’20, ’21 Budgets Appear Solvable But A ‘Juggernaut’ Of Debt Faces Belmont in ’22

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Photo: Patrice Garvin, Belmont Town Administrator

With a combination of hiring and discretionary spending freezes, using the town’s free cash account (aka the fiscal piggy bank), and “kicking the can down the road” on capital projects and street repair, it appears Belmont just might be able to endure the anticipated collapse of local and state revenues to its fiscal year 2020 and 2021 budgets.

“I see [the budget] as solvable,” said Patrice Garvin, the town administrator who will be presenting an updated forecast of the town’s budget at a joint meeting of the Select Board and School Committee at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 27.

But the budgetary outlook for Belmont is fiscal ’22, which starts on July 1, 2021, is about as dark as Garvin can imagine as a massive tsunami of red ink heads towards the town.

“I am calling fiscal 2022 the juggernaut of budgets,” said Garvin. “I’m not looking forward to doing that budget at all” noting without the passage of a Proposition 2 1/2 override to pump needed income into town coffers, the town will be forced to rely on layoffs and cuts in essential services to balance that year’s books.

FY 2020: Put the budget in the freezer

Garvin said Belmont needs to prepare for a drop in town revenues – from parking fees, meals taxes, building permits, and payments to the Recreation Department – for the rest of fiscal ’20 by slowing the rate of spending.

“We don’t feel it’s going to be a significant shortfall but a shortfall just the same,” said Garvin. The effort will also

In its first effort to stabilize the budget for the remaining two and a half months in fiscal ’20, the Select Board on April 14 endorsed Garvins’ four steps to controlling expenses:

  • Freeze non-essential spending, excluding capital items, revolving funds, and existing contracts. The school district will also apply a freeze to purchases through the end of June, said Phelan.
  • All expenditures must be reviewed and approved by the town administrator before being submitted to the town treasurer.
  • All overtime must be approved by the town administrator, excluding requests by the police and fire departments.
  • Emergency expenditures are permitted but must be reported to the town administrator immediately after the bill is sent.

The town could save approximately $271,000 for the remainder of the fiscal year, said Garvin. On the school side, additional savings will be generated by the district’s idle buildings as they are not using electricity, water or heat, Phelan said.

The Select Board’s Adam Dash said while the amount of money being saved with the freezes are not large, “the money not spent will fall into free cash which we can use next year.”

“I think this is a no-brainer,” said Dash. “I don’t like the idea of … belt-tightening but I think under the circumstances we have no choice.”

Larger savings still could come from a hiring freeze of 13 open positions – nine full-time and four part-time – for the remainder of the fiscal year with potential savings in salaries and benefits of $463,726.

But the catch to realizing that savings are that four town departments – schools, assessors, library and cemetery – have authorization over hiring matters. In addition, Garvin has received some pushback on a total freeze on hirings as each department with a vacant position will contend “[the job] is critical.”

The Belmont Police Patrolman’s and the Belmont Superior Officers’ associations sent a letter on April 13 to the Select Board to allow for the immediate hiring of two of the vacancies; assistant police chief and captain.

“Leaving those gaps unfilled would not be good managerial practice in normal circumstances,” said the letter. “In the current context, doing so, in the view of the BPPA, is simply indefensible. The Department needs strong leadership at all established levels of the chain of command if it is to weather the tremendous strains now being imposed on it.”

Saying it is “a very charged environment,” Garvin created an independent five-member panel to recommend to the board which jobs should remain vacant and, essentially, “to take some of the politics out of [the process].” It will also make “it less about the individual department and more the need of the community,” said Garvin, adding that the board should consider extending hiring reviews through June 30, 2021.

Recommendations of the New Hire Advisory Committee will be submitted before the Monday, April 27 joint meeting.

At the school committee meeting, Phelan said the district would not be hiring new staff for the remainder of the school year, noting the two new elementary school principals selected this spring along with an interim principal for the middle school will not start until July 1.

