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Mayor Jon Mitchell’s annual budget address outlined steep challenges, including a deficit that his administration has projected at $32 million, owing to rapidly increasing costs in health care, pensions, fuel, and nearly every sector of city government.
“This is no ordinary year,” Mitchell began his remarks. But that much was evident from the more than 60 firefighters who crowded into the upstairs gallery. They held signs reading, “Mayor Mitchell is being reckless with your safety.” And, “Less Firefighters = Less Safety.”
Mitchell presented his plan as the uncomfortable but necessary path forward: “Given the reality we face, the steps we’re taking to balance the budget are the responsible thing to do,” he said.
The bottom line for New Bedford residents is this: Property taxes are going to increase next year by more than they’ve increased in recent memory. Mitchell’s plan outlines $16 million in total property tax increases. For some homeowners, tax bill increases could reach the “thousands, not hundreds,” said City Council President Ryan Pereira.
The bottom line for city workers is this: Ninety-four positions will be eliminated, including 36 layoffs and 58 positions that are currently vacant. Management positions will not receive cost-of-living increases or contractual “step increases” (which are planned raises based on time served). Library hours will be reduced. The city’s contract with Shot Spotter, a police technology that tracks shootings, will lapse. And Mitchell has proposed closing Fire Station 9, at Tarkiln Hill Road and Ashley Boulevard.
The main drivers of the increased budget are inflationary pressures and the rapidly expanding cost of pensions and health care. Health care costs have increased by 10 percent annually in recent years, Mitchell said, and the city covers 75 percent of the cost. Pensions continue their planned, rapid increase as the city is legally required to catch up with previous decades of unfunded pensions before 2035.
Mitchell spent significant time in his remarks outlining the need for increased state aid, which only this year reached the level from 2009 — in essence taking more than 15 years to recover from the Great Recession. The mayor also argued pointedly that city councilors shared blame for approving cost-of-living adjustments to the pensions, increasing the city’s burden.
Councilors, by the end of the night, were fuming.
“The meetings I took with the mayor for the budget presentation were some of the most unproductive meetings I have ever taken,” said Pereira. “Nothing of substance was discussed… The only time I saw a number was right here, tonight.”
Brian Gomes, a 34-year veteran of the council, said he did not bother attending the mayor’s meetings because he believed it was a Trojan horse to burden the council with this year’s unpopular and hard decisions. “For [14] years he didn’t want to meet, but now he wants to meet with the council… He’s tying you in on all the B.S.”
Pereira said that councilors have been acting in good faith to make progress on major cost centers in city government, including health care and pensions. For example, Pereira said he has met with the Public Employee Committee (PEC), the organization of city unions that negotiates on health care, to talk about lowering the city’s 75 percent share of health care costs. “They’d be willing to talk, but the mayor has not engaged the PEC,” Pereira said.
Similarly, on pensions, Pereira said the retirement board “has had discussions with me about extending the funding schedule” — which would ease the sharp annual increases by adding more years to the payoff schedule.
On the potential fire station closure, Pereira said, “If I had to cut $1 million [from that department] I’d go to the chief and ask how to do it. [Mitchell] didn’t do that. The cut was not the recommendation of the fire chief.”
Overall, Pereira and other city councilors said they were upset to learn about specifics of the mayor’s proposals at the same time as the public, which they saw as forgoing opportunities for collaboration.
Mitchell left the chambers after his remarks, and was not available to answer questions, according to public information officer Jon Darling.
Firefighters speak out
The one group of city employees who showed up in full force to protest the layoffs were New Bedford’s firefighters. Retirees stood alongside brawny new recruits, mostly quiet as they listened to the mayor’s remarks.
Rumors of a station closure and layoffs had been circulating among the firefighters in recent days, but the full scope was made clear in his budget remarks.
“In the Fire Department, we have run up against the hard fact that we provide a level of staffing well beyond that of other municipalities that has become extremely difficult to afford,” Mitchell said.
New Bedford is one of the three Massachusetts cities that requires four firefighters per truck, rather than three, said Mitchell, citing a report from WBUR. The closure is a last resort, Mitchell said, after the union wouldn’t negotiate on reducing how many firefighters serve on each truck — known as “apparatus manning.”
