This post is the first in a series on Springfield mayoral candidates ahead of the September 8 preliminary. SPRINGFIELD—Salvatore Circosta and the man he seeks to replace as mayor, Domenic Sarno, have a lot in common. Both are Italian, the same generation of each’s family
On Wednesday, the commonwealth and its 351 municipalities began anew, as localities closed the books on fiscal year 2015 and began FY2016. The state itself has not delivered a full-year spending plan. Others squeezed it in at the last minute. Springfield did not get its
SPRINGFIELD—For the second year in a row, Mayor Domenic Sarno’s municipal budget achieved passage without any modification from the City Council. The $594.9 million spending plan was touted for needing no reserves or layoffs to bridge deficits. However, councilors did express reservations about the city’s
SPRINGFIELD—In a rather subdued press conference for the fairly good news, Mayor Domenic Sarno flanked by Chief of Staff Denise Jordan and Chief Administrative and Financial Officer Timothy Plante formally released the municipal budget for fiscal year 2016. Measuring in at just a few million
UPDATED 5/7/15 4:03PM: To reflect a correction. A previous version of this story indicated that local aid formulas from the state were affected by property values. While this is true, the implications upon Proposition 2 ½ and property taxes, and not local aid, is the
SPRINGFIELD—As it capped off 2014, the City Council formally and narrowly approved the tax rates for residential and commercial property following the annual deliberation over which group of tax payers were more in greater need of relief. On a 7-6 vote, the Council approved rates that
SPRINGFIELD—A Monday déjà vu agenda consisting largely of repeats from the last meeting made for a relatively prompt hearing. Items that returned either were dispatched with remarkable speed compared to the pace that sent them to committee two weeks ago. Both the agreement between the
LONGMEADOW—In the shadow of the 2002 recession, each community felt cuts to local aide—inevitable as acting Governor Jane Swift ruled out new revenue—in their own way. During an assembly in January that year, students, faculty and staff at the high school gathered and learned what
UPDATED 7/14/14 4:02PM: For grammar, clarity, and additional quotes & links. Welcome to the Sunday Feature: An effort to bring you lengthier, more in-depth stories on some Sundays. SPRINGFIELD—“More than sufficient, the budget passes.” Those six words from City Council President Michael Fenton on Jun
SPRINGFIELD—Weeks after the release of a budget with far less pain and sacrifice than years past, Mayor Domenic’s Sarno’s spending plan passed the City Council without so much as a hiccup. With up to four hearings scheduled to debate and pass the budget, only the