Belmont Secures $1.1 Million In State American Rescue Plan Funds For Something Extra

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Photo: Monies to help plan for a new library is part of the recently received $1.1 million in state funds.

With thanks to state legislators and town officials, Belmont has received $1.1 million from the state of Massachusetts to fund some of the town’s “extra” expenses that would have been waiting until the next budget cycle.

The source of the funding is from the $5.3 billion the state was allocated from President Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan Act, the $1.9 trillion funding package to promote recovery from the economic and health effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the related recession. The $1.1 million is coming from a separate pot of funds than the $7.6 million in ARPA monies distributed as part of the bill’s Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund.

“This is funding that the town of Belmont has been able to secure thanks to state Rep. Dave Rogers and state Sen. Will Brownsberger,” Town Administrator Patrice Garvin told the Select Board at its first meeting in December. “This is great news for the town.”

Select Board member Mark Paolillo also thanked Garvin as she started the conversation to find state funds to pay for aspects of the skating rink’s planning and design, leading to this larger allocation.

The funding will be spent on several projects in town outside of the budget:

  • $250,000, the new Belmont Public Library
  • $250,000, the new Belmont skating rink
  • $100,000, economic development
  • $500,000 public housing

The public housing portion includes:

  • $250,000, water and sewer infrastructure improvements at Belmont Village
  • $150,000, improvements at Waverley Oaks
  • $100,000, redevelopment of Sherman Gardens

Interim Regs Places A Wet Blanket On Belmont’s Use Of Fed Covid Rescue Funds

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Photo: Belmont Middle and High School is now considered the source of revenue generating debt, according to the state.

When the details were released of the Biden Administration’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan – dubbed the American Rescue Plan Act – signed into law this past March that Belmont would be receiving upwards of $8 million for the town and schools, there was a segment of the population in the Town of Homes that cheered the news, not so much as a fiscal salve to a battered budget but as a political accoutrement.

“We definitely don’t need an override now!” came the clarion call on the No Override Now Facebook page of March 16, as the austerity-based group viewed the community-based bail out as a, albeit, short term solution to the worrying structural deficit facing the town.

The news became a game changer in the override battle, making it easier for many voters sitting on the fence on the proposed $6.4 million override to check the “no” box on the ballot less than a month later.

While town executives and elected officials cautioned at the time it was far too premature to assume the funds were heading into town coffers until there was more clarity of the rules, others were eager to champion – and begin spending – the windfall.

“This money can, in part, be used to offset revenue shortfalls and operating expenses,” proclaimed the No Override Now campaign in ads and opinion articles.

Well, it turns out, maybe not.

Under recently released interim final rules written by the state for allocating ARPA funds by cities and towns, Belmont is facing the prospect of have little to no leeway to use any of the $7.8 million to offset the substantial lost public revenue the town incurred since March 2020.

“What we found was a little troubling … because what we’re showing is no revenue loss based on the state guidelines,” said Town Administrator Patrice Garvin at the Monday, Dec. 6 meeting of the Select Board.

And the reason the state has pulled the ARPA rug from under the town’s feet is located at 221 Concord Ave.

After a careful reading of the rules and regulations, the town’s auditing firm determined that during the tight 18 month window the state is using to calculate lost revenue, the 2018 voter-approved debt exclusion used to finance the building of Belmont’s new Middle and High School, as well as the state’s partial reimbursement of expenses constructing the building is seen by Beacon Hill as a revenue “gain” for the town.

So in the ultimate example of bad timing, while Belmont has shown where revenues had fallen off a cliff, in the eyes of the state which dictates the funding, Belmont was awash in dough during that year-and-a-half reporting period because it borrowed funds to pay for a new school.

As Homer Simpson would put it: “D’uh!”

“We’ve had the issue of a … short-term budget distortion from the high school because it’s such a large number just as Covid hits … seems totally unjust to be counting that as revenue because that’s not what it is,” said Adam Dash, chair of the Select Board.

As the town seeks to have its state and federal legislators attempt a hail Mary to convince the state to reconsider its regulations, the prospect of a revenue shortfall for the upcoming fiscal 2022 budget has become only all too real.

