Hi Neighbors,

Thank you all for your continued engagement, your questions, and your commitment to building a Somerville that works for all! We are entering month six of the new council and most importantly we are entering Budget Season. While the council has limited powers, our ability to provide meaningful oversight and transparency over the fiscal functioning in our city is very real and essential.

Throughout the past few months, my colleagues and I have laid out a strong case for what is possible in Somerville when we prioritize our residents' material conditions, when we center their humanity, and we push the administration to invest in life affirming services. As I laid out in my budget priorities that I shared with the Mayor, I believe in a municipal budget that moves us towards enacting this vision of what we deserve and know is possible. Whether we look at our $24 million in free cash, our AAA bond rating, or $77 million in federal ARPA funds, Somerville is in an unprecedented financial moment. I hope that the Mayor’s budget will meet this unprecedented moment with the political will and courage to do more for our residents.

As a former advocate and an organizer at the state and local level, I know that engaging in municipal government, especially the budget process, can be fairly inaccessible to people. I’m going to give a quick breakdown of what the next few weeks of Budget Season will look like: 

• May 31st: the Mayor’s Budget will be public 
• June 2nd: the Mayor will give her full budget presentation 
• June 6th: the City Council will host Public Comment 
• June 8th: the City Council will host our first Public Hearing for city departments 
• June 13th-16th: the City Council will host a series of additional Public Hearing for city departments 
• June 21st: is the City Council’s final Public Hearing 
• June 22nd: the City Council will propose any cuts to the budget 
• June 23rd: the City Council will take a vote on the final budget 

Looking at a budget for the first time can often feel like this,

check out some helpful definitions below!

Throughout this process, I will be paying close attention, asking questions, and diving deep into the details to ensure that everyone in Somerville is given the type of life affirming care they deserve. Many people who live, work, and play here in Somerville come together to make this community a vibrant place we all love and all of them deserve a better budget than the year before. I encourage all of you to review the Mayor’s budget once it is available at https://www.somervillema.gov/fy23budget, to make your voice heard at the Public Comment session on June 6th, and to feel free to contact me with questions or concerns you might have. As your at-large city councilor, I work for you and will be fighting for a budget that works for all!

In community,

Charlotte 

P.S. Sometimes the language we use in the council can be pretty inaccessible so here are some definitions to help you get through budget season!

Fiscal Year - This is the time period that the budget is constrained by. Somerville’s fiscal year is between July 1st and June 30th. This is sometimes referred to as FY. 

Public Comment - residents are given 2 minutes to express their opinions on the Fiscal Year budget. You can comment on things you like, things you want changed, or demands you have for the council and mayor’s office

Public Hearing - city departments will present their proposals for the fiscal year, answers any questions that city councilors have, and inform the rest of the budget process

Cuts - Under our current City’s Charter, the City Council has the ability to simply make cuts and approve the fiscal year’s budget. The Council believes that Departments budget do not reflect the will of their constituents or fiscal responsibility, the Council may decide to may line item cuts within departments budgets or cuts to whole departments budget and then the mayor may choose to reallocate those funds to other departments or do nothing.