a council. Uh under that
we also have the the $500 allocation for this year which allow us to be u well represented in that with our concisions. uh perhaps we have uh teachers with the city logo and the
names and stuff like that uh that we have u u used these funds for the last uh three four years now. Uh it's about $500 for each counselor. Uh this year we're trying to be a little bit more um perhaps more uh open to different
options uh if we have to uh not just um clothing but um other um city council um use uh things that we might be able to take advantage of to promote the services that we do at the city council.
Um essentially our salary have changed last year and uh that allocation is also has been reflected on this budget and uh we also have the audit uh the city council is responsible for is responsible for the audit which is about
$70,000 each year that's level funded and we we have uh we have the audit presentation uh coming up to the city council uh within the next few weeks and they're going to give us uh a a general overview
of the finance when it comes to the federal government grants, when it comes to the state grants and so forth so on. Um we also have postage. We we have uh on this budget we sed it out. We
actually get a 500 $500 cut on that. And uh we have um employee training on this item. We have about $2,000 increment because we believe that if the city council is uh is trained, well trained. We're going to have uh
proper uh proper questioning, proper um accountability and and so far so because we are the part of the government that bring balance and check to our uh local and municipal
government. Any questions? Councilors, any questions or comments? Councelor Marble, you probably mentioned it, but because you spoke so fast and I'm just trying to uh follow along, let me let me just It's
a strategic way of of disturbing the the counselors. You see how how it happened. The king of questions doesn't want to get questioned, so we go quickly. That's all they do to us. That's what people don't do to us. They go quick. No. And as as a counselor, I understand a lot as
to where and how this money is being spent and how you're allocating it. But remind me again in terms of dues and memberships, how exactly does that function? What what does that actually mean? Uh essentially we um as counselors
I keep on promoting uh the as a council president to be part of different organizations so we can be we can be up to date with information with uh trustful information. uh we can be up to date with different uh conferences that
we get invited to uh and also uh network with other other um similar uh people that have that type of responsibilities around the state and around the nation. And then my last question is and I know
you touched on it but um again I I didn't I didn't receive the message. I see that 15,000 was uh cut from professional services but allocated under other purchase services. Do you mind repeating yourself in terms of what
does that entail? Yes, of course. uh under the purchase and service and that professional services and um in purchase and services on purchase and services we have a little bit of leeway when it comes to expenditure but more importantly is that
we going to be able to provide the quality of services that we u that we intend to uh under the line item um as you can see on professional services we only have $30,000 allocation pre in the last year we have $45 $5,000 and we cut
this uh this by 15,000. But uh on the fair on the fair set, we also allocate um this same amount of dollars under the purchase and services due to the fact that potentially we're going to be able to move it a little bit within the outage within printing and mailing
within all the purchase and services and employee trainings. Thank you councelor. Uh thank you madame chair. Um I'm going to h ask have to ask the same question that I'm asking other uh the directors. I see a salary increase
here. Uh and before you answer I wanted the people to know that uh the confidential secretary serves nine people. Mhm. And what I want to know, uh, council president, when was the last time that
this salary was was receive a race? When was the last time so people can understand uh why um you are proposing the salary increase? Yeah. Uh the last time she received uh an increase was on
uh fiscal year 2024. uh 2025 she didn't receive an increasement and uh and like you said councelor Luzon uh she the confidential secret the confidential secretary for the city council it is for the entire
city council which is serving nine nine different people uh and need to respond to those nine people um also need to be confidential to those nine counselors and and uh collaborate with other
departments when the city council need any type of service. As basics as calling the city council and asking the secretary to transfer that phone call to another department uh which potentially doesn't mean much but it it is part of
the responsibilities. also cheat um to cheat I haven't uh been uh the the confidential secretary has been uh update a little bit when it comes to the the story that we did back then like three three four years ago and it get to
a a fair amount of dollars uh for the job that the confidential secretaries does for the city of Lawrence she's not the only confidential secretary in the city I I believe that there are five there's a few few uh the police department the chief have one and and uh
and different other ones the personnel have one and all of them are getting similar uh we're confidential secretary I can tell you that um she's very effective and she she served nine people thank you co president and yes we know
that uh u it's welld deserved uh working for nine uh people it's a lot and she does a great job So I I'm glad to see this even though that I'm keep
saying that we need to be uh be careful with um salary raises but this one not because she is our uh is that that she serves nine counselors and with that also the constituents that are always in
the office and and she does she does an amazing job. Thank you for your response council president. No problem. Thank you madam chair. counselors, it's also important to recognize that one thing just out of transparency that we need to bring up is that we have salaries and wages for temporary silence and wages.
This meant to be my question. Yes. Uh the intent for these uh temporary salaries and wages is because we just mentioned our uh secretary uh confidential secretary sometime is is not enough for nine different people.