Garvin said while proposing a freeze is unsettling to those affected, all departments are acutely aware of the hardships facing the town government.

“We have a good working team here,” said Garvin. “I think everyone realizes the fiscal challenges of the town and I’m encouraged to think they see the challenges and they want to help out” in building up reserves to be utilized in the next fiscal year.

FY 2021: A painful fiscal environment but doable

While the town and schools are set to conclude the fiscal year in good financial shape, to achieve a similar level of success in fiscal 2021 will require cuts, delays, and a great deal of finesse dealing with an uncertain future.

“As we start to unpack in the coming weeks the options before us … are not good options,” said the Select Board’s Tom Caputo looking forward to fiscal ’21.

Garvin and her staff have been spinning out fiscal models that correspond to different levels of revenue losses on the town budget due to a reduction in state aid and local receipts. One such revenue line item that will be hit is new growth – the additional tax revenue generated by new construction, renovations, and other increases in the property tax base – with revenues falling nearly by half to $500,000 from earlier projections.

The end result: Belmont can expect to see revenue wane in fiscal ’21 anywhere between $3.4 to $4.6 million, said Garvin. Yet she told the Warrant Committee that she sees balancing the fiscal ’21 budget as doable.

“I believe that I can take a very large portion of [the expected deficit], defer [expenses] in FY ’21” to later years while using the savings the town made in fiscal ’20, said Garvin. “But I’m not gonna lie, it’s gonna come with some pain,” she said.

One area of savings being suggested is a significant reduction in capital expenditures. The new fire truck, upgrades in infrastructure and repairs can be delayed for a year or so while reductions in town contributions such as the OPEB (other post-employment benefits) funds “are adjustments we don’t necessarily want to make but would have to,” said Caputo.

One area of savings in fiscal ’21 that is not on Garvin’s radar screen is layoffs or furloughs due in large part to the complexity of negotiating job reductions within the existing union contracts. In addition, any agreement will need to be approved and ratified by the time Town Meeting meets in late June.

There is a major X factor facing Garvin in her calculations: what the economy will be at any time in the future. Until this year, changes in state aid and town revenues were fairly predictable allowing budgeting to be pretty straight forward. Today, said Garvin, “I have no idea what the economy is going to look like” in six or seven months.

And even if residents are willing to “plug our noses” and accept the cuts, “in order to get to four million [dollars], you’re going to have some impact in services in some way,” said Caputo.

FY 2022: An unprecedented budget challenge

While the outline of a plan is being formulated that allows the town to limp through June of 2021, the first long-range forecast for fiscal 2022 is all rough weather ahead.

“The budget problem is FY ’22, it has always been FY ’22,” said Garvin. “And everything we do in ’21 is going to impact 22.” And with many of the reductions in spending simply deferrals of necessary payments, “those decisions we’ll be making in ’21 are just going to create a bigger challenge in ’22,” said Caputo.

Just how bad could the deficit be for fiscal ’22. Garvin wouldn’t even speculate before the Warrant Committee just that it will be “unprecedented.”

Garvin has hinted at the need for the passage of the operational override, similar to the Proposition 2 1/2 measure the Select Board had favored placing on the November 2020 ballot. If that isn’t successful, the remedy to the deficit will be job cuts.

“Right after the June Town Meeting … we just start right in on ’22 with a plan [in which] we don’t receive the operational override because if layoffs are required, we have to have that time to figure out how we are going to approach the unions,” said Garvin. “Something like this doesn’t happen overnight.”

One Dead In Birch Hill Road Fire That Leaves House Heavily Damaged

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Photo: A Belmont Fire official examines a house at 81 Birch Hill Road damaged by a fire on Friday, April 24.

A female resident died after being rescued by Belmont firefighters during an early morning blaze that heavily damaged a split ranch house at 81 Birch Hill Road on Friday, April 24.