“In the absence of an agreement with the firefighters union to reduce manning per apparatus, we will be forced to shut down a fire company,” Mitchell said.
“Our feeling is and always has been that he just doesn’t value what we do,” said Billy Sylvia, president of New Bedford firefighters’ union. “The correct staffing allows us to respond in a proper manner and have enough people on scene to actually do our work correctly and efficiently stop property loss.”
Station 9, built in 1934 on Ashley Boulevard, is the closest fire station to Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational-Technical High School, Normandin Middle School and New Bedford Regional Airport. Sylvia said cutting Station 9 will be problematic not only because of the area it covers, but also for the increased workloads that will now drop on the nearest stations.
Station 5 in the far North End and Station 8 on Acushnet Avenue will have to begin “going to the north or come south to cover for Engine 9,” Sylvia said. “That now creates a domino effect where it pulls those apparatus out of their own area. It’s going to overextend and overwork the department.”
Shutting down Station 9 has been on the mayor’s radar for some time. In 2022, the New Bedford Fire Department requested a study from JB Consulting Group LLC to evaluate how response times would be impacted if Station 9 were closed and Engine 9 placed out of service.
The study concluded that closing the station would have a dramatic negative effect on the New Bedford Fire Department’s emergency response capabilities across the city.
“Closing Station 9 and eliminating Engine 9 will further reduce the department’s surge capacity, leaving the city without sufficient apparatus and personnel to adequately protect it during the times when it is needed the most,” the report states.
On Wednesday afternoon, Ward 1 Councilor Leo Choquette posted on Facebook that he opposes the closure of the station and that he has been receiving dozens of calls, emails and texts from constituents urging the mayor not to follow through with closing the station that serves 20,000 residents in Ward 1, as well as residents of Ward 2.
“Given that Parallel Products has appealed the Board of Health’s decision to stop the construction of the state’s largest trash transfer station, there is the possibility that we may still have it forced upon us,” Choquette wrote. “As horrible as that is, imagine not having adequate fire coverage should an industrial fire occur there?”
“There are tough budgetary decisions to be made, but under no circumstances should they affect the basic fire protection we all pay for,” he wrote.
The closure of the station, as with all of Mitchell’s budget proposals, are not yet finalized.
In the coming weeks and months, the City Council will have the opportunity to petition the administration for changes or ultimately to make cuts, which can be used as leverage to rebalance the budget.
What is clear is that this budget season will be difficult, and New Bedford is on track for both tax increases and service reductions.
“We will be calling on everyone to sacrifice, some more than others,” Mitchell said.
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org and Eleonora Bianchi at ebianchi@newbedfordlight.org
Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, to correct an error. News of a fire station closure was not discussed by the mayor on a local radio station.
Absolutely ridiculous, the mayor is threatening public safety to save face on Budget when last year he increased his own salary by over 40,000 dollars. He should negotiate to bring down the cities burden of 75% of healthcare costs and to increase the amount of years for the pension deadline. Honestly it’s embarrassing and he should be forced to resign in DISGRACE.
Engine 9 was closed for three years under Lang and back then the number of fires was higher than now. This isn’t a big deal.
If your house was in engine 9’s area, you’d think different!
His current salary was proposed *and approved by the city council* to be in line with what it would have been had he not turned down a yearly raise for the past decade. This was covered *on this website* last year.
Regardless, he absolutely should negotiate healthcare and pension costs. Which is why he brought both up in his address last night, claiming that the council has had multiple opportunities for negotiation. Shane Burton argued we shouldn’t compare our spending to nearby towns, and Brian Gomes got up to brag about not meeting with the mayor before the proposal while hinting at some sort of collusion-based friendship between Mitchell and Maura Healey.
I don’t have answers for the budget, and that’s one of the endless lists of reasons I’m not part of the council. But it feels like the council doesn’t have any answers either and at the end of the day they’re largely responsible for what passes. I mean, realistically how can they when the fed > state > city pipeline is running dry? But as of yet they’re just being dismissive and deflecting for political brownie points. I’m not saying we should only blame the council, but let’s not let them get away with throwing all the blame at the mayor.
Crap. Burgo*, not Burton…duh.