Under the provisions of the ARPA, Belmont’s $7.8 million allocation can be used in one of four ways; pay for Covid-related expenses, make premium payments to essential workers, and invest in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure. It was the fourth “bucket,” the replacement of “lost public sector revenue” caused by the pandemic, which austerity groups and town officials saw as getting plugged into the budget. Just how much of the town’s share can be used in an unrestricted manner is based on a formula provided by the state’s Division of Local Services.

It was this rule making from the state – dictated in the federal law – is when Garvin said she and other municipalities began “hearing rumblings” as state officials began writing the regulations.

“I had been concerned from the beginning … [that] sometimes the state does like to get involved in defining how the money can be expended,” said Garvin. One such red flag from as far back as the first days of summer was how the rule makers first defined as revenue.

Is a debt exclusion a revenue windfall? The state thinks so

“At that point, I decided it was important to get the auditors involvement” and allow them to do a “deep dive” into the town’s revenue figures in regards to the state regulations, said Garvin.

Craig Peacock, a partner with the town’s auditing firm of Powers and Sullivan, told the board that since the summer what the state has deemed eligible for reimbursement “has been a moving target” resulting in attempting to make calculations “a little confusing.”

What Peacock first had to determine the revenues in fiscal 2019 which the feds was using as the base year and compare it to losses in calendar 2020. While the town did show a decrease in its general funds of $1.6 million, there were two unexpected line items which offset that lost revenue.

One is the on-going cost reimbursements building the new school from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which is paying nearly $85 million of the $295 million project, a significant amount – $24 million – being received in calendar 2020. Even with the MSBA reimbursement figure removed, said Peacock, the state also views the $213 million debt exclusion the town is using to pay for its portion of the building’s cost as yet another source of revenue, with Belmont “collecting” an additional $11.7 million in calendar 2020. Without these items, Peacock said the town by the state’s reckoning did suffer a revenue shortfall during the 18 months.

The end result is while Belmont can use the funds for the three of the four buckets, ARPA funds will not be going into the one ARPA bucket the town most needs to fill. While the town will have $7.6 million to spend – in two $3.8 million segments with the second available next fall – “it has made it much more difficult for us to use it,” said Garvin.

The news didn’t go down well as Select Board Vice Chair Roy Epstein calling the state’s rules an accounting exercise that “frankly makes no sense to me,” pointing out that the reason the town undertook the debt exclusion was to pay for a school which can hardly be seen as a revenue windfall for Belmont.

“I think the treatment of a debt exclusion that are earmarked for particular capital projects to just really seems nonsensical,” said Epstein as Dash questioned whether the federal government understands the New England-concept of debt exclusion which could have been exempted in the ARPA law.

The Select Board’s Mark Paolillo asked Peacock who in state government can the town question how they rationalize school debt and reimbursement of expenses as “revenue.” The answer was less than encouraging.

“We are not aware of any caveat in the interim final rules that would allow us to remove the debt exclusion and we are not aware of any agency that would be willing to review and discuss that because currently it is in the rules”, said Peacock.

As it currently stands, without the ability to replenish the lost public revenue and if there are no big ticket infrastructure projects ready to go into the ground, Peacock said there is a chance Belmont will return a portion of the ARPA funds back to the US Treasury.

If there is a glimmer of hope, the guidance is being written by the state and there are several communities feeling the same pinch by the state’s rules writers, said Peacock.

“As they say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease so I don’t think it ever hurts to try to contact” state legislators, advised Peacock. “I do know other communities that are contacting their state reps who have very similar attributes” that are preventing them from reporting revenue losses and are “trying to change the rules before the final rules become final.”

Garvin One Of Three Finalist For Reading Town Manager Post, Possible Vote On Dec. 7

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Photo: Patrice Garvin, Belmont Town Manager

Belmont Town Administrator Patrice Garvin is one of three finalists in the running to replace Reading Town Manager Robert LeLacheur who is resigning effective at the end of Feb. 25, 2022, according to reporting in the Reading Post.

Reading Select Board member Anne Landry who spoke at the board’s Nov. 23 meeting said the Select Board could hold a vote on the new town manager as early as Tuesday, Dec. 7, after Garvin and the other two candidates are interviewed by the board.

While she could not reveal the names of the finalists, Landry said the “pleased with the pool” of candidates.

