Let the New Bedford Budget Hearings Begin [OPINION]
The New Bedford City Council s Committee on Finance meets tonight for the first time since Mayor Jon Mitchell submitted his proposed $431 million budget for the new fiscal year, which begins on July 1.
The proposed budget is about $20 million more than the current $411 million operating budget. The city s contribution from the general fund is $383 million, some $18 million more than the current budget. The remainder comes from various forms of state aid.
Mitchell unveiled the spending plan during a virtual budget address to the council last Wednesday night.
Unlike the current fiscal year, when spending on public safety was reduced, Mitchell s FY22 budget calls for increased funding for public safety by as much as 2.2 percent. The budget for the current fiscal year called for decommissioning Engine 8 as well as the closing of the downtown police station, neither of which has happened yet.