I deeply regret working my butt off to get out of poverty . I grew up in a welfare household and fought my way to buying our own home and successfully raising two sons . I should’ve stayed a welfare case . Too bad I can’t jump the fence to Mexico and get free room and board. Country’s ruined
No, no, no you don’t have to go anywhere. You can get that all here if you were illegal!
Do you think you’d be better off?
For all the shit we put up working for the city, keep your freaken hands off our healthcare! Leave the firefighters, Police and EMTs alone!
The Mayor gets the main blow, then the councilors and then the idiots that voted them in. Voting once is one thing, but over and over! Ridiculous!
Unfortunately this is really on the union and the firefighters themselves for their insistence on a higher company staffing level than similarly sized(and larger) cities like Brockton, Cambridge and Providence that operate with one officer and two firefighters per unit compared to one and three in New Bedford.
Providence has an officer and 3 firefighters on 6 engine companies, 2 tower ladders and Special Hazards. Brockton and Cambridge both have some companies with this staffing and Fall River has 4 man companies. New Bedford is already undermanned for a city of 100k.
So in the case of Providence that’s half of their engine companies and two of seven ladder companies. Applying that standard to New Bedford(3 engines and a ladder at 1/3 and 3 and 2 at 1/2) would reduce the department’s headcount by 20 and allow Engine 9 to continue operating. Providence is obviously a significantly larger, denser and more complex city. If they’re able to operate at that level then I can’t imagine there’s a valid excuse for New Bedford aside from differences in training and skills, which can of course be addressed.
After listening to the budget presentation by the Mayor, it was totally crazy to hear him say that he knew of the State Aid problem for years and yet did nothing to stop the expansion of city government, giving money to non profits, spending money we do not have, and did nothing to expand private economic growth to grow new revenue streams.
More than ever we need new leadership in city hall. It did not help to hear Councilor Burgo rant and rave when he has no new ideas or solutions and would only spend more taxpayer dollars. And as far a Brian Gomes, Joe Lopes, Ian Abreu, and Naomi Carney (the senior city councilors) who were along for the ride, they have just as much responsibility for this budget mess as the mayor, not one of them stood up and screamed about the budget till last night when Brian Gomes stood up (but it’s just over $30 Million Dollars to late).
While no one wants to hear it before you ever close a fire station and put the safety of resident and businesses at risk, you have to make other cuts.
1. Port Authority (Make Cuts / Merge Departments / Sell the Building)
2. Health Dept (Make Cuts and Move out of the Quest Center Building)
3. Quest Center (Close / Sell the Building).
4. Libraries (Reduce the number of libraries / Sell the Buildings).
5. The Zoo (Privatize the Zoo).
6. The Airport (Make Cuts)
7. Non Profit Organizations (Cut or Claw back all Budget Allocations).
8. Restructure of all City Building Leases /(Everyone has to pay rent).
9. No more Water or Sewer give aways to area towns / new connections all should cost a $ premium.
10. Fight to get ownership of the Marina and Wind Property to create New Revenue.
11. Restructure of City Healthcare
12. Address the City Pension Issues (this can has been kicked down the road far to long)
Common Sense says what is more important than the Safety of our Residents and Businesses?
It’s time for change, you can not just blame the state for this mess when for years there has been no proceed with caution, no financial restraint, and no physical responsibility by our elected city leaders.
100% it’s time for new leadership and a new vision for the city of New Bedford.
New Bedford is already regarded as a backwater, last resort and place for anyone who can including perhaps your own kids or grandkids to desperately want to put in their rear view mirrors. These proposals are only going to further reduce its desirability and hasten its decline.
Be careful what you wish for. In times like this, it requires real skill and intelligence — something that does not exist with any of the councilors.
Or anyone in the administration of the school dept!
That’s what happens when you’re a sanctuary state and sanctuary city millions and millions to illegal immigrants
We did not vote to be a sanctuary state, did we? Yet it was thrusted upon us! A veteran or low income family can’t get help but an illegal can, what’s wrong with this freaking picture!
Not by residents choice!
After listening to the budget presentation by the Mayor, it was totally crazy to hear him say that he knew of the State Aid problem for years and yet did nothing to stop the expansion of city government, give money to non profits, and continue to spend money we do not have.
