FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2024
Burlington City Leaders Outline Solutions to Close
FY25 Budget Gap
Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak on track to deliver balanced budget while also making intentional investments to improve community safety.
Burlington, Vt – Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak and Chief Administrative Officer Katherine Schad held a press conference today to outline the City’s progress in creating a balanced budget. The administration has successfully closed the $13 million budget gap, which was announced on April 24.
Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak shared the following statement on Tuesday morning:
“We set out with the goal of creating a budget that prioritized affordability for residents and sustainability of City operations.
“We did this fairly, asking both residential taxpayers and the business community to contribute to closing the gap and undertaking a comprehensive review of general fund expenses to identify areas for right-sizing.
“I am grateful for the collaborative engagement of Department Heads, Union leaders, and my community budget advisors, who leaned in to generate creative solutions.
“Together, we identified additional revenue and cost savings that will allow us to close this budget gap, while also making strategic investments to improve community safety in the coming fiscal year.”
The Mayor and CAO presented a range of solutions, including modest increases in taxes, planned savings from positions that will remain vacant in FY25, and increases in fees for some City programs. The presentation from today’s press conference can be found here.
1) Reducing expenditures to begin to right size our budget, largely through vacancy savings for FY25
2) Repurposing ARPA funds
3) Increasing fees to be more in line with providing services
4) Increasing taxes in a fair way across multiple sectors
5) Increasing revenue in other creative ways
The expected recommendations from the Operational Efficiency Study will not be reflected in the FY25 budget. However, those recommendations will be helpful in the coming months as the City plans for future fiscal years.
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