The unidentified victim was discovered by firefighters in cardiac arrest in the 60-year-old structure located near Lantern Road and abutting Hinckley Way, according to Belmont Fire Chief David Frizzell.

The victim, described as not being the homeowner, was taken by Belmont ambulance to Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge where she was pronounced dead.

The fire is under investigation by the Belmont Fire and Police departments. As there was a death caused by the fire, the Massachusetts State Police, the State Fire Marshal, and the Middlesex District Attorney are part of the probe.

The fire was phoned in at approximately 4:09 a.m. by a motorist driving on Route 2 who reported it five minutes after first seeing smoke coming from the structure, said Frizzell.

Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke coming from the attic windows, which resulted in a second alarm being called. Fire personnel discovered the fire on the first floor in the area of the kitchen which had raced up into the attic, said Frizzell.

It took about half an hour to put out the fire. Firefighters remained at the scene to search for any smoldering flames. A cat was found under a bed in the basement and handed over to Belmont Animal Control, said Frizzell.

Frizzell said the structure while heavily damaged “was by no means a total loss” with the most fire damage in the kitchen area and in the attic floorboards.

Belmont Engines 1 and 2, Ladder 1 and Rescue 1 fought the fire while Arlington and Cambridge’s Fire assisted at the scene. Waltham and Watertown provided covered at Belmont’s firehouses.

Look What The Cool Kids Are Wearing: Town Officials Are Helping To Flatten The Curve

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Photo: Oh look, the HR staff is wearing masks (from left) Assistant Director Shawna Healey and HR Director Jess Porter

Help flatten the curve by showing us a mask.

The Town of Belmont is encouraging everyone to wear masks when out and about in public. Town employees were asked to help flatten the curve and stay safe at work by donning masks. Many employees have come up with coverings that are both creative and colorful. Here is a sampling of employees and their creations.

Town Clerk Ellen Cushman
Ummm, Town Administrator Patrice Garvin
Jim Zocco Belmont Light
Assistant Town Accountant Donna Tuccinardi

Bellmont Library Director Peter Struzzeiro

After a Difficult Year, High School Runners Take To The Roads To Help Feed Kids

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Photo: The site for the campaign

Belmont High Senior Joy He is one of the captains of the school’s cross country and track and field teams during seasons that would challenge any squad anywhere. The boys and girls teams did not have a single home meet as the cross country course was closed due to construction and winter track meets were held in Boston.

And just when the teams were preparing for a strong finish with a number of home contests at Harris Field, the spring track season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But rather than end the year wondering what could have been, He, her fellow captains and the team decided they would end the track season helping others.

Throughout this week (April 20 – April 26), the team is participating in the Run Against Hunger benefitting No Kid Hungry, an organization that provides meals for kids affected by COVID-19 school closures.

“Our goal is to run 500 miles – though it looks like we will surpass that goal and reach 600 – while raising money for No Kid Hungry. Donors can pledge a certain amount of money per mile we run as a team or make a flat donation instead,” said He, who last year was on the 4×55 meter Shuttle Hurdle Relay that qualified for the New Balance Nationals Indoor championships.

For example, if a sponsor pledges 10 cents per mile and the team runs 600 miles, they would donate $60. They can also make a one-time donation instead of pledging. 

“I think this would be a great way to get the entire Belmont community involved in a really good cause. Given the situation, kids are estimated to miss more than half a million meals – we can only decrease that number significantly if we get many people involved,” she said.

The campaign link is https://pledgeit.org/belmont-high-school-xc-t-f-run-against-hunger

An Open Letter to Belmont’s High School Seniors

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Photo: Belmont High School graduation 2019

By Lisa Gibalerio

Dear Seniors:

When the news came down that schools across Massachusetts would not reopen for the rest of the school year, a collective thud of disappointment resounded across town from you and your parents.

The news confirmed what had been feared since schools closed back in March: there will be no spring athletic season, no awards ceremony honoring four grueling years, no prom, no Senior Week activities, and, perhaps most crushing of all, no Field House graduation ceremony and no All Night Party. All time-honored events. All canceled.  

