Mayor Urges Support For Gov.Patrick's Local Aid Increase

The mayor of Springfield  has written to legislative leadings urging them to support a proposal from Governor Deval Patrick to increase local aid by about $30 million.

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In his letter, Mayor Domenic Sarno says Springfield has gone through six years of  tight budgets that have reduced the municipal workforce from about 1600 people to about 1200.  Total unrestricted local aid to cities and towns has been slashed by more than $400 million since 2008 according to Geoffrey Beckwith, director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

In Springfield’s case property tax revenues have dropped because a high number of foreclosures cut into home values, and there has been little new growth in commercial real estate.