Politics & Government

Aldermen Approve City's Fiscal 2012 Budget Without Any Changes

In contrast to previous years, Melrose's budget for next year remained unchanged from when Mayor Rob Dolan first filed it in April.

The Melrose Board of Aldermen approved next year's $62.9 million operating budget on Monday without any cuts or additions to the initial budget filed by Mayor Rob Dolan.

Common practice in previous years had the aldermen cutting a few thousand dollars from various line items, and towards the end of the budget process, reallocating those funds towards other needs identified by city and school officials. For instance, mainly for elementary school science kits and sidewalk repairs.

This year, however, the budget's bottom line didn't change from when Dolan submitted to the board on April 4. The final piece of the budget finalized by the aldermen's Appropriations Committee last night was the city's $737,000 assessment for Northeast Metro Tech vocational school in Wakefield.

Find out what's happening in Melrosewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

One aspect of next year's budget that hasn't been settled yet are next year's water and sewer rates. Last night, the aldermen set a public hearing on those rates for Monday, June 13 on 7:30 p.m.

Before the final vote last night, Ward 3 Alderman Frank Wright said he appreciated the work of board in cooperation City Hall's department heads and administration, noting that "there's no good news in sight" as Melrose again faces a local aid cut and state revenues are down.

Find out what's happening in Melrosewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Yet Melrose continues to keep its head above water due to the planning of both the mayor and the hard work of this board," Wright said.

Ward 2 Alderman Monica Medeiros, who as chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee presided over the budget hearings, thanked her fellow board members for a "positive, civil" discussion that was "lively at times."

"There's not a lot of wiggle room in this year's budget," Medeiros said. "Everyone stayed with it and tried to be positive about it and asked questions ... (asking questions) is one of the only things when we can do right now."

Board President Don Conn, Jr. also thanks Medeiros for running the budget hearings and Clerk of Committees Maribeth Harrington for her assistance throughout the budget process.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here