State of the City: A Welcome to 2025 and Beyond
Good vibes were on the agenda in the form of the “2024 year in Review” aka the Manager’s annual “State of the City” address. If you watch one meeting this winter, this should be it. Last night, Manager Golden took the opportunity to tout some of the accomplishments of his office and the council. He broke the list down into three categories: economic growth, community engagement, and improving city services. Among the highlights were:
- Improved budgeting software and interface
- Community input sessions for the budget process
- An improved credit rating to highest level in decades
- Largest reserves ever at $16.9M
- Reduced interest rates on future borrowing
- A fully staffed law department for an entire calendar year
- A city-wide contract tracking system
- 11.7 miles of road paving and sealing
- 11 projects to enhance 7 schools
- Finalized construction projects in 8 parks
This year’s address was accentuated by a slick video featuring the above and much more. As of this morning, I can’t find it on YouTube. Hopefully they can get it posted soon as it’s well worth a watch (in the meantime, please enjoy SwagDog).
The Manager’s remarks following the video looked forward to 2025 and featured a huge announcement: Lowell is the first city in the US to be a UN front runner city. Again, I’m going to need somebody to explain this to me like I’m a five year old, but from what I can gather, it could mean massive investment into the city.
Piggy-backed on the Manager’s address were a number of financed-based informational reports and a motion response. Namely, a report on our 2025 “Free” Cash Certification; a FY 2025 Government Finance Officers Association Budget Presentation Award won by the City; the FY 2024 Fiscal Year-End Review, and the Manager’s FY 2026 “Budget Instructions” to department heads. Finally, there was a motion response advising of the allocation of the final ARPA funds.
These reports are very dense and defy summary before 9 AM on a Wednesday. However, if you take a spin though them, they could serve to temper the jubilation of the Manager’s address. Specifically, we are reminded that the $76M ARPA windfall is coming to an end. During remarks on the city’s revenue prospects, CFO Conor Baldwin stated that he does not expect our returns on investments to stay the same, nor does he expect our level of cash in the bank to stay the same. He noted that the influx of federal spending was “an opportunity for the city to not have to rely on general fund appropriations to fund some of the services that residents expect.” He cautioned that when that federal cash buffer is gone, “it will get difficult.”
[Mgr. Golden and CFO Baldwin during peak ARPA era (dramatic rendition)]
Indeed, the financial documents noted above seem to be preparing us for that difficulty. Of note, in the Budget Instructions to Department Heads, Manager Golden writes:
I expect departments to submit level-service budgets in all accounts other than salaries & wages. For FY26, we will not be considering any new staff positions unless there is a demonstrated cost savings by the department head to the overall operating budget. We also ask that you please consider a “Plan-B” option when reviewing your budgets in case more funding isn’t provided by the state in the House / Senate Budgets. Please be prepared to make cuts when reviewing your budget submission if the Finance Team should instruct you to do so.
Further, we were advised that our “enterprise funds” remain in the red; the Charter School assessment continues to suck; and there is incertitude surrounding state revenue collections – which obviously has implications for a city heavily dependent on state funding.
[Mgr. Golden navigating the post-ARPA era (even more dramatic rendition)]
The good news is that despite these challenges ahead, we appear relatively well-positioned to address them.
Or maybe we go down in a blaze of glory like Tony Montana? Either way.
