New Bedford Faces $18M Budget Gap, Tough Choices Ahead

NEW BEDFORD (WBSM) — New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell delivered his annual State of the City Address Wednesday morning to a crowd of more than 600 people at the newly-reopened Zeiterion Performing Arts Center. While he touted the city’s successes of the past year, he also warned that increasing costs and an $18 million budget gap heading into next year mean “tough choices” are ahead.

“Our ability to pay the bills has become more constrained,” Mitchell said. “For many years now, the state has been gradually closing off the spigot of unrestricted state aid. This year, we received about the same amount we did in 2008, which is remarkable given how much everything has gone up in price since then.”

“As state aid has fallen in real terms, city government has had no choice but to rely on more property tax revenue. The situation is not fair to property taxpayers,” he said. “I am committed to working with the (New Bedford City) Council so that the City can manage these obligations, but we can no longer avoid tough choices.”

Despite the dire prediction about the budget, Mitchell still announced new initiatives that will focus on issues like improving local roads and boosting early childhood education services.

“Block by block, we are building the foundation of a thriving city at the center of a vibrant region, a city in which everyone not only feels welcomed, but recognizes they have a role to play – a city that all will be proud to call home,” Mitchell said.

Increased Investment in New Bedford Roads Amid Rising Costs

That will include an additional $1 million in local investment into the city’s roadways. In recent years, $3 million has been earmarked in each annual budget for road reconstruction and paving, with the rest of the funding coming from the Commonwealth’s Chapter 90 program. In the past, New Bedford had allocated zero dollars from local taxes to fund road repairs and was entirely dependent on state aid.

Mitchell warned that the additional million dollars – an increase of 33 percent – doesn’t necessarily mean an increased amount of road repairs.

“The condition of the streets still has a way to go, but it is gradually improving,” he said. “But things are getting more expensive. The cost of public construction projects has gone up nearly 50 percent since 2018. We need to understand that the city’s capital spending has to keep up.”

Eversource Agreement Could Save New Bedford Millions

Mitchell also announced that the City entered into an agreement with Eversource for the utility company to take increased responsibility in paving roads.

“Over the next two years, Eversource will be upgrading an underground main transmission line across the city, and the company has agreed, at our insistence, that it will repave – at its expense – the entirety of the corridor curb-to-curb, even though it is not otherwise legally required to do so,” he said. “If we had to do the paving, it would cost the city about $25 million. It’s a good deal for New Bedford.”

New Bedford Launching Digital Dashboard to Track Roadwork and More

The City is also making it easier for residents to track the progress of public works projects.

“As you’ve come upon construction projects across the city, have you ever wondered, ‘When is that project going to be done?’ We want you to be able to get the answer more easily,” Mitchell said. “This year, we will launch a digital dashboard on the City’s website that will offer updates to the City’s ongoing public works projects. That increased transparency, I believe, will give the public confidence that we’re spending their money on things that are needed.”

Added Focus on Early Childhood Education in New Bedford

Mitchell also announced a new position that will be created in his administration. He said the school department’s work of increasing childhood learning, along with the formation of a formal service network for the well-being of young children by the United Way which also includes Southcoast Health and various government and nonprofit agencies, need a “quarterback.”

“We believe the best course would be to create a position of Early Childhood Coordinator in city government that would serve as a nerve center for the network,” Mitchell said. “The idea behind it is that if everyone is talking to one another, the members of the network can identify learning disabilities more readily, and expert providers can intervene with services in a timely way.”

He said the position “won’t be funded out of the general fund, but through a partnership with the school department.”

Housing Growth and Development Progress

Another major issue in New Bedford is the available housing supply. Mitchell said that the City’s Building New Bedford Housing Plan has led to the creation of 250 new housing units over the last two years, with about 1,500 more in the pipeline. He also noted that since the Vacant Property Initiative was launched two years ago, 170 vacant properties now have occupancy or are in active rehabilitation.