Telephone

(617) 796-1100
Fax
City of Newton, Massachusetts (617) 796-1113
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Office of the Mayor (617) 796-1089
Ruthanne Fuller Email
Mayor rfuller@newtonma.gov

September 26, 2019

Honorable City Council

Newton City Hall
1000 Commonwealth Avenue
Newton Centre, MA 02459

Dear Honorable City Councilors:

I hereby veto Board Order # 208-19. I do so in accordance with Part I, Article 1, Sec. 3-8 of the
Newton City Charter: Adoption of Measures - Mayor’s Veto.

Our City Councilors and School Committee members (and, yes, the Mayor) work hard and put in a lot
of hours; they are public servants in the best sense. Unlike the Mayor, City Councilors and School
Committee members have not had a pay raise in twenty years and that is not appropriate. Moreover, I
believe deeply in the principle that appropriate compensation for public service allows residents with a
wide variety of incomes to pursue and hold public office. Compensation more commensurate with the
time and effort required to run for and serve in elected positions lays the groundwork for a larger and
more representative pool of candidates and officials. I want to ensure that Newton’s City Council,
School Committee, and Office of the Mayor are open to and representative of the variety of socio-
economic backgrounds that make Newton the vibrant city we are proud to call home.

While I am supportive of appropriate compensation, I have concerns about the specific program put
forward and cannot support the City Council Board Order. The Board Order approved by the City
Council includes raises that are simply too large, implemented too quickly and submitted for
consideration at an inappropriate time in the budget and election cycles. Indeed, the proposed raises
increase pay beyond the Blue Ribbon Commission recommendations and were not subject to the same
fiscally responsible budgeting process applied to all other city spending.

I welcome working on elected officials’ compensation with the City Council if a modified measure
moves forward. Such a measure would benefit from more modest increases in line with the Blue
Ribbon Commission’s recommendations, being implemented gradually over time in keeping with
sound fiscal management, being approved during the customary budgeting cycle with all other city
operating programs, and being adopted well in advance of an election cycle to allow all candidates to
have full information when considering serving in elected office.

Background

The Newton City Council passed Resolution 388-18 authorizing the President of the City Council to
appoint a Blue Ribbon Commission “to review elected officials’ salaries and recommend a cycle for
review of those salaries” on October 1, 2018.
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In January 2019, the City Council President appointed a thirteen person Commission including human
resources professionals, attorneys, and active community members to review the total compensation of
Newton’s elected officials.

The Blue Ribbon Commission held eleven meetings between January and June 2019. The Commission
engaged in information gathering to inform their work, compiled data regarding the compensation paid
to elected officials in several other benchmark communities in Eastern Massachusetts and used a
variety of means to seek input from the community.

I am grateful to each member of the Blue Ribbon Commission. They approached their task in a
serious, comprehensive, organized and thoughtful manner as they carefully analyzed the information
that they gathered.

The 2019 Blue Ribbon Commission report includes important historical information.

• As of January 1, 1998, the Mayor received a salary of $97,500, the Aldermen $9,750, and the
School Committee $4,875.
• In 2005, a Compensation Commission recommended the Mayor’s salary be increased to
$125,000, the Aldermen to $12,500, and the School Committee members to $6,250.
• In 2005, however, Mayor Cohen did not accept the recommended salary increase. Nor did the
Board of Aldermen accept the recommendations for the salary increases for the Aldermen or
the School Committee.
• In April 2012, Mayor Warren put the $125,000 mayoral salary in his recommended budget to
the City Council; the City Council deliberated on the salary and the funding and voted in the
affirmative, and it became effective July 1, 2012 as part of the FY2013 budget.

The 2019 Blue Ribbon Commission report also includes information from the City Charter and
Ordinances on how salaries can be changed for elected officials. The City Solicitor has double
checked the information and clarified a few points. Below is the accurate information.

