NEWBURYPORT — As the November election draws closer and the city’s financial health remains a key point of debate, six of the seven candidate for at-large city councilor visited internet radio program Local Pulse Saturday, with one of the topics being the city’s finances.
Incumbents Ed Cameron, Mark Wright and Heather Shand were joined by current Ward 4 City Councilor Ben Harman, School Committee member Sarah Hall and Prospect Street resident Rani Eng. Incumbent Afroz Khan was absent.
The general election is Nov. 4.
Asked about whether they believed the city to be in strong financial shape, the majority of candidates said they did while exercising varying levels of caution.
Harman said he does not think the city is headed toward any kind of cliff or need for a debt override.
“The latest numbers I’ve seen have us somewhere around $8 million in outstanding bonding capacity,” Harman said.
Harman’s assessment was verified Monday by Finance Director Amy Sarro when a Daily News reporter visited City Hall.
He said the challenges faced in the city financially are not specific to their community.
“It’s a statewide issue whereby the cumulative effects of Proposition 2½ over the last 43 years and the inability for state aid to keep pace with inflation have created pressure,” Harman said.
Another factor he said gives him confidence is the city’s stabilization fund, which sits right around $5 million and has been in that range for “the last several years.”
“If we were in a position where we were about to make cuts or propose an override, we would be drawing down those funds, and I’ve heard no one talk about that,” Harman said.
The only councilor to raise any sort of red flag was Wright, who pushed back on the $8 million bond capacity figure, saying that while they technically have that capacity, it needs to be budgeted.
“For every million dollars in bonding, you have to have about $100,000 in your budget to cover it. If we choose to bond for upcoming projects, we’ll have to find a way to include that debt service in the budget,” Wright said
Wright said he was worried that if things continue trending the way they have the last few years, the city will be forced to make hard decisions.
“Everybody on the council truly has the best interests of Newburyport at heart. Where we disagree is on the prioritization of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Wright said.
Most of Wright’s challengers disagreed with his characterization of the bond issue with Shand echoing many of Harman’s points.
“I think we are not on a fiscal precipice,” Shand said.
She was among many to point the finger for any struggles at a lack of aid.
“As we don’t have consistent budgeting coming from the state and from the feds, we have to look at what we can do locally,” Shand said.
Cameron similarly said he feels the city is in a strong financial position, but added officials could be doing more.
“I’m in favor of creating an economic development position to work with businesses, strengthen them, and attract new ones, particularly to the business park. I think that will help our property tax base,” Cameron
Eng said from her research she believes administrations has been historically conservative in its forecasting, leading to the city routinely having more money than expected.
“I don’t think we’re on some scary path where everything is going to explode, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t prioritize and look into how we spend those dollars,” Eng said.
Finally, Hall also agreed that she does not see mass layoffs and cuts in the near future, but stressed that advocacy for changes in state and federal aid must continue.
“They haven’t changed these funding models in a long, long time, and it’s tough on all communities. Advocacy at the state level for more robust funding to the communities would be really beneficial for us,” Hall said.
In addition to the approximately $8 million bond capacity, the city has a Triple A bond rating.
To listen to the full episode visit www.newburyportnews.com/localpulse/