Burlington city officials on Thursday revealed a gap of up to $12 million in next year’s budget, marking the third straight year of significant mismatches between city spending and revenues. Rising personnel costs are largely to blame. In the last 15 years, the city has added more than 100 pos itions to the workforce but hasn’t brought in enough money to pay for them, a struggle highlighted in a Seven Days cover story earlier this year. The city also continues to wean itself off of one-time money that paid for people and programs. Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak is proposing a 5-cent increase to the city’s police and fire tax, which would close $3 million of the $10-$12 million gap. If city councilors OK that plan, voters will be asked to approve the hike on the Town Meeting Day ballot. Otherwise, officials haven’t figure out how to cover the remaining gap. “The reality is that we have to take multiple approaches, much like we have done in the prior two budgets,” Mulvaney-Stanak said. “There is no one big, easy solution at this point.” Fiscal year 2027 will be the second year of “ModernGov,” the mayor’s cost-cutting initiative that aims to create a more sustainable budget. The program found $2 million in savings this year by merging two city departments and reorganizing several others into a new Department of Finance Administration. Layoffs were also part of the equation. Eighteen city staffers were cut, and seven positions were left vacant. On Thursday, the mayor said cutting staff would be a last resort. The city could consider offering “voluntary furlough programs” or early retirement as other options, she said. But personnel will almost certainly have to be part of the equation. Healthcare costs are projected to go up by 10 percent next fiscal year, and employees in the city’s police and fire unions will receive sizable cost of living increases — 4.75 and 7 percent, respectively. Two new firefighters will be added to the crew, per an agreement with the firefighters’ union. The city has steadily increased public safety spending as it contends with a drug and homelessness crisis and tries to rebuild a depleted police department. The proposed 5-cent police and fire tax increase would cost the owner of a home valued at $500,000 about $400 more a year in taxes, after adding in other expected tax bumps, officials said. It would be the first increase to the police and fire tax since a 3-cent hike in 2024. The budget will also invest in the city’s aging fleet, primarily police, fire and parks vehicles. Mulvaney-Stanak noted that she observed broken equipment in a police cruiser during a recent ridealong. “All of our city staff deserve tools and equipment that actually function and work,” she said. “There comes a time when we actually have to make investments and not look the other way anymore.” Mulvaney-Stanak said she’s asked department heads to consider what programs or services could be scaled back. The city will also consult with its four employee unions. City councilors are expected to discuss the budget at their meeting on Monday. The post Burlington Projects Another Multimillion-Dollar Budget Gap appeared first on Seven Days. ...read more read less