• Any change in the Mayor’s salary based on the Commission’s recommendations and current
adoption by the City Council and Mayor does not take effect during the current term of the
Mayor in office at the time of the adoption of the change. Rather, it would be effective as of
January 1, 2022, after the current term of the sitting Mayor. Furthermore, any increase in the
salary for the Mayor must be approved by a majority vote of the 24 City Councilors.
• Any change in the salary / stipend of the City Council members, based upon recommendations
of the Commission and current adoption by the City Council and Mayor, would be effective as
of January 1, 2020, after the current term of the sitting City Council. Furthermore, any increase
in the salary / stipend for the City Council must be approved by a vote of two-thirds of the 24
City Councilors between January and September 30 in a municipal election year.
• Any increase in the salary / stipend for the School Committee members requires the vote of a
majority of the members of the City Council and the increase in compensation is effective
immediately unless otherwise ordered by the Council’s vote.
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The 2019 Blue Ribbon Commission recommended the following:1

• Mayor: An increase from $125,000 to $140,000 and continued eligibility for current
benefits
• City Council: An increase from $9,750 to $14,000 and continued eligibility for current
benefits
• School Committee: An increase from $4,875 to $7,500 and continued eligibility for current
benefits

Reasons for the Veto

I have vetoed Board Order # 208-19 for the following reasons:

• Pay Increases Higher than Recommended

The total cost of implementing the Blue Ribbon Commission recommendations is $138,000 per
year.

Blue Ribbon Commission Recommendation

Blue Ribbon Additional Percent

Current Proposed Annual Cost Increase
Mayor $ 125,000 $ 140,000 $ 15,000 12%
City Council (24) $ 9,750 $ 14,000 $ 102,000 44%
School Committee (8) $ 4,875 $ 7,500 $ 21,000 54%
Total Cost $ 138,000

The City Council, however, voted for increases of $191,000 per year, an amount well beyond
those recommended by the Blue Ribbon Commission. The City Council’s proposed salary /
stipend increases are 38% more than the annual cost recommended by the Blue Ribbon
Commission.

City Council Recommendation – Board Order #208-19

City Council Additional Percent

Current Proposed Annual Cost Increase
Mayor $ 125,000 $ 155,000 $ 30,000 24%
City Council (24) $ 9,750 $ 15,500 $ 138,000 59%
School Committee (8) $ 4,875 $ 7,750 $ 23,000 59%
Total Cost $ 191,000

I believe that any changes in compensation should be in line with the thoughtful analysis and
recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission. The amount the City Council voted for is
excessive.

1
The 2019 Blue Ribbon Commission also recommended that Councilors and School Committee
members who do not participate in the City of Newton’s health insurance plan receive an additional
stipend. Such a stipend is not permissible under state law so the City Council did not consider it.
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• Incremental Increases in Keeping with Fiscally Responsible Budgeting Practices

Because of the many pressing needs throughout our City, I have always believed in the
philosophy – as an Alderman, as a City Councilor and as Mayor – of increasing expenditures
gradually over time for chronically underfunded programs.

Incremental increases are fiscally responsible, transparent and thoughtful. Incremental

increases are what the City has typically done and is doing in many areas. Over 5 years, we
gradually increased appropriations to the rainy day reserve fund so it reached 5% of general
fund operating revenues. We have been gradually increasing our snow removal budget over the
past 10 years and will continue to do so for at least the next 5 years so it is at the average of the
past five years of actual winter expenditures. We are investing in repairing our roadways over
10 years to improve conditions and raise the City’s pavement condition index to 80 or above.
We have started adding gradually to the traffic calming line item to address more issues in our
neighborhoods. We are upgrading our water (20 years) and sewer infrastructure (11 years) to
get to a point where the City can simply adopt a preventative maintenance regime. We are fully
funding our pension liability over the next 10 years and fully funding the retiree health care
(OPEB) liability over the next 25 years. The City still has many other areas from building
maintenance to field maintenance that must be, and will be, addressed incrementally over a
number of years.

This gradual approach is the appropriate method to address the long-frozen stipends for City
Council and School Committee members. We, as elected officials, must apply the same fiscal
discipline and measured approach to our salaries and stipends as we do to so many other city
programs.

A measured approach is even more appropriate given Newton’s fiscal footing. We all know
that the City of Newton’s budget is extremely tight and is becoming tighter each year as we
address the City’s pension and long-term retiree liabilities. We have many, many infrastructure
improvement needs and even as we celebrate the opening of Cabot, we are acutely aware of
other school buildings that need extensive investments. We are also in the process of
negotiating with all our unions; raising pay for City Councilors and School Committee
members by 59% in one budget cycle is out of line with our posture towards our other valued
employees.

