Bill Manzi.com

A 7 alarm fire has devastated an entire city block in our neighboring city of Lawrence. The blaze started at around 2:30 a.m. and is centered in the South Union and Market Street areas. The firefighters are battling in difficult conditions, and at least 40 people have been moved to shelters.

Link to channel 7 news reports here.

Governor Deval Patrick will use a portion of prospective casino licensing revenue to fund a shortfall in lottery revenue dedicated to local aid in his budget proposal due on Wednesday. The Globe reports:

In a challenge to lawmakers to accept his plans to expand gambling, Governor Deval L. Patrick will propose using $124 million of the $300 million that he said could be generated from casino licensing fees to cover a local aid shortfall.

The Lottery shortfall exists due to actual lottery revenues not meeting projections.

“The governor’s budget will not be balanced with this money,” Kirwan said in an interview yesterday. She said the $124 million would make up the projected shortfall in the State Lottery, the major source of local aid to already financially strapped cities and towns, and would not be part of the budget’s balance sheet. The municipalities had been relying on projections from last year that the Lottery would generate $935 million, but that has been reduced to $811 million.

The Governor’s proposal drew immediate fire from the House, where Ways and Means Chair Bob DeLeo condemned it:

The governor’s proposal prompted a swift rebuke from the House’s chief fiscal leader. “Forget the cart – this is putting the entire wagon train before the horse,” said Robert A. DeLeo, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

“Moreover, even if this money did become available this year, which is a big ‘if,’ it may not be there the next year. Then we would have done nothing to really help . . . cities, towns, and property owners,” said DeLeo, a Winthrop Democrat.

The Senate side expressed some support, with Ways and Means Chair Steven C. Panagiotakos issuing words of support.

The chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Steven C. Panagiotakos, concedes there is a question about whether the licensing fees could be available for the next fiscal year. But Panagiotakos, a Lowell Democrat who supports legalizing casinos, said the governor is correct in using the budget to push the plan.

“He is being as responsible as many of the other governors who used this sort of tactic in the past,” Panagiotakos said. “A governor’s budget is as much a fiscal document as it is a political document. The politics here is that he is trying to drive this issue further down the field in order to get it to a legislative debate.”

And so Senator Panagiotakos hits the nail on the head. This is not so much a real budget document as it is a political statement, with an increasingly frustrated Governor Patrick attempting to drive the legislature to action on his casino proposal. With an increasingly bleak economic future facing the state localities are concerned about this prospective cut in lottery aid. We will now witness the budgetary chess match between Speaker Dimasi and Governor Patrick. It will be an interesting and vital match for cities and towns.

The below is a statement issued by the Massachusetts Municipal Association on the apparent decision by the Patrick Administration to include revenue from the proposed licensing of three casinos in Massachusetts in the local aid numbers for FY2009.

January 20, 2008
For further information, contact
MMA Executive Director Geoff Beckwith at 617-426-7272
Statement of the Massachusetts Municipal Association
Regarding Gov. Patrick’s Proposed Budget for Fiscal 2009

Cities and towns are facing widespread fiscal distress, a fact that has been widely
reported during the past year. Communities are essential to our state’s economic
competitiveness, delivering the vital services that keep and attract families and businesses to
Massachusetts, and the fiscal unrest that confronts our localities weakens our economy, a
dangerous trend that must be averted. After adjusting for inflation, fiscal 2008 local aid is $621
million below fiscal 2002 levels. In order to make up the difference and balance their budgets,
cities and towns have been forced to increase their reliance on the property tax, cut services, or do both.
An area of great concern in the Administration’s fiscal 2009 budget proposal is the highly
controversial and unfortunate decision to tie $124 million in local aid to the question of
legalizing casinos. The Governor’s budget threatens a $124 million cut in Lottery distributions if
the casino legislation fails. Local aid to cities and towns cannot be cut, and should not be
contingent on giving a green light to expanded gambling, or other such initiatives.
Lottery revenues have slumped for the past two years, and municipal leaders deeply
appreciate the state’s action to protect cities and towns during this time. The state has honored the budgeted Lottery distribution of $920 million in fiscal 2007 and $935 million in fiscal 2008.
Legislators have recognized that a cut in Lottery aid would trigger a fiscal crisis at the local
level. Cities and towns need at least level-funding of Lottery aid at $935 million, and this
amount should not be tied to, or contingent on, the Governor’s casino bill.
We look forward to examining the Governor’s entire budget proposal, and working with
the members of the House and Senate to make sure that local aid is protected, and that cities and towns have the resources they need to end the local fiscal distress that is eroding our economy.

The Town of Hull is seeking permitting for four 430 foot high windmills, which would join two other existing wind turbines to provide enough energy to meet the total demand from Hull residents. The four turbines would be located offshore. A Globe story detailed the lack of substantial opposition to Hull’s permitting request. Hull has a municipally owned power company. Read the Globe story at this link.