Garvin is scheduled to go before the board at 5 p.m.

The interviews will be carried on Reading Community Television and via Zoom:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86081759921
Meeting ID: 860 8175 9921

Garvin has held the town administrator’s position since January 2018 after serving as Shirley’s Town Administrator. Since holding the post, Garvin has been receiving top job performance reviews from the Select Board as she steered the town through the Covid pandemic and the budgetary difficulties.

LeLacheur is only the second town manager in Reading’s history having served in that position since 2013, previously serving the town as assistant Town Manager. 

The other candidates are Fidel Maltez, Chelsea’s Department of Public Work commissioner since 2019, and Jennifer Phillips, the former city manager of Bothell, Washington and city manager in Helena, California.

Belmont Is A Mess! Select Board Targets Growing Trash Complaints On Street, In Parks

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Photo: Just another overflowing receptacle in Belmont

When Mark Paolillo decided not to run for re-election to the then Board of Selectmen in 2019, it was mentioned at the time that board meetings would miss his memorable discharges of distain for people who left garbage, trash and, yes, dog poop on the town’s streets and parks.

“This is outrageous, simply outrageous. This can’t happen,” he cried when viewing the aftermath – beer cans, food containers, plastic bags – of an adult softball game in 2016.

So with Paolillo winning a return to the board earlier this year, it was only a matter of time before the public would hear his clarion call:

”Leonard Street is a mess!” Paolillo said at the Monday, Sept 20 board meeting, barely containing his disgust of anyone knowingly throwing trash in overflowing barrels at parks and in the business centers.

But Paolillo’s anger is not attention seeking but well warranted as anyone who travels through Belmont Center, by eateries around town or in any park or playground can testify, trash is a real problem throughout the Town of Homes. Containers outside the town’s favorite take-out places are overwhelmed while barrels in parks are swamped with all manner of garbage and waste.

“The trash levels that we’re seeing now are pretty substantial,” Jay Marcotte, Department of Public Works director, told the board.

Topped out trash cans and garbage left on the ground is not a new problem. Over the years particular locations such as the aforementioned softball diamond off Concord Avenue, Belmont Center or at Joey’s Park at the Winn Brook School which has become an impromptu site for children’s parties, are in need of collection specifically during the weekend.

The trash cascade begins on Friday evening and continues all day Saturday as residents and visitors come for grab a bite to eat or to attend kids events at parks. And the trash doesn’t stay where its bought or brought. A study from a newly formed local environmental group, Clean Green Belmont, discovered the majority of waste at Clay Pit Pond comes from Belmont Center eateries.

And the jump in trash is more than just a litter or esthetic issue. All that out-in-the-open garbage quickly turns into a public health problem as improperly discarded food contributes to the introduction of rats and other rodents.

So how did the town get in such as predicament? According to Marcotte, much of the increase in waste began in 2019 when the town eliminated overtime for the DPW’s Saturday pickup schedule in a cost savings move. And despite the town’s hauler, Waste Management, emptying town reciprocals three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, it does not keep up with the volume for waste produced over the weekend.

Two years ago, the DPW issued a Carry in-Carry out policy that is successful at National Parks but didn’t work in Belmont other than making many residents angry that waste barrels were removed.

In addition, the town had “a very detailed discussion about trash” with Leonard Street businesses when the street became a one way to promote dining and shopping in the Center which led to an agreement that retailers and eateries would install their own trash receptacles which they would have removed.

”I think what we are starting to see is that’s not happening,” said Town Administrator Patrice Garvin.

Vice Chair Roy Epstein said it would be a reasonable takeaway to say that self policing by residents on controlling trash “is not working.”

“This is an example of a public good where the way to make sure it gets done is to have the DPW do it and not rely on somebody’s good intentions,” said Epstein.

Marcotte agreed, saying the return of a DPW weekend collect “is a venture we should look into it and start implementing sooner than later.” Garvin pegged the overtime price tag at $10,000 for two workers from April 1 until the first snow fall in late autumn/early winter.

The board agreed the dollars spent in reinstating the DPW pickup “are insignificant considering the benefit it will have to the community,” said Paolillo.