How can you navigate so many losses all at once? 

Your disappointment is real and deserves to be validated. The events you will now forego are hallmarks; they celebrate the culmination of four years of arduous work, of lost sleep, of managing daunting amounts of stress, of sheer perseverance. You have every right to be sad that these events are unlikely to be held, or at least held in the traditional ways.

So go ahead and let yourself grieve; you won’t be grieving alone.

COVID-19 has wreaked devastation across the globe. More than 182,000 people have died, many alone, separated from loved ones, and hooked up to ventilators. The global economy may be careening into a depression unlike anything since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

But here’s the good news: this is a blip.

For sure, it’s big and it’s painful. But the life that lies ahead for each of you is bigger than this crisis. Your life will soon enough be graced once more with joy, with other celebrations, with toasts for goals accomplished, and with high fives for jobs well done.

You are amazing and I am so proud of you – all of you!  You are hard-working, smart, kind, and strong. 

So, take a deep breath and know that this will not be your last disappointment: this will soon become just another chapter in your life.

You’ve lived long enough to know that life is a kaleidoscope, sometimes landing on pain and sometimes on joy and often on just a whole lot of mundane moments. Pause and embrace the good stuff when it comes your way. Take in the beauty of a sunset, a full moon, a perfect daffodil. And go out there and give something of yourself to others. As Barak Obama once said: “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something.”

To the Class of 2020: your journey continues. I know you’re up for it. Make us proud. We love you.

[Update] Belmont Star Market Employee Dies Of COVID-19 As Town Registers 51 Deaths To Pandemic

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Photo: Belmont Star Market

An employee of the Belmont Star Market on Waverley Street has died of the COVID-19 virus, according to a press release dated Tuesday, April 21, from the supermarket’s parent company, Albertsons.

The employee, Cresencia Colletti, 70, last worked at the store on Palm Sunday, April 5, according to the company. According to press reports, Colletti, who emigrated from the Philippines to the US in the late 1970s, has three children and six grandchildren. She had been living with a family on Woodbine Road for more than 40 years.

“Our hearts are heavy, and our thoughts are with that associate’s family,” said the press release.

“This is a difficult day for the entire Star Market team,” said the release.

The news of the death of Colletti comes on the day the Belmont Health Department reported 51 people – many residents of Belmont Manor Nursing Home located near to the supermarket – have died of complications of the COVID-19 pandemic. The deaths break down as:

Deaths possibly related to COVID-19 (total) 51 
Unconfirmed  29
Confirmed by filed death certificates with the Belmont Town Clerk’s Office 22

Belmont District Closed For Remainder of School Year; Superintendent: Answers To Questions Coming ASAP

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Photo: Belmont School Administration Building

Belmont’s approximately 5,000 public school students will be finishing the 2019-2020 school year learning from home as Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced Tuesday, April 21, that school buildings will be closed for the remainder of the school year and remote learning will continue for the remainder of the academic calendar.

In his press conference, Baker said the state was very much in the grips of a pandemic and “[w]e believe students, therefore, cannot safely return to school and avoid the risk of transmitting this virus to others.”

“It’s the right thing to do, considering the facts on the ground associated with the COVID 19 pandemic,” he said.

Responding to Baker’s remarks, Belmont School District Superintendent John Phelan said: “Given this new information and updated status, the district will continue our remote learning plan as we continue to learn the strengths and growth areas in our current program.”

“The extension of the school closure will come with many questions, and we will continue to work collaboratively with our educators and School Committee to provide you with those answers as soon as possible,” said Phelan.

Breaking: School Committee Chair Resigns In Policy Dispute

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Photo: The Belmont School Committee: (from left) Susan Burgess-Cox (Chair), Andrea Prestwich (Secretary), Michael Crowley, Catherine Bowen, Amy Checkoway, Tara Donner. (Belmont School District)

Less than a week after a school committee member said he would ask for the committee’s officers to step down to allow for a vote for a new chair and secretary, Chair Susan Burgess-Cox abruptly resigned from the committee effective, today, Tuesday, April 21.

