Mayor submits $223.98 million FY25 municipal budget to Malden City Council

Another challenging year for city, but budget is balanced with no projected job cuts 

By Steve Freker

Mayor Gary Christenson last week submitted a balanced budget proposal of $223,985,932 to the Malden City Council for its review.

The $223.98 million figure represents an increase of just under 5%, or about $10 million, over last year’s FY24 figure of $213.8 million.

Mayor Christenson, in his transmittal letter to the City Council, noted several key points in relation to the FY25 budget proposal including that the Malden Public Schools are fully funded as to Net School Spending; the end of the added American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds after this year’s budget; and that there are no projected job cuts on the city of school side.

Education spending continues to be the biggest portion of the budget, again over $90 million.

“Not surprisingly, education funding remains our biggest cost and our biggest priority.  We have repeatedly called for an equitable formula for school funding.  The current formula will continue to overburden our local finances with required contribution increases that will force us to make some tough decisions in other areas of city services,” Mayor Christenson stated.

“There is no easy answer, but we know we are making progress in gaining the understanding necessary to address this important issue, and we know our state delegation is committed to partnering with us in doing so,” he added.

“The Fiscal Year 2025 budget is a fiscally responsible plan, and a foundational basis of the city’s annual operations,” Mayor Christenson told the Councillors in his budget letter. “We are in a strong position having been responsible with past budgets.

“We have also been realistic about the challenges that lie ahead and the importance of making difficult choices today to continue to provide critical services while ensuring we never put the city at risk,” Mayor Christenson added.

The Mayor also thanked his budget team for its continued diligence and hard work in helping keep the city on solid financial footing.

I would like to once again thank Chief Strategy Officer Ronald Hogan and Chief Financial Officer Chuck Ranaghan who have been working on this budget and for the continued improvement of our transformative approach since January,” Mayor Christenson stated. ” I also want to thank our Department Heads who actively participated in the budget process through this new platform, resulting in a budget that we can all be proud of.”

The City Council referred the budget proposal to its Finance Committee for review, which will not go over most departments’ budgets with department heads.

The Council may not add to the budget proposal in its voting, but is allowed to cut from the budget is it deems necessary.

The Council must approve the budget by June 30 or before that date, so as to ensure operations begin for the next FY25 on July 1, 2024.