Garvin will “use her usual resourcefulness” to find the money, said Epstein, either by tapping into town resources or rearranging DPW schedules to allow for personnel to work on Saturday. A plan coming from Garvin will be presented to the board at its next meeting.

Select Board Gives Garvin Top Marks In Annual Review, Acknowledging Growing Public Criticism Of Government

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Photo: Belmont Town Administrator Patrice Garvin.

In a time of financial constraint and pandemic, Belmont Town Administrator Patrice Garvin received top marks from the Select Board during her annual review held at the board’s Sept. 13 meeting.

“One of the reasons I voted to hire Patrice was to get us to do things better and differently and not just continue the status quo and be a bean counter but to be a visionary and a leader,” said Adam Dash, Select Board chair. And while she has received her share of criticism – particularity in online forums – “it is a lot easier to just go with the flow than it is to change things. I think [Garvin] has changed things a lot since she’s been here and I think we’re better for it.”

“We live in an era of increasing suspicion of government, even in small town like Belmont, so helping to allay these fears has become an important requirement of the town administrator,” said Vice Chair Roy Epstein.

After the review, the Select Board awarded Garvin a 1.5 percent increase to her annual salary effective July 1 bumping it up to $193,400.

Garvin’s performance review consisted of a self evaluation and a number-based performance evaluation on all aspects of her role as the town’s chief administrative officer, according the Human Resources Director Shawna Healey.

Healey said Garvin’s overall rating was a 4.18 on a scale of one to five. The members also provided written reviews and areas of improvement in the coming year.

The public portion of the review including the scores and board’s written review can be found at the bottom of the article.

In his public comments Monday, Dash said that Garvin “is the best town administrator I’ve worked for in Belmont.”

“The times are tough, but she’s unflappable and is always focused on doing what is best for the town. We are lucky to have her recognized strengths include resiliency creativity, adaptivity financial acumen with a ‘can do’ attitude,” said Dash.

Epstein said that Garvin is an “outstanding” town administrator who manages an enormous number and variety of responsibilities for what she brings a wealth of experience, great intelligence and tremendous work ethic.

“[Garvin] in direct manner and working with the Select Board ability to attend to multiple pressing issues simultaneously proved success, proven success and winning outside grants, she did a spectacular job managing our COVID response, both operationally and financially.”

“There can be a torrent of criticism of the town administrator [as] changing an organization and institutional practices is an is inevitably controversial – nonetheless, it is her burden to deal with – and to find a positive resolution, Patricia is maturing in this area. It’s a difficult two way street, as she acknowledges in her self evaluation.”

Board Member Mark Paolillo reiterated his colleagues praise for Garvin’s strong work ethic as she is motivated to achieve good results while also acknowledging her strong support of all department heads and those who report to her who she “treats … with dignity and respect.”

Garvin “needs to improve her performance and public relations and communications to community leadership,” said Paolillo, as “there is a high level presently of mistrust amongst our town residents towards town administration and town and government to fiscal management.” That would include a need to develop a clear and timely understanding of budgets including overages and turn backs.

Garvin responded by thanking the board, the town’s department heads, Schools Superintendent John Phelan and everyone who works with her daily.

“It is my honor and privilege to work for the town of Belmont. I work very hard to come in every day with the attitude to improve the town in any way I can,” said Garvin.

Saying she welcomes the feedback both positive and negative as an opportunity to improve her work. ”I am someone who definitely always wanting to do better,” Garvin said.

Gavin also addressed the issue of growing public distrust of local government. “I think that it is very much on my mind, the mistrust that is in the community. Unfortunately, I do not think it’s indicative to Belmont. I talk to a lot of managers and administrators in Massachusetts, and we’re all struggling with similar issues and trying to convey to the public that trust, and to alleviate that suspicion that that I think is out there.”

“I will definitely work harder to make sure that the residents of the town can trust the board, the administration as it has been a challenge,” said Garvin. “The last year and a half has been very challenging to do the job itself and then to add a pandemic to it, it really does test the limits of patience, it tests your limits of staying positive and and trying to take that criticism and rise above it,” she said.

Garvin pointed to the relationships she made with the residents who volunteer on boards and committees “who come with pure selflessness to improve their town” and who she calls her “partners in crime” to improve the day-to-day lives of the citizens of Belmont, “which I know I come to work every day, aspiring to do.”

