WORCESTER—Money matters dominate Tuesday’s Worcester City Council meeting with City Auditor Robert A. Stearns delivering the city’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for FY2023.
Thorough and comprehensive, the report meticulously details revenue and expenses across various sectors, encompassing everything from general government to public safety, education, and health services.
“Expenses of governmental activities totaled $1,076,301, an increase over the previous fiscal year by $64,982, or 6.4%,” reads the report. “General government expenses decreased 9.8%, public safety decreased 1.2%, health and human services expenses increased 24.2%, educational expenses increased 9.4%, public works expenses increased 5.2%, culture and recreation expenses increased 3.2%, community development expenses increased 28.6%, and interest expense increased 16% from the previous fiscal year.”
Stearns’s report notes that the city’s liabilities exceeded its assets at the close of FY23 by $811,131 and that Worcester’s total net position increased by $41,099, or 4.8% during the year. The city shows an OPEB (other post-employment benefits) liability of more than $1.1M net increase from the previous fiscal year by $58,410, and capital assets increased by 6% during FY2023.
The financial report notes that unemployment rates decreased locally, to 3.4% as of June 30, 2023, compared to 4.6% the prior year. By comparison for the same periods the state’s unemployment rate was 2.8% and 3.5%, respectively and the national average was 3.6% and 3.8%, respectively.
The report also shows that Worcester’s total taxable assessed property value increased to $20.3 billion in fiscal 2023. Values increased $2.4 billion, or 13.3%, more than the previous year. Tax-exempt real property represented 24% of the total assessed values at $6.4 billion and increased 0.9% from the year before.
The ACFR also reviews some major developments that occurred in FY2023, which the city adopting to participate in the state’s Community Preservation Act, the use of funds from the American Rescue Plan Act for housing programs, and the creation of an “economic district” in the Canal District with the construction and launch of Polar Park.
Recommendation for adoption of a resolution to accept a donation of $40,000 from the College of the Holy Cross to support Worcester program costs is also on the agenda, as is recommendation of a resolution to accept a donation of $3000 from Tufts University to support the purchase of a K-9 Explosives Training Kit, and recommendation for adoption of a resolution to file, accept and expend a grant of $75,000 for the Massachusetts Department of Career Services through the Apprenticeship Subject Matter Expert program.
Worcester safety discussions and concerns
In response to Councilor Kathleen Toomey’s request through the city manager, Interim Police Chief Paul Saucier presents the council with a five-year comparison of gun violence and firearms seized by the Worcester Police Department. This request follows a tragic fatal shooting in early March in the Columbus Park area of Worcester, claiming the lives of a mother and her 11-year-old daughter.
Councilor Khrystian King has several orders on the agenda, carried over from the March 12 meeting. One is a request for the city manager to provide the definition of a “What Works” city. Another asks for a time frame associated with traffic studies to be completed relative to the reconfiguration of Mill Street.
Likewise, Councilor George Russell is asking the city manager to report on the number of fatal accidents associated with motor vehicles and pedestrians, and the cause of these. Russell requested “a report concerning federal dollars allocated with traffic study work sessions, including information relative to how much money is committed, how much is being spent on city activities and outreaches in the community, and if those monies are only earmarked for studies or if there are monies that can be allocated to the actual construction of making streets safer.”
Worcester City Council meets on Tuesday, March 19, at City Hall in the Esther Howland (south) Chamber at 6:30 p.m.
Rod Lee is a career journalist, a veteran of the media scene in Central Massachusetts and the author of seven books including the recently published “Gil Cristopher,” a novel about the difficulties associated with aging. He can be contacted at rodlee1963@gmail.com
