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The general fund of New Bedford’s annual budget has more than 145 budget line items, and for the first time in recent memory, every single one came in at or under budget, said New Bedford’s chief financial officer, Bob Ekstrom.
A new report from the auditor’s office showed that for the 2025 fiscal year, which ended in July, every department was at or below budget, as was every category of city spending.
As a result, New Bedford has a $4.8 million surplus based on its better-than-expected spending, plus another $8.5 million from better-than-expected tax receipts, including license fees, parking tickets, and other revenue. This comes to a roughly $13 million total surplus.
“We kept to the spirit of the budget, but also kept to the spirit of the accounting, so we have some real numbers to look at,” Ekstrom told the City Council’s audit committee on Tuesday.
After the meeting, Ekstrom said about the feat: “To be 1% off, that’s pretty damn close.” The $4.8 million surplus is about 1% of last year’s roughly $475 million general fund budget.
The City Council also claimed its fair share of the credit.
“The city council works hard in conjunction with the finance team and the departments to review, scrutinize, and cut the budget as we see fit,” said Ward 6 councilor Ryan Pereira, chair of the audit committee. “This report indicates that the finance team kept the exact discretion that the council had when making the budget.”
“The voice of the taxpayer, through the council, was upheld for the first time since I’ve been a city councilor,” Pereira added.
Ekstrom told councilors it’s the first time every department and every category came in under budget at the same time since 2012, the first year recorded in the city’s current accounting software.
Ekstrom said that the finance department and auditor’s office were hard on city departments during the last fiscal year. “We did say no to a lot of things. We forced [budget] transfers and forced coding transfers [between categories]. We fight [departments] on that quite a bit.”
The result is a big political win for both the council and Mayor Jon Mitchell in a year when budget and transparency issues came up again and again and again.
Some of the biggest surpluses came from the schools (or from state aid for education, more specifically), the police, and debt service. That’s largely because some students may have unenrolled during the year, fewer officers were hired than expected, and better bond deals were reached than expected, according to Ekstrom.
Councilors asked Ekstrom how so many departments came in at exactly their budget, which is essentially a guess at the beginning of the year. He said that many departments have “stabilization accounts,” and that drawing from them allows departments to precisely hit their goals.
Wins never last long in politics, though. By the end of Tuesday’s audit committee meeting, discussion turned to the first quarter of this fiscal year.
So far, Ekstrom said, things are on track, with the city spending 25.6% of its budget at the end of the first quarter. He’s set his sights on the police department, which he said is spending higher amounts on overtime than in years past.
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org
Thank you, NBLight, for reporting on our city government, of its intentions and impacts. Great to read some good news about good work! Congratulations and thank you to the Mayor and all City staff who accomplished a balanced budget, not an easy task.
That’s great news. So when are they going to return the excess money to the taxpayers. After all that is where it came from. Whether from city or state it all comes from taxpayers and should be returned to them somehow. Just goes to show how much we are being overcharged by the city in taxes and fees. I’ll be waiting for my check. Haha
Give back to the taxpayers, leadership that cared about the residents of New Bedford, would use the 13 Million Dollars to offset the tax increase set in November, and reduce the burden on the taxpayers. New Bedford needs new leadership in Mayor’s Office.
Great sounds like they have extra money for lawsuits against there horrible schools systems
$4.8 million dollar surplus, that means New Bedford Property owners were over taxed, so when will the property tax payers be receiving our tax rebate?
Please advise, I’m expecting payment before March 31, 2026.
Great comment! Refund us with interest! Refund before they spend it and give themselves bigger raises! The union workers are the backbone. Police, fire and Emt’s. They are the ones if anything is given. I want my refund!
Do you really think that the mayor didn’t know about this S13 Million Dollars before going on the radio and blaming the City Council cutting the snow removal budget ? ? ? It’s a complete joke and after over 10 years of this administration, this city needs new leadership in city hall.
I hear you loud and clear!