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New Budget Passed In Springfield Massachusetts

The city council in Springfield Massachusetts has approved what officials described as an  “austere”  budget for the fiscal year that starts Sunday, July 1st.  WAMC’s Paul Tuthill reports.

 

            The  $552 million dollar budget proposed by Mayor Domenic Sarno  was approved by a vote of 7 to 5 with no additional cuts in spending.   City councilor Kenneth Shea said to cut city services deeper than what the mayor has proposed would be unpalatable to most residents and businesses.

            The budget will result in three branch libraries closing, reduced repairs and maintence to streets, sidewalks and parks and removing a fire department ladder truck from service. Property tax revenue is projected to drop by $7 million as a result of lower real estate values and the Prop 2 and half tax cap.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.