City Council approves $675K transfer to cover winter treatment deficit, various depts.

By Barbara Taormina

After approving more than $11 million in loans for necessary sewer system improvements, the City Council voted to approve $675,757 in spending from the city’s free cash or budget surplus from last year.

The lion’s share of that money, $515,757, is for the snow and ice deficit. CFO Richard Viscay anticipated questions about a half million-dollar deficit for the account during a winter when there wasn’t much snow. “There were a lot of ice events,” said Viscay, adding that much of the money was for sand, salt and overtime.

Viscay also explained that the city needed to pay for the storage of DPW equipment while construction for the new DPW facility on Charger Street is underway. “We didn’t have any place to store equipment,” said Viscay.

Councillors transferred $160,000 from free cash to the Fire Department’s auto maintenance account. Viscay said the money would be used to pay for significant mechanical problems with fire equipment.

Councillors also voted to transfer $1,100,994 from the Water/Sewer retained earnings fund to the Water/Sewer Enterprise fund.

The council also approved the transfer of $225,000 from the overlay surplus account to the comprehensive survey account and the Assessor’s Revaluation Account. The $75,000 for the Assessors is to assist with the valuation of some of the larger properties and projects in the city. The remaining $150,000 would be used to conduct a comprehensive survey of salaries, benefits and job descriptions of all City of Revere employees. According to Viscay, the survey would provide a solid, detailed document for the new mayor for the next round of collective bargaining.