Haverhill announces biggest tax increase in decades | Merrimack Valley

HAVERHILL – Hold your wallets because Haverhill is about to ask taxpayers to fund its largest single-year property tax increase since at least 1990.

The owner of an average home value in Haverhill — which today costs about $501,000 — can expect to see their tax bill increase by about $444, according to Mayor Melinda Barrett. That’s more than last year’s combined increase of $180 and the year before that’s $215.

Budget hearings begin Monday at 7:30 p.m. with the School Committee, with options for in-person or remote participation, followed by a budget hearing with the City Council at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Additional hearings will take place.

The Mayor’s FY25 budget proposal recommends an increase in general fund revenue of 6.13 percent or $15.1 million compared to the FY24 budget, which saw an increase of 5.8 % or $13.4 million. The budget document notes that 35 percent of the $15.1 million ($5.2 million) revenue increase came from the state’s increase in Chapter 70 school aid.

In total, the mayor’s annual budget is $262.2 million for FY25.

Other costs in the mayor’s FY25 budget include paying for collective bargaining or union contracts, requiring $161 of the $444 increase from taxpayers. New contracts for firefighters and teachers as well as salary increases were the main factors in the increase.

Partially funding a new $160 million Consentino Middle School asks taxpayers to start paying $74 a year for Haverhill’s share of the $78 million project. In fiscal year 2026, the Consentino tax increase amounts to $120 per year.

According to the mayor’s budget statement released Friday: “In 2025, the city expects a decrease in several revenue sources, such as investment income, due to the fact that the city’s ARPA funds (federal lending funds) American Rescue Plan Act) will be fully spent and will therefore not be spent. available for investment as well as lower fees and the use of one-off funds such as free cash. As a result of this decrease in available revenue sources, the city will experience a higher than average increase in the tax levy and, therefore, the tax bill.

The budget document says the FY 2024 budget used a record $6.2 million in available cash to fund the operating budget instead of using more of the available $6.4 million tax levy. million dollars to finance operations. The property tax is the maximum revenue a community can generate through property and property taxes.

Barrett’s budget recommends reducing the use of available cash by $893,120 with the goal of reducing this revenue stream by a total of $5.4 million by 2033. To cover this revenue reduction in 2025 , the city will instead use its available tax levy, meaning taxpayers will be asked to pay more instead of using cash, which Barrett said is in decline.

The available money is budgeted beforehand, but the unspent money remains from the previous year’s budget. Once the available money is certified by the state, the money goes back into the general fund and the city is free to use it as it sees fit.

Budget distribution

The mayor’s 2025 budget funds a new boiler, skylight, roof repairs and sewer pump for the citizens’ center as well as computer replacements for the police department, a central network overhaul for security technologies information, additional funding for the school department and adds a new elections supervisor position to the city clerk’s office.

Unfunded capital requests include DPW yard rehabilitation, iNet replacement, animal shelter, police department HVAC and incident command vehicle, school department parking lot repair and rehabilitation of stadium toilets. Other unfunded requests include a part-time custodian for City Hall, a deputy fire chief and several requests for salary adjustments or position reclassifications that are partially but not fully funded.

The mayor’s budget for fiscal year 2025 provides an additional $10.2 million in tax levies to fund the 2025 operating budget. The breakdown is as follows: $1.7 million is for the debt exclusion approved by voters to build Consentino Middle School; $673,000 is for new debt service for investment projects approved after the adoption of the 2024 budget; $3.7 million is intended to settle municipal and school collective agreements; $1.6 million for increased employee benefits; $800,000 to resolve the available cash flow deficit; $500,000 is for the snow and ice credit, which has been historically underfunded; $800,000 for the school department to help mitigate the loss of ESSER funds and $500,000 for a budget reserve for emergencies and contingencies, neither of which were identified in the budget document.

The 2025 budget also includes funds for upcoming collective bargaining agreements that expire July 1 as well as cost-of-living increases for non-union employees.

The department increases

Most municipal services have seen their budgets increase, including the school service. Its budget increased by $36 million over five years, from $90.5 million in 2021 to $126.5 million in 2025.

The Mayor’s Office nearly doubled its budget from $391,795 in 2020 to $637,934 in FY25. The FY25 budget adds $172,000 for grant writers who were previously budgeted in the roads department.

The city’s legal budget increased from $277,490 in FY24 to $387,300, reflecting costs associated with transitioning from in-house municipal counsel to outsourcing to a law firm. independent lawyers.

The police budget increases from $15.2 million in 2024 to $16.6 million in FY25, while the fire department budget increases from $12.5 million to $14.2 million. dollars.

Benefits increased by nearly $10 million in five years, from $43 million in FY21 to $52.5 million in the FY25 budget.

According to a budget forecast, by 2030, the city’s operating budget will exceed $300 million.

To view the mayor’s 258-page budget document, visit cityofhaverhill.com and click on the link to the auditor’s office.