Councilor Burgo can rant and rave when he has no new ideas or solutions and would just spend and raise taxes. And as far a Brian Gomes, Joe Lopes, Ian Abreu, and Naomi Carney (the senior city councilors) who were all along for the ride, they have just as much responsibility for this budget mess as the mayor, not one of them stood up and screamed about the budget until last night when Brian Gomes stood up (but it’s just Millions of Dollars to late).
While no one wants to hear it before you ever close a fire station and put the safety of resident and businesses at risk, you have to make other serious cuts in other areas and you can’t continue to raise taxes and blame the state for this mess when for years the city has not proceeded with caution, had no financial restraint, and had no physical responsibility.
100% it’s time for new leadership and a new vision for the city of New Bedford.
How come there’s no comment from the Fire Chief? What side of the fence is he on now?
Over a decade together Mayor Mitchell and city councilors Abreu, Carney, Gomes, and Lopes have to bear the responsibility for the state of our city and a city budget that has spiraled out of control and more than doubled. Our city is in dire need of new direction for the future.
The State has to make cuts because the current administration in Washington(aka the trump express) cut federal funding to the State! And if anybody believes that there will be a last minute bailout from somewhere, well the Democrats are not in power in DC!
You’re welcome to your opinion, when 15 Million undocumented illegals were let into our country (Biden) and billions of our state tax dollars were spent on undocumented illegals that could have been distributed to help our city and towns (Healey). This blame game comment is worthless and just more far left liberal nonsense.
If anybody believes that there will be a last minute bailout from somewhere, well the Democrats are not in power in DC!
Wait and see how the surrounding towns are going to love constantly sending their apparatus into New Bedford on “mutual aid”! That will last until they have their own tragedy from loss of coverage!
Agree!
Jon Mitchell has consistently overspent monies, that did not exist, and now he BLAMES EVERYONE ELSE, except Jon Mitchell, for the resultant fiscal crisis he personally created.
Increased aid from the Commonwealth is not coming just because he wants more…… all municipalities want more and more and more.
Using this as a reason for his deficit spending is another attempt by Jon Mitchell to “scapegoat” others as being responsible for his official fiscal deficiencies and non-planning.
A fire station closure is another of Jon Mitchell’s attempts to make changes that are so unpalatable and unsafe that they draw attention away from very reasonable and deeper managerial reductions that need to be made.
Unfortunately, New Bedford needs to realistically identify and list assets and liabilities, calculate a net worth and evaluate when receivership by the Commonwealth will become the only option available as no plan forward exists.
After reading this and listening to all the comments I come to the conclusion that we have some amateur city councilors. Ranting and raving does nothing, refusing to meet is childish and irresponsible, it’s your job to do what is necessary since you were elected to represent us, the citizens. As for this budget, it also appears that the can has been kicked down the road for so long it has become flat tin and can’t be kicked anymore, meaning the City now owns all this and there will be pain. The increase in taxes raises the cost of living for the residents of New Bedford, (by the way this wasn’t discussed). Now we face a serious affordability problem. As for dems and republicans, this is irrelevant. Anonymous made some very good points. As for the unions, having dealt in this sector, management and labor for 30 years, when it comes to realization of cuts and jobs lost there is always a way to find a mutual benefit for all, but it takes hard work and dedication, which appears not to be happening. People, this is just the beginning. the economic climate does not look good, inflation at the wholesale level is facing an annual 6% increase. This is significant and will impact our city, all our citizens, and all communities, because at the service and retail end there will be significant increases. I bring this up because what just happened is only a band aid and I read nothing about how to manage this budget, not just the deficit, to move the city in a positive direction facing the next few years of a possible economic meltdown. I agree changes are needed, but no “personality” changes, professionals who want to serve and represent the city and its residents and put the time in, do the research, communicate, work together regardless of “friction”, because friction is part of the job in negotiations and in the end you still have coffee together. I am not read in on all the city budget expenses, but now I may request copies of expenditures since this is all public record. By the way, I do find a little hypocrisy with some of the Councilors, I remember reading an article where certain councilors were getting an annual benefit in their pay, it was discovered by a “new” employee who brought this to the forefront. This is an example of the need to be responsible. The bottom line is this, the needs of the many outweighs the need of the one, so are you putting your personal interests first or the interests of the community and its citizens first. I will make this one quick comment relating to what I had said about a potential economic meltdown, in DC there are many who put their interests first, not the country, and this is facts and truth. It’s time for councilors to hold local meetings with the residents, come and talk to us, or are y’all afraid.