I believe that such a large increase in compensation should be implemented gradually, with
multiple votes by the City Council, consistent with the philosophy for other chronically
underfunded needs, and consistent with the requirements of voting on budgets regularly.

• City Council Deliberations and Vote after the Candidates’ Filing Period Expired

Many people who supported the philosophy of salary / stipend increases, including Councilors
who supported Docket Item # 208-19, cited the importance of reducing potential barriers to
elected office; some who may want to serve cannot afford such costs as childcare for the many
night meetings or time away from their workplace.
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Candidates for City Council and School Committee could start taking out papers to be on the
November 2019 ballot on May 1, 2019. The deadline for candidates to file the statement of
candidacy and nomination papers was July 23, 2019 at 5:00 pm. Unfortunately, the City
Council opened their Public Hearing on the pay raises on July 24, 2019. The City Council
voted on the pay increases on September 16, 2019.

I believe that any changes in compensation should be approved prior to the window in which
candidates pull papers to run for office; potential candidates should know what they will be
paid if elected. Due to the timing, the City Council’s action could not have achieved the
intended goal of welcoming a broader group of City Councilor or School Committee candidates
this election cycle. All candidates – new and incumbent – would benefit from knowing the
compensation associated with serving on the City Council and School Committee. This issue
alone is not why I am vetoing the Board Order as future potential candidates will benefit, but it
raises concerns.

• City Council Vote after FY2020 Balanced Budget Adopted

The salary increases for the School Committee and City Council would begin during this year’s
budget which runs from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. This timing inappropriately burdens the
balanced and ratified FY2020 budgets of both the City and the Newton Public Schools partway
through the fiscal year.

By implementing the proposed increases mid-budget, the action inappropriately prioritizes their
salary / stipend increases ahead of all other appropriated funds, programs, and city/school
priorities. The total additional FY2020 budgetary impact from increased salaries for the City
Council (January 1 – June 30, 2020) and School Committee (September 16, 2019 – June 30,
2020) is approximately $87,000.2 Every single dollar is accounted for in the City of Newton’s
$430 million operating budget. On the municipal side, there are no monies available for the
City Council raises. Thus, the proposed increases would need to come at the expense of other
vital programs previously debated before the public, adopted by the Council, and signed by the
Mayor. It is important to note that the City Council did not pass a resolution asking for such
funding during their 45 day review of the Mayor’s recommended budget in April-May 2019 or
informally ask for such monies to be reserved. Similarly, no monies have been reserved in the
Newton Public Schools budget for School Committee member raises. Therefore, NPS would
also need to redirect funds which are already appropriated for school department priorities that
were deliberated during the NPS FY2020 budget process. (The Executive Office and NPS did
set aside reserves in the budgets for union contract settlements.)

2
The City Ordinance does not specify the date when an increase in the salary / stipend of School
Committee members goes into effect and therefore it is effective on the date of the City Council vote
(September 16, 2019). The City Ordinance requires an increase of City Council salaries to begin on
January 1 when a new City Council is sworn into office.
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By law, the City of Newton has a balanced budget. If the City expends additional funds on
these salaries during this fiscal year, other funded programs will be impacted. The City Council
has not made any recommendations on what should be cut to pay for this increase. While Free
Cash will be certified this fall and additional monies will become available, the Executive
Office anticipated these funds when preparing the FY2020 Budget and already has allocated
them to high priority expenditures, subject to City Council approval. Last fiscal year, Free
Cash paid for $3 million of the City’s Accelerated Paving Program, $766,961 for a
supplemental appropriation to Pension Funding to maintain the 2030 Funding Schedule, and
$1.3 million for the Newton Early Childhood Program (our preschool) at the former Horace
Mann facility, to name just a few.

I believe that any changes in compensation should be approved prior to voting on the budget in
late May, thereby setting aside funding for this purpose. The timing of the Council’s action is
inappropriate and does not allow the City to fund such increases without negative consequences
to other priorities. This issue alone is not why I am vetoing the Board Order but, again,
contributes to my concerns.

As Mayor, I cannot support the recommendation that has been presented to me. I remain open to
working with the City Council on another path forward.

Sincerely,

Ruthanne Fuller
Mayor