MELROSE — City officials heard a wide variety of voices during a recent public forum on the city’s financial straits as another Proposition 2 1/2 override request looms on the horizon.
Mayor Jen Grigoraitis’ Financial Task Force hosted the forum Wednesday, March 26 at the high school’s Learning Commons. The task force is working to develop proposals for one or more override questions to be considered at the polls this November.
Grigoraitis and others pushed for a $7.7 million override of Proposition 2 1/2 last June. It did not succeed. The resulting impact on city services — not including the School Department — was the elimination of the city’s Sustainability Manager, the Economic Development Director and the Social Services Coordinator positions; the Health Department staff moving to short-term funding sources; a reduction in the Council on Aging budget and the Veterans Services budget; police, fire and DPW overtime being reduced by 5 percent; and salaries and other compensation were frozen for over 60 non-union city employees.
In addition, the position of Public Health Nurse split between the schools and Council on Aging went unfilled. Making the Council on Aging social worker a full-time position was unable to be done. The Teen Center Librarian post went unfilled. And administrative support for the Police Department had to remain part-time.
The Recreation Department was removed from the operating budget and now is exclusively fee-based. The Melrose Messina Fund for the Arts was removed from the operating budget (funded through free cash). The Mayor’s community events budget was eliminated.
The Information Technology capital budget has been eliminated, meaning no devices are being replaced and no systems are being improved to enhance areas like cybersecurity and Wi-Fi.
There is no longer any investment in climate resiliency and extreme weather mitigation, including tree replacement, EV charging infrastructure and storm drain management.
And for fiscal year 2026 that begins July 1, things will get much worse.
It is estimated that the schools will have a shortfall of $4 million and the rest of the city’s operation will run a shortfall of $2.1 million. Costs are higher than the city’s ability to pay them.
“We are doing all we can to mitigate some of the pain next year,” Grigoraitis told those at the public forum. “But we can’t solve the current financial situation without additional recurring sustained revenue coming to the city.”
Melrose’s tiny commercial tax base — 9 percent of the total — means revenue generation comes mostly from the city’s residents.
The Financial Task Force continues to gather information as it seeks to figure out what voters’ priorities are and how much they are willing to contribute in taxes to make those priorities into reality, Grigoraitis explained. This will help determine how the override question or questions will be presented at the polls.
One of the many positions on the educational chopping block for fiscal year 2026 is principal of the Veterans Memorial Middle School, a subject addressed by the forum’s first speaker. The father of three talked about the time it takes to “create and cement a new environment for kids to be in.” He praised the work of Melrose High Principal Jason Merrill and his team for building something at the flagship school that has allowed the speaker’s daughter to thrive. He asked that middle school Principal Josh Murphy be given the same chance.
“These budget cuts at the middle school will undermine all that Mr. Murphy has done the past three years. It’s being pushed aside before it has a chance to be cemented,” he said. “Please consider an override that will help restore some of the teachers in the schools. You don’t need fewer teachers at the middle school.”
Former Mayor Gail Infurna told the audience of roughly 100 and the Financial Task Force members, “I know all too well our budgetary constraints and lack of revenue,” saying she did not envy those who have tough decisions to make in the weeks and months ahead.
Infurna said she is concerned for the quality of life for older adults in Melrose. If the Milano Center has to reduce its hours and transportation options for seniors are limited, that quality of life would be greatly affected.
The former mayor and longtime alderman also expressed concern about traffic calming and enforcement that makes the city save for drivers and pedestrians.
Infurna said she is concerned about the future of the city’s ambulance service, which she described as a great benefit to all.
She wants to make sure the police and fire departments have all the tools they need to respond to emergencies.
Infurna wondered about maintaining public buildings, city parks and open spaces and whether public safety personnel including the DPW would be able to continue working at community events. She wanted to make sure the cemetery was maintained. She said she wanted the new Melrose Public Library to be unaffected by the city’s lack of money.
She said she wanted Melrose teachers to have competitive salaries. “We are all affected by the state of our schools,” she added, referencing real estate values.
“As the (budgetary) discussions continue,” she said, “it should be obvious that the only way to resolve such a deficit is by an override. All our city services rely on one another and we don’t have any (magic) levers left to pull. I will be supporting extra funding for all things Melrose,” Infurna said to much applause.
Another resident told the audience she simply cannot afford the increase in property taxes that would come with an override of Proposition 2 1/2.
“I’m retirement age and I can’t retire. I can’t because I can’t afford the taxes, my house insurance has doubled in the last two years” and the cost of heat, food and gas continues to head up. She said she has had to cut back on expenses and will continue to do so if an override passes. She said she will not be able to afford to eat at Melrose restaurants and won’t be able to shop in local stores.
A successful override, she worried, “affects everyone too.”
Another speaker, changing course, offered, “There’s something to be said for giving citizens the power to decide what kind of city they want to live in and what services they want and how they want to pay for them.” He said he hopes the ballot question or questions are structured in such a way that why not only get “our city services back to a level where we want them but that they maintain those levels for the next several years.”
He continued, “The city has a revenue problem and this is our chance to fix that. The cost of an override that does not pass is much greater than the cost of one that passes.”
One parent said the budget-busting cost of out-of-district special education programs needed to be examined. If an override passes, he said, officials should look at how Melrose could provide more services to keep as many kids here in district as possible. He added that he was not insensitive to people on fixed incomes, urging for exceptions for those who can’t afford higher taxes.
Another speaker told the Financial Task Force to be “responsibly aggressive” in determining what the final override dollar amount should be. The number should be large enough to ensure the city’s fiscal health while making sure residents’ shared values are upheld. He also suggested that all areas — schools, roads, public safety, parks — should not be pitted against one another.
“We need to collectively invest in Melrose like we have individually,” he said. “Let’s ensure that the city steps forward, not just sideways.”
Some residents don’t trust the city being responsible with their money. One woman said that in 2019, citizens were told an override was needed because of overcrowding in the schools. The override passed, and then the Beebe School was never opened and the extra 400 students who were reportedly coming into the system never materialized. In fact, she said enrollment has gone down by 100 kids.
She explained that since the 2019 override, the city has money that it didn’t before. The state has adjusted its special education formula, which has led to a 27 percent increase in SPED funding in Melrose. The city also gets part of the Fair Share tax, the meals tax, the cannabis tax, the ride share tax and the Air bnb tax.
“We have to be able to live within our means,” she continued. “I am part of the demographic group that will fall into poverty” if taxes are raised. “I have done everything in my personal budget to cut what I can and I am asking the city to be responsible like I am and come up with different ways to do the same thing,” she said.
The parent of a special needs child told the audience that the service the student received out-of-district was much worse than what was provided in Melrose, where she did very well. The woman added that “being part of a community is paying your fair share of taxes.”
One speaker urged the task force to be very concise “in your points for the override. You need very clear bullet points…You have to sell this better than you did the last one.”