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After three hours of debate and hundreds of votes, New Bedford city councilors approved about $1.7 million in reductions to the general fund Monday night, eliminating two city positions — a chief of staff in the mayor’s office and an assistant deputy police chief — while reshaping Mayor Jon Mitchell’s proposed budget.
The council adjourned at 10:10 p.m., ending a surprisingly quick session in which councilors worked through 182 proposed reductions line by line. By the end of the night, the council had removed approximately $1.7 million from the general fund, $84,000 from the wastewater fund, and $132,000 from the water fund. All the cuts were from the mayor’s proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year, which starts July 1.
Last year’s cut night lasted seven hours, included more than 1,300 proposed cuts, and resulted in removing $10.2 million from the mayor’s proposed budget.
Monday’s cuts totaled less than $2 million — a tiny fraction of the $32 million budget gap city officials presented with the budget in May.
Fire Station 9 loomed over much of the debate.
Minutes after Monday’s meeting adjourned, Ward 1 Councilor Leo Choquette posted on Facebook that the council had cut “far more than what is required to keep Fire Station 9 open for the coming year” and wrote, “It is now up to Mayor Mitchell to apply this.”
Since Mitchell proposed closing the North End firehouse in his May budget plan, firefighters, residents and councilors have argued that other parts of the budget should be cut before public safety services. But the council cannot add to the budget, only subtract. The mayor would have to reverse course to keep the fire station open.
In their opening remarks before digging into the roll-call votes, councilors reminded each other to keep Station 9 in mind, expressed solidarity with city employees, and reiterated that the administration needed to be held accountable.
“None of the decisions, recommendations or cuts proposed tonight are personal,” Councilor Shawn Oliver said, noting that every department performs important work. “Our responsibility tonight is to represent the taxpayers who sent us here into these seats.”
Councilor Burgo criticized the administration’s handling of the budget crisis and addressed city employees affected.
“I never imagined an administration could handle such a difficult financial situation in such a cold and dismissive manner,” Burgo said. Those who lost their jobs, he said, had been treated as “sacrificial lambs” in the budget crisis. “You are not line items. You are not expendable,” he said.
The Light called the city’s public information officer, Jonathan Darling, and asked to talk to the mayor regarding budget cut night. Darling said the mayor would not be available at any point during the day to answer any questions.
Instead, the administration provided a statement saying it “will now begin the process of carefully evaluating every budget cut to determine whether [it] is implementable or not.”
The council’s budget cuts are final. But the mayor could propose a supplementary budget, or a transfer between departments, which would go to the council for approval. Last year, Mitchell filed supplementary budgets to restore non-discretionary spending that the council had cut.
The administration’s statement said the council had chosen “gimmicks and arbitrary cuts” that would reduce services and did not address rising pension and employee healthcare costs.
The administration did not answer whether the approved cuts would spare Station 9 from closure, despite multiple queries from The Light.
Instead, Darling referred to a line in the statement that says the administration plans to work with the city’s public employee unions this summer to “address health insurance and pension reforms, as well as collective bargaining matters, that … address the long-term financial challenges facing city government.”
The cuts
The council voted 6-5 to eliminate a chief of staff position in the mayor’s office, saving more than $245,000. Councilors later approved an additional reduction of about $38,000 from the same account for travel expenses.
A separate proposal by Oliver to eliminate one assistant deputy chief in the Police Department, saving more than $288,000, also passed 6-5.
Councilor Joe Lopes secured a 6-5 vote to cut $500,000 from the city utilities purchase of services account, reducing it by about 21% from the mayor’s request of about $2.4 million. The mayor’s office, in its statement, called this “the line item the City uses to pay its utility bills.” The line item was funded at $1.43 million in the fiscal year that’s about to end.
For the Department of Public Infrastructure, councilors approved $66,000 in cuts, including a $21,500 reduction to the purchase of services account, $40,000 from supplies and $4,500 from travel expenses. On a total proposed expenditure of about $4.6 million, the cuts represent roughly 1.4% of the department’s budget.
