Salem Releases $160 Million Budget For Fiscal 2022

SALEM, MA — Salem's $160 million city budget for fiscal 2022 presented to the City Council this week includes a 4.6 percent increase in spending over the previous fiscal year.

The budget includes a 3.6 percent increase for Salem Public Schools, $2.4 million in infrastructure work, a new Sustainability, Energy, and Resiliency Department focused exclusively on climate change and a new Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

The full budget proposal can be found here.

“It continues our balanced and responsible approach to city finances," Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll said in presenting the budget to the City Council for hearings. "It invests in the critical services that make Salem a vibrant city and one with schools in which we can all take pride — in short, a stronger, more livable city for all."

Driscoll said fixed costs — such as insurance, pensions and debt payments — will account for about one-third of the budget increase.

The $2.4 million in infrastructure spending will go toward roadway and sidewalk work, school building repairs, water and sewer improvements, coastal resiliency projects, accessibility projects, a new fire engine, playground and athletic court improvements, and new body-worn cameras for police officers.

In presenting the budget, Driscoll said the city is still in the process of recovering from revenue lost in the coronavirus pandemic, but that some projects delayed during the business restrictions should now move forward.

"The COVID-19 pandemic triggered an unforeseeable financial crisis," Driscoll said. "With economy activity coming to a near-complete standstill for much of FY2021, city revenues were substantially impacted. Income to the city from meal and room excises, parking fees, and even permits and licenses, diminished immediately and slowly has been recovering.

"Last year we made difficult decisions to put off certain expenditures, reduce budget requests, hold vacant positions open longer than we normally would, shorten city office hours, and implement wage freezes and furloughs, all with the goal of managing the unpredictable fiscal situation."

She said the city fared better during the pandemic than most with a "net zero loss in business" and a storefront vacancy rate that has decreased to 4 percent.

"We weathered the fiscal challenges without having to draw down substantially from our reserve funds or tap heavily into our levy capacity," she said. "All of this is thanks in large part to the professionalism of city staff and leadership, the early actions taken to support businesses and embrace investment in our city, and our thoughtful approach to managing municipal finances.”

She said "new growth" is estimated at $1.5 million in tax revenues and must continue to be embraced as a way to limit the burden on residents.

"Given the reliable increase in fixed costs to the city and the financial challenges of the past year, a reflexively anti-growth position is equivalent to endorsing substantial tax increases on Salem homeowners and reduction in critical city services like public safety and public works," Driscoll said. "With appropriate new growth comes much-needed housing, commercial enterprises with jobs, and new revenues to support the needs of Salem taxpayers and local government."

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)