Although next fiscal year’s budget is finalized and approved, some are not entirely satisfied with the numbers, such as Board of Alderman President, Alderman at Large William White, who said he would like to change the process for next year’s budgeting.

By Oliver Bok

The Board of Aldermen approved the final 2016 budget at their regular meeting on June 25, but not all of the aldermen were pleased.

“Real families, working class families, Somervillians, are getting priced out of this city,” Ward 4 Alderman Tony Lafuente said. “And that’s just a fact. And we’re responsible for that because we keep approving these things.”

The new budget raises property taxes 5.6 percent and increases the price of residential parking permits from $30 to $40.

During the month of June, the finance committee met seven times and went through the proposed budget department by department. The committee made $237,648 in cuts to the proposed budget, leaving the final 2016 general operating fund at $195,770,799. However, to Lafuente, the cuts didn’t go far enough.

Ward 4 Alderman Tony Lafuente expressed concern that higher taxes and fees are hurting city residents.

“Frankly, I wish we had a made one million in cuts,” he stated. “We all have certain parts of the budget that are very important to us, and therefore we all defend those parts of the budget, and collectively we are where we are.”

Board of Aldermen President William White said that he had had many conversations with residents who didn’t understand why taxes were increasing, especially in light of the new revenues from Assembly Square.

“Any of the new growth that’s been coming from Assembly Square has essentially gone to fund items in the budget,” White said. Both White and Lafuente said that they wanted to change the budgeting process for next year to give the aldermen more time to consider new spending increases.

White warned that in the future the city should think twice about raising property taxes to the maximum limit the Commonwealth allows.

“Out of the top 20 communities in Massachusetts population wise, when you look at how much the property tax levy has gone up, we’re the third highest,” White said. However, he also added that Somerville spends less per capita than most other Massachusetts municipalities.

The Board also talked about the no parking signs that went up along Medford Street this past week to prepare for construction on McGrath Highway. According to Alderman Maryann Heuston, the city and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation failed to adequately notify residents and business owners of the parking restrictions. As a result of the parking concerns, the city has delayed construction until September. In the meantime, Heuston called for meetings with residents, business owners and the project managers to figure out how to mitigate the impact of construction on parking.