Category Archives: Municipal Finance

Outsourcing Municipal Services

Posted on February 7, 2012 by billmanzi

It seems like an appropriate time to talk about the effective outsourcing of municipal services, which is not only in the news today, but will likely be something that will be on the front burner for some time to come. … Continue reading →

Posted in Municipal Finance | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Weekly Podcast- Staggering Municipal Retiree Health Care Costs

Posted on January 14, 2012 by billmanzi

I had a great conversation with Teddy Panos this week on WCAP, 980 on the am dial, talking about the new report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation detailing the staggering unfunded retiree health care obligations of ten gateway cities, including … Continue reading →

Posted in Municipal Finance | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Methuen High School Project

Posted on January 3, 2012 by billmanzi

The Methuen High School project has seen its construction schedule slip by a yet undetermined amount of time. This schedule slippage is due solely to the desire of myself, as the former Mayor, and the Building Committee, to hold the … Continue reading →

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The Mayor's Salary

Posted on September 5, 2011 by billmanzi

Today’s Tribune has a story about a proposal to lift the Mayor’s salary in Methuen to make it competitive with salaries paid to CEO’s in cities with similar populations and budgets. I filed this proposal on behalf of a group … Continue reading →

Posted in Methuen, Methuen City Council, Methuen Mayor's Race, Municipal Finance | Tagged | 3 Comments

Methuen Budget Message and Presentation

Posted on June 21, 2011 by billmanzi

I have attached my budget presentation below, along with my budget message to the Methuen City Council. Liberated some of the ideas from the slide show from Manager Lynch in Lowell. City Council meets in budget session tonight. Dear Chairman … Continue reading →

Posted in Methuen, Municipal Finance | Tagged | 1 Comment

Methuen Health Care Deal Announced

Posted on June 7, 2011 by billmanzi

I was very happy to report a health care deal yesterday with Methuen’s Section 19 Coalition, which includes representatives of all city unions. It is a one year contract (FY12) which continues the substantial changes we enacted in Methuen in … Continue reading →

Posted in Methuen, Municipal Finance | Tagged , | 3 Comments

State Senate Moves on Muni Health Care Reform

Posted on May 19, 2011 by billmanzi

The Senate Ways and Means Committee yesterday released its version of municipal health care reform, and while it differed from the House version it certainly delivers on the promise of municipal health care reform. More to say later, the MMA … Continue reading →

Posted in Methuen, Municipal Finance, State News | Tagged | 4 Comments

New Mass Taxpayers Foundation Report

Posted on May 12, 2011 by billmanzi

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation issued a new report today detailing a ten year health care cost comparision of actual spending on municipal health care vs costs that would have been incurred if municipalities had health care plan design authority. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Municipal Finance, State News | Tagged | 4 Comments

The No Solutions Agenda

Posted on May 6, 2011 by billmanzi

The House budget section dealing with municipal health care has drawn some serious flak from different quarters, with plenty of media and blog coverage The hand wringing centers around comparisons to Governor Walker’s legislation in Wisconsin, with cries of labor … Continue reading →

Posted in Methuen, Municipal Finance, State News | Tagged | 1 Comment

Boston Foundation Report on Muni Health Care

Posted on April 6, 2011 by billmanzi

The Boston Foundation and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation came out with a report on Municipal Health care in Massachusetts, and the report is not surprising. The Foundation and the MTF looked at the health care plans of 14 communities (Beverly, … Continue reading →

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