A lot of good comments here, but our city leaders are suppose to be the guardians of our city. If Mayor Mitchell didn’t spend every dollar he got his hands on and spent $5 million less a year we would not be in this position (we would have over $50 Million Dollars). Also if the City Council had done their job, had a better grip on the budget, and made deeper cuts to stop the mayor from doubling our budget this too could have put our city in better shape. But looking back on all of this, it’s nothing more than 100% failure, poor leadership, poor financial management, no spending restraint, and no physical responsibility. There is no doubt, our city needs new leadership, a new direction, and a better vision for the future.
I told the voter’s 16 years ago running for Mayor that cuts to the operating budget needed to take place. Raising taxes on homeowners and business’s is unfair and unsustainable. That increasing the operating budget without any new revenue sources is a recipe for financial disaster. This fell on deaf ears. Taxes have gone up every year under this Administration. 3 years ago running for Mayor I pointed out that our city was in a potential deficit because of the spending of money that we didn’t have and this administration kept Bonding out for project’s that should have been paid for by rainy day funds or unreserved balance funds that were never available. For the last 15 years this administration has increased the operating budget without any new revenue sources and there was a 3 year period that Jon Mitchell increased the operating budget by 125 million dollars with revenue losses. It’s time for Jon Mitchell to step aside and resign, allowing someone else to take a shot of restoring sound fiscal management of our city.
Let’s get together a impeach him!
Once again the City Council failed to do their job. There was no vote taken on the recall petition and till this day it has been ignored and sits in committee.
This comment is mainly directed at the Mayor and a few “Senior” councilors ………… He / they were well aware that the Pension Fund needed to be funded many years ago and did nothing about it, basically turned a blind eye to it, now that issue has come home to roost. I am not aware of what Insurance Company is handling the Health Insurance for the city, but that contract needs to be “shopped” around for better rates. No employee should be paying anything except co-pays for insurance coverage, the fact that they pay 25% for their share of premium is a disgrace. As for Closing Fire Station 9, the enclosed maps speak for themselves. There are a whole host of issues that are wrong with this city’s administration, Chief among them is the Mayor. If this were a corporation the CEO would be fired immediately for NOT conducting weekly ( at a minimum ) meetings with his Department Heads, this is very bad management practice by the mayor. Not meeting with the city councilors on a regular basis is even worse. In my opinion the mayor at the very least need to go as well as some of the long time councilors who saw this freight train coming and did absolutely nothing to stop it as well as the personality issues between the mayor and the city council ………….. God Speed to the City of New Bedford …………. Glad i don’t live there anymore !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This system stinks! The largest fishing port by value in the US is here, over $11 billion in revenue, but thanks to tax loopholes for corporations, we have the fourth highest poverty rate in MA. And soon, a disgusting trash plant that also won’t pay taxes, Nice. We are the dumpster of Massachusetts!
Sadly under this mayor and his partnership with maura healey, the newly state run enhanced port authority has taken control over so many buildings and parcels of land (the new port authority office, the marina, the wind terminal, state pier, new bedford seafood, the ocean cluster, fishing piers, the north end port terminal, new train stations and their parking areas) all of these properties and so many other state owned buildings and parcels pay no property taxes and add no revenue to our city’s budget.
Why can’t the mayor or city councilors access some of the cpa funds we taxpayers provide when paying our taxes and put it in the general fund to reduce the burden on taxpayers. We give away this money to non profits who don’t even pay TAXES. We sent millions to these non profits. Let’s return this money to taxpayers and ease their butden
2 days ago the New Bedford Guide ran an article on the Mayor’s budget speech, also posted on Facebook and Instagram, in the article it had the City Council President warning that property tax bill increases could reach “thousands, not hundreds.”
This is what we have for leadership in City Hall and you really have wonder who in their right mind would make a statement like this before any review of the budget has even started.
What to scare the hell out of seniors, homeowners, and businesses ???
100% New Bedford needs new leadership in City Hall.
I pray every night.
Cut at the top!
Remove those at the top. The second in command are. More than capable of accomplishing more than the current administration.