FY21 Adopted Budget
A Message From Mayor Domenic Sarno:
To the beloved citizens of Springfield, MA and the Springfield City Council,
It is our great pleasure to submit to you the FY21 Adopted Budget. For this fiscal year, the total Citywide budget is $727.6M, which represents a 5.2% increase over the FY20 Adopted Budget.
In the face of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the sharpest economic contraction since at least the Great Depression, this budget continues to embody our core mission. The FY21 budget places a continued emphasis on public education, public safety, healthy neighborhoods, and community services.
The FY21 Adopted Budget is an austerity budget. It funds core services and all non-discretionary obligations, while holding the line on spending in the event of a protracted economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19 Pandemic. While the budget has grown 5.2%, it is important to note that $33.0M of this growth (91.8%), is in the School Department budget, in line with funding increases from the PROMISE Act reform bill. The City budget has grown by just $2.9M. This growth was driven by increases in non-discretionary spending categories, the City’s pension obligation and employee health benefits. Once these non-discretionary items are removed, the City budget has actually shrunk by $2.2M (1.2%), underscoring our commitment to prepare the City to weather a major recession, while preserving core services and avoiding layoffs.