WESTFIELD — The Westfield City Council will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, June 3, at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Room 207, on the fiscal year 2027 annual budget as submitted by Mayor Michael McCabe.
At the meeting, all interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard for or against the proposed expenditures or any item. Comments may be sent in advance to city.council@cityofwestfield.org.
Also scheduled are a series of budget reviews by the council’s Finance Subcommittee, which is chaired by City Councilor Daniel Knapik and includes Councilors Brent Bean II and Cindy Harris. All meetings will start at 5:30 p.m.
On Monday, June 1, the School Department, Fire/Ambulance, Emergency Management and Westfield Athenaeum will be reviewed in Room 315. On Tuesday, June 2, Police/Animal Control, Dispatch, Veterans and PEG will be discussed in Room 201. Lastly, on Monday, June 8, Retirement, DPW/Water and Engineering/Flood will be reviewed in Room 201. The Airport, Clerk’s Office and Collector/Treasurer were heard on May 13.
Meanwhile, Community Development & Planning, Purchasing, Law and the Tech Center were reviewed in Room 201 on May 20. On Tuesday, May 26, Assessor, Health, Transfer Station, Council on Aging and Weights and Measures were reviewed in Room 315; and on Wednesday, May 27, Mayor/Facilities/Building, Personnel, Audit and Conservation were discussed in Room 201.
Knapik said the hearing that is scheduled for June 3 provides the public with the opportunity to come to the meeting to voice their opinion on the budget. The committee meetings are open to the public as well, but he said there is less of an opportunity to ask questions at those meetings.
“I think with last year’s budget built with a 6% property tax increase, and this proposed budget at 4%, a lot of voters are asking how that happens. Spending drives the property tax proposal. Lower spending means less property tax burden. To get to 2.5% this year, the council would have to consider cuts of approximately $1.5 million,” he said.
Knapik said the mayor has done a good job explaining the state aid situation and how it is different today than it was years ago. “It’s quite clear that state government needs to reevaluate the relationship with its cities and towns as all funding sources are dramatically lower in real dollars than years ago.”
In preparation for the reviews by the Finance Committee, Knapik prepared a 25-year analysis of state aid, property tax levy and municipal finance that he said clearly shows the problem and how it has gotten worse over the years.
He also said that Westfield’s traditional approach of levying below 2.5% is problematic these days due to the significant decline in state aid. “That really is the big difference from years ago. After economic downturns in the past, the state aid would eventually rebound … and the city’s past taxation strategy was fine. But with the declining state aid, it has apparently shown to be a problem today,” Knapik said, an argument that McCabe has made in defense of the 4% increase in the FY27 budget.
Knapik acknowledged that McCabe has generated a budget proposal that has significant reductions in it from where it started in February. “He got to a number that he feels can meet his goals and expectations. In short, the council will need to consider that request and decide if it would like to further reduce the budget to further lower the proposed property tax increase. That is the job of the Finance Committee, to vet the budget and identify reductions and let the council take a vote on them,” he said.
Two of the areas that Knapik believes should be reviewed are not under the auspices of the Finance Committee’s budget reviews. One is the Westfield Gas & Electric payments in lieu of taxes, based on a formula negotiated in the early 2000s. The payment for FY27 is scheduled to be $552,397. He said the G&E plant value has grown substantially over the years, but the PILOT has not. “I would welcome an opportunity to have a joint working group with the mayor’s office, the light board members, and the city council revisit this issue,” he said.
Knapik did not mention that the Municipal Light Board has pledged and is paying an additional $1 million a year in PILOT contributions for the new athletic fields at Westfield High School, up to a total of $11 million.
Knapik also believes that any collective bargaining agreements and conditions within the agreements need to take into account the present state aid situation. “I think much like the period in government during the recession years of 2009-2012, the city management and its employee unions need to work together to address the significant personnel cost drivers, especially health care, and respect that the taxpayer is tapped out, and just because you can tax beyond 2.5% due to excess levy capacity, doesn’t mean it needs to be done or should be done,” he said.
“My expectation for the Finance Committee this year is to generate proposals for the council to consider that will allow for a vote on a 2.5% property tax increase,” Knapik said, adding that if that doesn’t work, the next chance to address some of these issues would be during the rate-setting meeting in December.
