O’Brien Asks for Frugality
By Robin Vinci at February 22, 2024 | 4:07 pm | Print
Mayor Tim O’Brien sent a letter Wednesday to City department heads and the Common Council asking them to be frugal with the budget.
“The city is far from being out of its financial difficulties, and you should understand that the decision yesterday was made in the context of large budget cuts that will continue through this year and for several years to come,” O’Brien said in the letter. “Since we need to take extra care to be frugal, it is important that I insist that you take the steps necessary to keep your expenditures going forward…”
This past week the Council approved a $10.5 million budget transfer and combining of personnel in order to fill a $11-$13 million deficit.
O’Brien said that all purchases of supplies, services, or equipment from department heads now require a prior-authorized purchase order from him.
“Exceeding budgeted line items is a violation of city ordinances and, with the newly amended budget in place, I must insist that you stay within all budgeted line items in your department,” O’Brien told department heads. “I am not writing this to make things difficult for you or to be judgmental of you. I respect the difficult jobs that you have to do. But our city is an serious financial difficulty and there are tough decisions ahead for how we bring things into balance and move forward - and those decisions are all the more difficult when expenditures exceed the budgeted amounts. So please help make these choices a little easier, at least by honoring my directive, here.”
O’Brien told the Council, “Now that this year’s budget is in balance, our attention must be fixed on the big decisions ahead to shrink the structural deficit for the coming budget year and eliminate it altogether soon. I am have already begun the departmental consolidations and streamlining that will be critical to reducing city expenses - and there is much, much more that I am going to be presenting to you in order to save taxpayer money. Some of these decisions will be very difficult, tough choices. But I know you are up to the challenge.”
O’Brien thanked everyone for their hard work.
“The people of our city are depending on us to lead our community through tough times and into a brighter future. We will get there, together,” he said.
