Mayor Christenson addresses City Council on Malden municipal finances following rejection of tax override

Forecasts proposed FY27 budget will be ready for review earlier this year; deficit of $8-million-plus will bring personnel & other budget cuts

By Steve Freker

Mayor Gary Christenson addressed the Malden City Council Tuesday night, one week after voters rejected the city’s first-ever Proposition 2 1/2 override request. “The final tally was just 124 votes, but the voters have spoken and we will follow their wishes,” the Mayor told the Council at its regular weekly meeting. “It was not the result we were looking for, but that does not change our situation.”

The city’s finances are in a perilous position, with a structural budget deficit that is now estimated at $8-million-plus that will be incorporated into the budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2026-2027 (FY27).

Mayor Christenson told the Council Tuesday night that even that figure “is a moving target” — especially since the city had forecast savings of an estimated $3 million with Malden’s announced switch to the Government Insurance Commission (GIC) oversight, the same health insurance setup as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. “Until all the numbers are in, that [deficit] figure is a moving target,” the Mayor said, referring to the final numbers that will reflect GIC signups among Malden municipal and School Department employees. This month of April is when signups are being held, and any savings realized will not be able to be determined until the end of the month.

The override proposal featured two ballot questions, 1A and 1B, proposing separate, specific tax override amounts: $5.4 million for “1A” and $8.2 million for “1B.” The $5.4 million would have meant an increase of about $326 this year for the average Malden homeowner, or 1% more for their total tax bill. The $8.2 million override would have meant $548 more on bills, or a 1.2% increase.

A near-record low turnout of just 15 percent of Malden voters went to the polls on March 31, and both ballot questions failed; the 1A for $5.4 million was not passed by a razor-thin margin, 51-49 percent — just 124 votes — while ballot question 1B for $8.2 million failed by a 56-44 percent margin.

In a series of five informational forums presented to the public between January and mid-March, city officials stressed that if neither override passed, significant cuts to municipal personnel and city services would follow. Officials said the cuts would come citywide, in probably every department, including public safety — Malden Police Dept. and Malden Fire Dept. At least 60 jobs will be cut from the FY27 budget, they said.

Even if both ballot questions had passed (only the highest amount would have stood), Mayor Christenson had already planned $2 million in cuts to the FY27 budget plan.

While Mayor Christenson’s brief remarks did not include details, he did say he and his administrative team were already working intensively to craft an FY27 budget that would include cuts that would reflect the $8-million-plus structural deficit. The Mayor added that the city’s budget proposal would be presented to the City Council earlier than usual “to allow more time for appropriate review” in light of the cuts to personnel and services that are expected to be proposed.

Mayor Christenson did reference the correction of a reporting error on a net school spending line item of $1.6 million that he stressed “will not change the structural deficit total whatsoever,” explaining that the amount was reported on the “city side” of the spending ledger and not, correctly, with the school department spending. Net school spending became an issue during the override ballot question discussions when it was reported Malden did not spend the amount required by the state for FY26 and would have to make it up in FY27. That led to the second ballot question and a higher amount requested of $8.4 million.

Mayor Christenson departed following his brief remarks and Councillors did not pose any questions. Several of them said they would have asked some questions had they been presented the opportunity.

Several Councillors, including Councillor-at-Large Karen Colón Hayes, Ward 4 Councillor Ryan O’Malley and Ward 6 Councillor Stephen Winslow, said they had specific questions on the $1.6 million net school spending figure to which they would seek answers.

Councillor-at-Large Carey McDonald, who is chairperson of the Finance Committee, and Council President Amanda Linehan (Ward 3) both expressed thanks for the Mayor’s appearance and both also acknowledged there would be “tough discussions and decisions” to be made during FY27 city budget deliberations, “which are going to affect people’s lives.”