“It has been a pleasure serving the Belmont Public School with an administration and staff who have a strong commitment to teaching and learning and continue to create a community of engaged learners,” said Burgess-Cox in a letter to Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.

Burgess-Cox’s resignation comes less than a week after fellow member Micheal Crowley said he would ask the officers – Burgess-Cox and Andrea Prestwich who is the current secretary – to relinquish their positions at the next school committee meeting on April 28 as part of an earlier conflict over the reorganization of the committee.

The issue was brought up at the school committee meeting on April 14 as the group discussed what is usually a perfunctory annual exercise of the selection of the committee’s chair and secretary. Under the rules, the leadership team is voted by the committee after the town election.

But with the annual election delayed to late June due to COVID-19 pandemic, just how the committee would move forward became an issue of debate. Crowley made a motion that the committee should simply move forward with the reorganization as prescribed by the town bylaws which allows for an annual election of officers. He noted the Select Board had voted its reorganization the day before.

“We need a timely transition and it was not clear when that would definitely be happening,” Crowley told the Belmontonian on Tuesday.

Burgess-Cox felt the committee should follow the three school committee policies pertaining to electing officers which would require what many saw as a time-consuming exercise. Burgess-Cox said to do otherwise would be setting a perilous precedent in which future committees could suspend policies for any reason. She also said that no candidate for either the chair or secretary had come to her to express their interest.

While no member seconded Crowley’s motion, several on the committee appeared to give Crowley’s argument more credence, especially as the district was and will continue to be under the strains of the lengthy school lockout due to COVID-19.

Matters came to a head two days later, on April 16, during a joint meeting of the School Committee’s Finance Subcommittee and the Education Subcommittee of the Warrant Committee. During a conversation between school committee members, Burgess-Cox again raised procedural issues on whether to allow the entire school committee to vote on officers at its next meeting on April 28.

Admittedly frustrated that it appeared the committee would not have a leader selected likely in the late summer or early fall “that we need to have someone involved with what could be a difficult school year,” Crowley said he would bring a motion on April 28 for all officers to step down so the committee could make their selection.

Five days later, Burgess-Cox resigned.

Obituary: Henry Kazarian, A True Townie Who Traveled The World

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Photo: Henry Kazarian

Henry V. Kazarian, a lifelong Belmont resident who became a happy hodophile – the word for those who love to travel – died on Wednesday at Care One Lexington. He was 85.

He died of cancer, according to Donna Gasper, who was Kazarian’s tenant for 38 years, a long-time friend and for the final year of his life his caregiver.

“He was a townie through and through,” said Gasper. “He loved this town.”

For voters who cast their ballots at Town Hall, Kazarian was an election day fixture. The Precinct 2 election warden for many years, Kazarian would greet and assist voters, patiently instructing them on the proper procedure of placing a ballot into the scanner and calling the polls closed at 8 p.m.

“For the Town Clerk’s office, Henry did so much for us and was a dedicated and enthusiastic Election Warden at Precinct 2 and Town Meeting Member of Precinct 4 who consistently represented the Waverley Square area very well,” said Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.

Born in 1935 to Natalie and Hampartzoom Kazarian, Henry, his parents and his older brother, Vartkess, moved a year later to a two-family on Banks Street (off of White Street) which, with the exception of a few years, would be his home for his entire life.

Kazarian attended the Kendall Elementary School and Belmont Middle School before graduating from Belmont High in 1952. He matriculated at Northeastern University where he earned a BA in history and government with a concentration in English. After graduation, Kazarian enlisted in the US Army and was honorably discharged a year later.

For the next four decades, Kazarian worked for the town of Belmont as a custodian at the Town Hall complex and Police Headquarters.