Breaking: Belmont Town Hall, Offices Set To Open Tuesday, June 1

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Photo: Belmont Town Hall is ready to open on June 1

The return of normalcy after 15 months of COVID restrictions continues as Belmont Town Hall and offices will be open for business on Tuesday, June 1. The opening comes as the Massachusetts intends to lift its COVID-19 restrictions, though masks will still be required in schools, at transportation hubs, and at health care facilities.

Town Administrator Patrice Garvin made the announcement during the Belmont Board of Health’s Monday, May 24 meeting. While the town offices will be open to the public, anyone who is unvaccinated will be required to wear a mask.

The one exception to the openings will be the Beech Street Center, due to the large number of older residents who congregate in the building. A set date for its opening will be announced in the future.

Garvin called in to recognize the Board of Health and all in the Health Department for its work during “this crazy year.” “You were so vital with your guidance and thoughtful response to residents and staff,” said Garvin.

“When I look back years from now about this time, that’s what I’ll remember first,” said Garvin.

Public Meeting On Federal COVID Funds And State Aid Set For Wednesday, March 31

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Photo: Poster to the meeting

The $8.6 million Belmont will receive from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan has been the topic of a heated debate ever since it was signed into law by President Biden on March 11.

In one corner are those who are attempting to defeat a $6.2 million Proposition 2 1/2 override who see the money filling town coffers with more than enough funds to render the override moot.

On the other side, proponents of the override contend that most of the cash is restricted to reimbursing town revenue lost due to COVID-19 and can’t be used to as a one-time stop gap for the town’s structural deficit.

And in the past three weeks, “I am seeing some things that are being misreported in regards to those numbers,” Town Administrator Patrice Garvin told the Select Board Monday, March 29.

In an attempt to provide a clearer picture of the funds and how they can be used for, the Financial Task Force II and Warrant Committee are inviting the public to a virtual presentation to share the latest information regarding the new Federal Aid Bill and also provide an update on projected state aid in the coming fiscal year 2022.

When: Wednesday, March 31
Time: 7 p.m.
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87434286149

Questions will be taken at the conclusion of the presentation period
through the Q&A function. The meeting facilitator will inform those
attending when questions can be submitted.

It Won’t Be Pretty: Consequences Of A Failed Override Prompts Select Board To Endorse Its Passage

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Photo:

The date: April 6, 2021. The time: 9(-ish) p.m. The location: Belmont Town Hall. Town Clerk Ellen Cushman strolls out from her office to read the results of the annual Town Election. After going through the races for elected positions, she comes to what residents have been waiting for – the decision on the $6.4 million Proposition 2 1/2 override. Cushman clears her throat and reads out the count.

And the measure … fails.

The first question for many people will be: “Now what?”

On Monday, Feb. 8 – just under two month from the above election – the Belmont Select Board and residents were provided an answer to The Day After scenario as Town Administrator Patrice Garvin spelled out the rather dark consequences of a no vote throughout the fiscal year 2022 budget.

“There’s no way to sugar coat it really. They’re all painful which is way we asked for an override,” said Board Chair Roy Epstein.

While Belmont not yet on the level of the four horsemen of fiscal apocalypses, the certainty of cuts in services and personnel as well as still to be determined retreat on school programs, the Select Board unanimously voted to endorse passage of the Proposition 2 1/2 override on the April 6 ballot.

Note: On Thursday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m., the Warrant Committee is holding a Zoom public meeting on “Understanding the Override Decision” that will present the impact of a yes and no override vote.

After reporting last month how a yes vote on the override would be used by the town and schools. the town proceeded to run a budget exercise on the impact of a negative response by voters. With expenditures of $163 million as opposed to revenues of $157.2 million, the town would need to fill a $5.7 million gap.

Garvin said a little more than a third of the gap would be bridged using an additional $1.9 million from free cash – the last of the reserves not reserved by town policy – and taking $350,000 of the $400,000 OPEB contribution. The remaining $3.45 million would be made up reducing town and school expenditures, 60 percent – or $2.07 million – coming from the schools and 40 percent ($1.38 million) from the town.

