Uncertainty over federal funding and a potential $24 million gap are some of the concerns heading into budget season in Springfield, Massachusetts, as city leadership considers its options for a budget likely to ring in close to a billion dollars.
“Speaker [Ronald] Mariano has indicated that the cavalry is not coming – if the cuts come, the state’s not going to be able to trickle down money to us,” said Mayor Domenic Sarno as he opened the first of several FY26 budget hearings Tuesday, March 18.
Emphasizing that relief from the state is not assured if federal funding gets slashed, Sarno met with department heads to figure out the city’s fiscal future.
The mayor and others held at least four hearings on a preliminary budget that’s likely to come close to a billion dollars, packing $671 million for Springfield Public Schools along the way.
As the state itself grapples with potential losses of federal funding, Sarno noted that when it comes to fed dollars, city services rely on about $55 million and SPS counts on $75 million from the government.
He also said he tasked department leadership with coming up with effectively two budgets this year – one maintaining “momentum” from last year and another with cuts in mind.
“I directed my cabinet heads and department heads to put in two versions - one would … try to keep status quo, in other words, ‘let's keep things going,’ and then, also, to come in with a three percent budget cut,” Sarno said, adding that he wished to see cuts largely involve OTPS, “Other Than Personal Services,” or vacant positions.
The cuts would, at the very least, help plug an apparent budget gap, according to Chief Administrative and Financial Officer Cathy Buono.
“We didn't incorporate any of the cuts you suggested into this budget yet, because the mayor wanted to listen to what the three percent cuts would be,” Buono said to various department heads during another hearing on March 21. “So, we will have to cut - there's a $24 million gap, and that isn't even taken into consideration what could happen at the federal level: we just have no idea.”
Sarno noted some of that federal funding, if pulled in any way, could have serious effects on SPS programming, such as a free school lunch services, which rely on about $20 million.
It’s a far more intense picture compared to last year’s budget, which saw no major service cuts or layoffs. Instead, one of the larger hurdles stemmed from city councilors trying to find funds for tax relief.
One of the biggest advocates for securing property tax relief was Ward 8 City Councilor Zaida Govan, who also brought up the idea during the series of hearings.
“We know that, just as the city is struggling and is in uncertain times, our residents are experiencing that uncertainty as well,” Govan said. “There's a lot of anxiety, a lot of stress out there because of it, and I want us to keep that in mind when we go forward. I know I'm here already thinking about property taxes, which is my thing I guess, and that's because that's what I'm hearing from the residents. We just heard about the Eversource issue, where Eversource is increasing their rates, and as we know, everything is increasing in price, except for the salaries or the income of the people that we're serving.”
By the end of last year, the city ended up putting $6 million in to offset the city’s tax levy – effectively doubling the some $3 million secured during budget debates.
Last year, the council approved a $928.7 million budget - a 5.8 percent uptick from the previous spending plan.
Over the span of last week’s hearings, heads of departments big and small painted a similar picture – making requests for modest budget increases on one hand while on the other, proposing cuts to largely internal programs and expenses to hit the three percent trim requested by the mayor.
It’s not immediately clear what’s likely to be cut in the mayor’s proposed budget, expected to be unveiled in the coming weeks.