So, what we what we're trying to do in the near future or in the future is that if the if the budget goes through is that potentially have either a part- timerr uh to come over or uh to uh work for the city council or perhaps
have a u a program that we can share uh our um knowledge u uh professional knowledge at the city council with different students. as an intern. Uh potentially uh we haven't make a
determination, but we allocating the funds to see how we're going to be able to uh maybe have an internship uh a pay internship uh for the students, not for the city council perhaps uh for the students to learn and be able to have that pipeline
of uh future leadership within the city of Lawrence. Uh so they can get to understand what that uh what this this body does and how they can eventually in the future potentially be able to do the
same and help the secretary the confidential secretary run the city council office. Council Mar. Um, council president, I think that that it's it's an amazing idea, but I think it's also important to at a later
point in time that um I'm not sure if that falls on your end or on city council's end to then um decipher as to what responsibilities will fall for the secretary and what would be the responsibilities that would fall for this intern.
just kind of establishing clear clear clear boundaries as to what are the duties of one uh position uh over the other. Yeah, of course. I mean uh we haven't designed anything yet, but essentially it will be for the city
council uh through the city councilors. um you are going to have like I mentioned it a couple of second ago, you're going to have that institutional knowledge passing passing it over to the new generation if I have an internship because we we have seen that having a a
a paid internship program uh within different institutions like the city council that paid off long term and having that opportunity with a uh with a amount of dollars that is not a a
a uh something that is going to um affect us that much. I think that having that opportunity for the kids will will help the community long term. I do want to um for counselors that you know have
been here for a while and plan to be here for a while um if the community you know reelects them. Um given the rapid growth of our community, I think the city council as a whole um should start thinking about
having a conversation in the near future of counselors becoming full-time positions instead of a part-time like how we're seeing. Um we do a lot of work. We oftent times work many many hours of the day, the weekends. Um it's
it's pretty the there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes that people don't see um that pertains to our to our jobs. And um what I'm learning is in other municipalities um perhaps not with as many people as we have but counselors
have you know an assistant or their own office etc etc. And like I mentioned, as we begin to grow, that's probably something that the city government should be looking into in the future. And I want to put that out there. No, thank you. I mean, I definitely um
understand the work we do. I actually I'm in the same boat and uh and I definitely understand where you're coming from. And just what to reiterate to the public because many people believe that we that you know we we make six figures or something. city
councilors, our salaries are $25,000 with a council president earning $27,000. So, we generally do this work because we care and because we want to serve our communities. We're not getting rich off of this this position, this
job. Um, and I and I want to make that clear. Um, because there's there's a misconception out in the public about how much city councilors in Lawrence earn. Yeah. I mean, and that's uh that's because uh the salary increase
uh two three years ago. Before it used to be 15,000 when I started it was 15,000. Yeah. And I actually when I started I I wasn't even getting a salary because I was a public employee for greater Lawrence Technical School. So, I was only allowed one. And I obviously I
chose my my full-time job. But uh yeah. Yeah. 15 15 $15,000. Yeah. But we uh the city council, we uh we we care. I'm I I'm not saying that nobody cares. I'm saying that we as a city counselors at the president of the
city council, I can tell you that the amount of work that we all put together. I I I I speak with um a lot of you guys every time and you you every time I make a phone call, you drop whatever you guys doing and uh and and and pick on that
issue, discuss the the what is going on and and be able to have that within your plate. It is it is something that is amazing. Um, a lot of people don't see it that way, but we understand the the job that
it takes and the work, the amount of hours. Uh, but yeah, I mean, this is the budget for the city council. Uh, madame chair, if I may, before uh the president uh leaves uh comes back to visit, go
back to visit, I see a change uh under the salary and wages u temporary. Yeah, that's what we discussed. What were we just talking about? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. So, potential interns or a part-timer? The part-timer. A potential
interns or a part- timerr? Okay. Thank you, council president. You know, thank you. Okay. Any other questions or comments for the council president? Hey, thank you. Thank you so much. President.
Okay. Um, that was the last hearing for this evening. CAF, is there any other questions, comments, anything? Nope, we are good. Counselors, any final questions, comments? Nothing tomorrow. We are good. So, our next meeting will be
tomorrow, May 22nd. We have Council on Agent, Veterans Office, the Wreck Department, Fire Department, and Inspectional Services. Maria, can you please make a note? Um, can you please let Teresa know that we
need to reschedu the mayor's office of planning and development and the police department? Yep. Can we that we have instead of just adding a new day because I mean we'll be Yeah.
No, it's it's in it's within the the scheduled within the schedule. But I mean we have an extra day. I'm trying to avoid the extra day. Yeah. Yeah. If possible. But um between Yeah.
if possible. But if if June 2nd is actually needed, then then we'll schedule it. But if if we can schedule them within tomorrow, Wednesday the 28th, and Thursday the 29th, that that would be preferred. All right, counselors can recess. Motion
to recess by council president, seconded by the vice chair. Um, all those in favor say I. I. And the eyes have it. Thank you so much, counselors. Thank you. [Music]