Burlington’s fiscal year 2022 budget won’t be as lean as the current one, in which the city employed significant belt-tightening to prepare for financial losses caused by the pandemic.
Mayor Miro Weinberger said Wednesday afternoon that the city budget proposed for the fiscal year that starts July 1 can return to pre-pandemic spending levels. It will total about $82 million, according to Chief Administrative Officer Katherine Schad.
In the current budget, almost all discretionary spending was cut, and hiring and wages were frozen as the city contended with an $8.2 million shortfall.
The city government is in a much better financial position for the coming fiscal year, Weinberger said, thanks to the $27 million infusion Burlington is receiving from the American Rescue Plan — the federal pandemic bailout that Congress passed for municipalities. That money is also allowing the city to make some investments, specifically in the office for Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.
Weinberger outlined his vision for the fiscal 2022 budget at a press conference Wednesday afternoon, saying the city is in a “very strong financial position” with an additional $27 million to draw upon.
“Because of the passage of that act, we have gone from having a severely constricted budget with the prospect of years of very challenging budgets ahead,” Weinberger said, “to one where we are coming forward with a full-service budget that restores pre-pandemic services and has important new investments.”
There’s no line-item budget proposal yet. The mayor is expected to submit a more specific budget proposal by June 11. The Board of Finance and the City Council also have a say on the budget. Approval is expected by late June.
Out of the $27 million stimulus pot, the city will draw $5 million to meet the general fund’s operating budget shortfall and $6.1 million to meet the capital budget’s shortfalls.
An additional $1 million is being used for post-pandemic reopening efforts supporting the Resource and Recovery Center. Another $1 million is being used to replenish the city’s emergency reserves and $2 million will make up for losses in the electric, water and parking departments due to Covid-19 financial pressures.
That leaves a bit more than $10 million from the federal stimulus. Weinberger said the city will figure out how to use that money for municipal investments later this summer, with community input.
Weinberger urged residents to offer their thoughts about the fiscal 2022 budget in the city’s budget survey.
Weinberger said the city has an opportunity to invest more resources in several areas in fiscal 2022. He wants more staffing in the Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Department — specifically, an equal opportunity specialist, a racial equity data analyst, an anti-racism curriculum manager, and eight anti-racism curriculum facilitators.
He said he wants to expand the city’s living wage requirements to seasonal workers, so all city workers will be paid at least $15.64 an hour. He’s also proposing that public bathrooms at the waterfront, North Beach, Oakledge and Leddy Park remain open longer than in the past, from April to October.
Weinberger’s budget vision also includes funding to compensate people who serve on city bodies and commissions and to improve diverse hiring practices in departments across the city.
