Everett officials present mayor's FY2025 budget; public hearings set starting May 21

Eric Demas, the city's chief financial officer, presented the mayor's proposed fiscal year 2025 operating budgets to a joint convention of the Everett City Council and School Committee, and members voted to refer the proposal to the council's committee on budget with public hearings scheduled to begin next week.

Demas opened the presentation by introducing Vladimir Khan as the city's new budget director and said the packet provided to members includes four sections: the general fund operating budget, the water and sewer enterprise fund, the PEG/cable access (ECTV) enterprise fund, and the capital improvement plan. "I wanted to thank everybody for giving me the opportunity to present the mayor's budget, to both bodies," Demas said.

Why it matters: The joint session is a formal, charter-mandated review required before the city and school budgets proceed to public hearings and eventual adoption. Officials emphasized the city's fiscal position, reserve levels and external credit recognition as context for spending and levy choices.

Key points and figures: Demas said Standard & Poor's assigned a "double A plus stable" rating to the city's 2023 general obligation bonds and cited the rating as a factor in favorable borrowing costs. He listed major reserve and trust balances included in the FY25 proposal: a general stabilization fund of $10,653,603; an OPEB liability trust of $13,687,551; and a capital improvement stabilization fund of $8,048,356. Demas also noted the city's practice of conservative forecasting and highlighted the five-year financial forecast included in the budget documents.

Revenue and spending overview: The presentation summarized projected revenues and notable line items in the budget materials. The administration estimated local receipts of $17,194,112; enterprise fund revenue for water and sewer at $22,493,627; and ECTV cable access receipts at $564,615. The proposed use of free cash was listed at $5,000,000; host agreement payments are shown at $28,285,206, and combined local revenues were presented as $203,544,785 in the materials provided to the bodies. Demas reported city departmental operating totals of about $80.0 million and detailed FY25 fixed costs (retirement, insurance, FICA, property liability and debt service) totaling $66,551,995, an increase of roughly $2.93 million from FY24.

School budget: Demas said the DESE-determined FY25 foundation budget for schools is $161,607,819, with city chargebacks of $32,749,540. The mayor recommended an additional $1,849,137 for the schools, yielding a recommended operating budget figure cited in the presentation of $130,707,416; Demas said the total school budget including special-education transportation would be $135,307,416, an increase of $6,695,052 (about 5%) over FY24.

Procedural actions: After the presentation, the clerk read seven procedural motions related to the FY25 budget process. The joint convention voted to:
- Request the mayor, the mayor's chief of staff and the chief financial officer appear at all budget hearings to answer questions;
- Require department heads to provide specific information at hearings, including amounts expended to date for FY24 line items, projected unexpended amounts at year-end, and names of funded but unfilled positions and whether they are expected to be filled in FY25;
- Require that all budget hearings be televised live on ECTV (or recorded and posted for later viewing if live broadcast is not possible);
- Post a copy of the budget on the city website no later than 5 PM on Friday, May 17, 2024;
- Make physical copies available at the Pauline Memorial Library and the city clerk's office beginning Monday, May 20, 2024; and
- Refer the mayor's proposed FY25 budget to the city council's committee on budget, which is scheduled to begin hearings on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 at 6 PM for the school department.
All motions were moved, seconded and approved with the announcement that "the ayes have it." The session then adjourned.

What to expect next: The council's committee on budget will hold the advertised hearings beginning May 21; department heads and the requested city officials should appear to answer questions and provide the information approved in the motions.

Quotes from the record: Demas introduced the presentation by saying, "Good evening. Eric Demas, CFO. I wanted to thank everybody for giving me the opportunity to present the mayor's budget, to both bodies." The clerk and presiding officer recorded votes on the procedural motions, repeatedly concluding votes with the procedural phrase, "The ayes have it."

Notes on figures and wording: Several numeric references in the record were read from budget documents and in a few places the transcript rendering was ambiguous; where a figure was unclear in the spoken record, this article reports only the numbers presented clearly during the session or identified in the budget materials included with the presentation. The mayor did not attend the joint convention.