Councilors also voted 9-2 to reduce the Solicitor’s Office budget for outside legal counsel services by $100,000, a cut of about 20%.
Other approved reductions included a $200,000 cut to Facilities and Fleet Management, which passed 6-5 and represents about 2% of the proposed budget.
In the water fund, councilors unanimously approved a proposal by Burgo to cut nearly $77,000. They later approved an additional $50,000 reduction in debt service and $5,000 in other charges and expenses.
Other cuts included more than $26,000 from the Assessor’s Office for travel, dues and subscriptions, and more than $22,000 from the Auditor’s Office’s purchase of services account. Councilors also approved roughly $47,000 in reductions to the Management Information Systems Department for purchase of services and other expenses.
City councilors also cut their own travel expenses, dues and subscriptions by $12,000.
How it works
The council’s biggest influence over the budget comes on cut night, when members can vote to reduce spending line by line. Most roll-call votes move quickly, but on some items councilors — particularly those proposing the cuts — take a moment to make their case. If a proposal fails, councilors often move on to a smaller reduction within the same account.
The debate over the Police Department’s personal services budget offered a good example.
Burgo first proposed a $384,000 cut that would have eliminated a chief of staff position and one of the department’s two assistant deputy chief positions.
The proposal failed 4-7.
Councilors then turned to a slightly smaller proposal from Oliver targeting the same account. That measure also failed, 4-7.
Next came a proposal from Council President Ryan Pereira to cut $306,000. Before the vote, he argued the council should have had a role in creating the chief of staff position.
“It deserved public debate so that the taxpayers who sent us here could know that we were reviewing it and it wasn’t just being created out of thin air,” he said. The proposal came closer, failing 5-6.
Finally, councilors considered Oliver’s proposal to cut $288,000 by eliminating only the chief of staff position. This time, the measure passed 6-5.
Failed but fiercely debated cuts
One of the night’s most spirited debates centered on a proposal from Oliver, Choquette and Pemberton to cut $177,000 from the Tourism and Marketing Department by eliminating its entire staff.
“Fairhaven is proposing a similar measure,” Oliver said. “In times of restraint, times of fiscal hardship, cities and towns are making difficult decisions.”
“I just don’t think that at this time the city can afford to fund it,” he concluded.
Burgo said the proposed cut would eliminate the department’s staff. “I think it’s irresponsible.”
Pereira agreed. “We know the city deserves this.”
Councilor Brian Gomes complained that he had not seen enough effort from the city to promote the Fourth of July holiday.
“No red, white and blue in the city,” Gomes said. “The city deserves better.”
Choquette, whose ward is home to Fire Station 9, still on the cutting board, brought the debate back to public safety.
“All I want to say is, in Ward 1, there are more firefighter flags than Fourth of July flags, so vote accordingly,” he said.
The proposal to eliminate the tourism staff failed 3-8. Gomes, despite his complaint, voted against the cut.
Later, councilors approved cuts of about $19,000 to the Tourism and Marketing Department for supplies and other expenses.
Another unsuccessful but heavily debated proposal targeted the Zeiterion Theatre. Oliver submitted 13 different options to reduce the theater’s purchase of services budget. Before councilors considered the largest reduction, a $395,000 cut, Oliver argued the money could be better used elsewhere.
“This is our opportunity here to be able to give the taxpayers a little bit of a push to keep the fire station open,” Oliver said.
Burgo opposed the proposal, arguing that the city’s Zeiterion contribution was part of a contractual obligation.
Burgo said approving the cuts could jeopardize the project.
After his first proposals failed in 1-10 votes, Oliver withdrew four additional cut proposals. The rest of the proposals failed as well, by margins ranging from 1-10 to 4-7.
Email Eleonora Bianchi at ebianchi@newbedfordlight.org.