Kazarian was a Town Meeting member for 28 years, a board member of the Council on Aging and a volunteer at Habitat. He was also devoted to the Beech Street Center, which he promoted to his friends and community during, at times, the contentious debate whether to build it.

After his retirement, Kazarian spent many years as a member of “The Situation Room” made up of old buddies who would steal away the mornings (and sometimes, the afternoons) at the Dunkin’ Donuts on Trapelo Road. Considered the group’s historian and “book of knowledge,” Kazarian told an observer “Whatever is in season is in style here.”

His interests were varied and extensive: softball umpire, following local and high school sports, reading poetry (he had more than 150 volumes) and attending plays by the Belmont Dramatic Club.

“He said ‘I like the Encyclopedia Britannica delivered to my house. I want to learn it from a book’,” said Gasper.

But Kazarian’s true hobby was to set sail with two or three longtime friends and explore the world: Portugal, Spain, Paris, the French Riviera, five times to Mexico (always on the beach) and Hawaii were just a few of the destinations. And it wasn’t just traveling to far flung places: each year he’d drive to Pennsylvania to attend a beer festival before swinging by Cooperstown to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“He would get a fruitcake and take two or three of his boyhood friends up to Montreal for a ‘visit’. He was a character,” said Gasper.

Kazarian began to slow down five years ago, unable to make his daily walk to Harvard Square for a coffee and to read the paper; he’d need to take the bus halfway. After feeling poorly for the past two years, Kazarian was diagnosed in late October with a growth in his stomach that could not be halted.

“Henry faced his last challenge much as he lived his life, courageously with a kind and generous spirit,” said Gasper. “He was a wonderful friend to all and a true gentle soul.”

He is predeceased by his immediate family. Funeral services and church services will be private due to restrictions placed on gatherings A celebration to honor and remember Kazarian will be held at a later date.

Those wishing to honor Henry with a memorial donation in his name may do so by check payable to the Town of Belmont designated for his beloved Beech Street Center, said Kazarian

COVID-19 Deaths Triple In Five Days To 39, Nearly All Linked To Belmont Manor

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Photo: Belmont Manor in Belmont

The number of deaths in Belmont related to COVID-19 has more than tripled from 13 on Monday, April 13 to 39 by Friday, April 17, according to statistics compiled by the Belmont Health Department and released by the town on Friday, April 17.

Many of those deaths have been linked to residents of Belmont Manor Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center, the 135-bed facility on Agassiz Avenue, according to Wesley Chin, Belmont Health Department director.

On April 15, when Belmont had 31 deaths due to the coronavirus, 30 were Belmont Manor residents. In addition, 59 members of a staff of approximately 190 are COVID-19 positive, according to the management of Belmont Manor.

In an April 15 email sent to families with loved ones at the site, Stewart Karger, the Manor’s administrator, said “every death represents an enormous amount of loss to the families of these individuals. And because many of these residents have been with us for a longer period of time, this feeling of loss is something that we at Belmont Manor share.”

Belmont town officials have begun recording deaths as one of two categories: Unconfirmed and confirmed by filed death certificate.

As of April 17:

Unconfirmed  31
Confirmed by Filed Death Certificates with the Town Clerk’s Office 8

“The Town Clerk noticed that there is a discrepancy in the information about CVOID-19 related deaths reported to us and what is later listed on the individual death certificates,” said Chin. “This is a problem that many other municipalities are experiencing.” 

According to Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman, the reason the confirmed number is much lower than is that her office “can only account for the Death Certificates that are filed as official records of the Town of Belmont.”

“I share with the Health Department all death certificates recorded in Belmont that contain the word “COVID” anywhere in the numerous fields on the certificates,” she wrote in an email.

It’s also important to realize that death certificates in Massachusetts are recorded in two places, the place of death (the occurrence community) and the place of residence (the residence community).  If a person is a resident of Belmont and perhaps is transported for medical treatment to Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, the death certificate would be recorded in both Cambridge as the occurrence community and Belmont as the residence community.