On the town side, cuts would come from all departments (see the chart below) as well as removing $500,000 from discretionary capital expenditures that was targeting much needed maintenance and infrastructure repairs.

Cuts to town departments with a negative override vote. (Credit: Town Administrator Office)

Garvin pointed out that long sought after positions such as a social worker for seniors and a new procurement employee to manage the increasingly complex nature of bidding and preparing projects such as the new Middle and High School.

“We really do need someone who has the expertise, who can move through the commissioning process as [the new school building] gets handed over and can run all the town buildings more efficiently,” said Adam Dash, board member. “I fear that if we don’t have that person in place, it will actually cost us more money because the systems won’t be run properly.”

Other departments will see significant reduction in salary and overtime requests while Police, Fire and DPW will see the loss of at least one staff member which will reduce response times for public safety and less work done at town fields and playgrounds.

The board’s decision to endorse a yes vote was expected, “especially in light of these pretty draconian and grim looking cuts. It’s going to be a difficult situation if it doesn’t pass,” said Dash.

While the school cuts will be announced on Tuesday, Belmont Superintendent John Phelan told the Financial Task Force on Monday morning that the schools would loss the 10.6 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions they had planned to add in 2022 as well as 15 additional staff members and cuts in many line items.

If the April override fails, the town is looking at a second override for the Town Election in 2022. Quick calculations by the Financial Task Force on Monday morning indicated that the subsequent override would be in the range of $10.8 million over three years, give or take a million either way.

Town Adminstrator Re-Ups ‘Til 2024 With New Contract

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Photo: Patrice Garvin

With enthusiastic backing from the Bemont Select Board, Town Administrator Patrice Garvin will be sticking around Town Hall for a few more years.

The town’s chief administrative officer was offered a new three-year contract commencing Jan. 15, 2021 at the Select Board’s Monday, Oct. 19 meeting. The agreement came after a month-long review process and negotiations during which the Chelmsford resident received praise for her resourcefulness, work ethic, and organizational skills from the three-member board.

“You could not put more effort into this job and I think she is as conscientious and as smart as they come doing this type of work,” said Board Chair Roy Epstein.

Garvin was sworn in as Belmont’s first female town administrator in Jan. 16, 2018 after a long search to find a replacement for David Kale, who served for four years.

Under the new contract, Garvins’s base pay will increase from her current $181,778.69 to $190,500 on July 1, 2021. Garvin will receive annual increases of a minimum two percent or the general pay increase for department heads, which ever is greatest.

In addition, board will hold annual performance reviews on May 1 wih possible merit increases to the base salary. As part of the performance review, Garvin and the Select Board will define the goals for the next fiscal year that they determine necessary for the Town, and the Board shall further establish a relative priority among those goals.

In her benefits package, Garvin will see her annual vacation leave increase from four to five weeks and she’ll have the standard 12 holidays including a “floating holiday” with pay to be used at any time during the calendar year. And effective July 1, 2021, the Garvin will be allowed to sell back to the town each year a maximum of 80 hours of vacation time. The town will make a $625 per month car allowance, which will be taxable.

Town Administrator Nixes Own Pay Raise As Town Faces Big Budget Shortfall

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Photo: Patrice Garvin, Belmont Town Administrator

In a move that took many by surprise, the Select Board approved Town Administrator Patrice Garvin’s request that she not be paid her expected annual salary increase.

The amendment to Garvin’s contract is “in response to the significant budgetary shortfalls as a result of the unanticipated COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the press release from the town.

Garvin’s gesture comes two-weeks before the Belmont Town Meeting where members will be presented the fiscal 2021 budget that reflects a 25 percent reduction in state aid. In addition, the town’s Financial Task Force’s initial projections of the fiscal ’22 budget has the town suffering a one-year structural deficit of between $10 to $13 million.

Garvin was expected to receive on July 1 a two percent increase over her base salary of $189,300 or the general pay hike for department heads, which ever was higher.

Garvin’s action won praise from the Board.

“I’d just like to note that this is what leadership looks like. In coming from the town administrator, it makes a very large statement,” said Select Board’s Adam Dash.

With a significant financial challenge waiting in fiscal 2022, Garvin “recognizes she can’t ask employees of the town to do anything that she isn’t willing to do herself,” said member Tom Caputo.