By Linda Scott
Watertown Resident
PART 3: Action Expresses Priorities (Mahatma Gandhi)
So, I went through the budget papers for Fiscal Year 2026. To make this a little shorter, I’ve abbreviated goals, etc. For the exact documents that I am outlining below, Click here and choose Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Policy Guidelines.
An important note on transparency: I will be adding my opinions and questions to these pages. They’ll be in italics. You, obviously, will have your own thoughts, and as always, I welcome your comments.
Let’s concentrate on the first three pages, entitled “Watertown’s FY2026 Budget Policy Guidelines.” Page one focuses on Cost-Savings/Revenues. There are five points.
A. Proceed with the Comprehensive Plan, concentration on growing tax base and focus on small business.
B. Implementation of the Watertown Square Plan, emphasis on housing and small/medium businesses
C. Seeking money from larger development projects. This usually comes in the form of linkage fees (a linkage fee is charged by a local government on developments to raise funds to offset the impacts of that development on the community). All linkage money in Watertown is earmarked for Affordable Housing.
D. Require all departments to pursue grant money
E. Pursue Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) from all Watertown non-profit organizations
A and B, it seems to me, are a bit vague, and I’m not sure that they’re cost-cutting measures at all. As a matter of fact, these broad goals leave the door wide open for a lot of really exorbitant expenditures. (Can you say CVS seven story parking garage?).
As a justification of sorts, they talk about helping small businesses. It seems to me, so far, the only thing that large development has done for small businesses in Watertown is to drive them out.
Letter C is obvious, and is done already. But given the slowdown on construction, this may be a very small pool of money this year.
In D, I’m surprised that they didn’t add this as a coordination responsibility of our newly hired Management and Grant Specialist, instead of putting this on the shoulders of the departments. Also, a salient point, not all “free money” is free. For instance take the streets that Watertown has redone using State Complete Street funds.
When the street is done, it requires more maintenance than other streets, and the City hasn’t budgeted for that in the past. Eventually, I’ve been told by residents who live on these types of streets, the results are run-down, dirty, and narrower streets.
In E, is this happening already? If yes, how has this been working? Who keeps track of these moneys/services/goods? Is there a report for previous years?
It would seem to me that with the exception of large institutions like Harvard, whose endowment is 53.2 billion dollars, non-profits are going to be struggling. I’m not sure how fruitful this will be in a small place like Watertown, but sure, let’s give it a try.
Part 4: Action Expresses Priorities, Two
In the last couple days, we’ve been playing catch up on this year’s (FY2026) budget process.
We’ve looked at the probable lean times ahead and looked at how that could affect the decisions that our City Councilors are going to make. We’ve looked at some of last year’s budget priorities and the Cost/Revenue budget guidelines for 2026.
Today let’s look at the Program Enhancements/Expenditures. You might find this interesting, because it’ll give you insight into where (at least some) of our councilors want us to go. There are 13 priorities in all, letters A to M, and they are ranked, A being the most important, etc.
These are the things that are proposed that our City should deem a priority in spending in 2026. Once again, I’ve shortened the descriptions, but you can find the actual pages (2 and 3) at the link I gave above.
Let’s take a look at them one at a time:
A. Departments should budget to implement the Climate and Energy Plan (I’d appreciate seeing the main initiatives listed here for clarity and transparency). To understand what this means, here’s the entire Resilient Watertown Climate and Energy Plan, revised in 2022.
B. Resources (aka money) for the Comprehensive Plan and Watertown Square Plan (This is quite possibly the most costly initiative in this budget, and at the same time, the least clear and transparent).
C. Working with schools to contain the budget at 3.5% for 2026.
D, Develop a budget (within the confines of Prop 2 ½) for 5 capital projects: Senior Center/ recreation area (or is that center?); East End fire station; DPW staging area; Watertown Square implementation; Middle School renovations
E. Continue to work with the School Building Committee to work on the high school without debt exclusion funding. (For those unfamiliar with the term “debt exclusion,” it means a temporary tax increase for a number of years to pay for a project.)
F. Fund the recommendations of the Health and Human Services Assessment. See Slide show presentation of Assessment.
G. Funding a plan to coordinate all things “street related” (sewers, sidewalks, utilities, etc.) to make these projects well planned and executed.
Apparently, this has been a long-time city issue. In a 2013 resolution entitled “Watertown’s Ongoing Capital Project Budget Guidelines” this issue is addressed this way: “3. Coordination Issues Related to Public Works Projects: The increasing volume and complexity of public works projects requires a rethinking of how the Town does its planning to maximize the use of capital funds and departmental resources, as well as providing information to the public in a timely, readily accessible fashion.”
It also states in a very clear manner what they are talking about in terms of cost savings: “Insure that work is sequenced to obtain the maximum life from road and sidewalk reconstruction without major water/sewer work compromising their integrity.” This 2013 document, (found at the same link above, go to choose Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Policy Guidelines.), I find, is very comprehensive in its focus.
What I don’t see mentioned in this current 2026 plan is a plan for effective implementation.
For instance, last year Morse Street repairs were on hold for months, not because it wasn’t approved, but because there seemed to be some kind of disconnect between departments, and there was no oversight to avoid this delay.
H. City to continue to identify and acquire land for open space and recreation. Community
Preservation* funds are specifically mentioned. Here are the projects to date: CPC Funded/Committed Projects: 2022-2025.
*The Massachusetts Community Preservation Act allows the City of Watertown to collect a 2% surcharge on real estate taxes to support open space, historic preservation, affordable housing, and outdoor recreation projects in the City.
If you’ve noticed that your first property tax bill of the year is a little bigger, that’s your contribution to these funds. According to the Community Preservation Coalition, in FY2024, the average household in Watertown paid $140.44.
I. Fund DPW resources to make it more efficient and flexible. Question: What does this really mean? Is this working toward our getting that DPW Accreditation that has been mentioned? (See Watertown News article here) A lot of residents are very interested in improvements in this department. More details, please. And how is this different from Priority G?
J. Continue to work with the Watertown Transportation Management Association to identify sustainable sources of funding for permanent local transit program. This local public transportation goal will be one to watch carefully.
Was our $80,000 State grant money effected by the recent flurry of activity in Washington, D.C.? If anyone’s interested in what this is all about, see thisWatertown News article.
There’s also a meeting that introduces you to the project on cable. I reached out to Zeke Mermell, Watertown’s Senior Transportation Planner, to find the link and the status of the funds. He has not gotten back to me with the details yet. I will post this information if I receive any.
K. Fund an assessment of the Public Buildings Department to meet the needs of our new buildings. First of all, what does this mean? What does this involve? Why is this not doable with the staff that we have? Are there special qualifications for doing this assessment that no one has in Watertown?
L. Enhance the DPW Forestry Division. Trees are one of those things that make day to day life in Watertown more pleasant and enjoyable and add value to our City. There’s a reason that in almost every real estate and rental description there’s the phrase “tree-lined street” (whether it’s true or not) as a selling point for property. They add value to property.In the race for primacy between asphalt and trees in Watertown, the asphalt is winning. Besides their ability to help us mitigate heat and carbon dioxide in the air, trees elevate our moods and make life generally more pleasant in Watertown. It’s clear to me that a robust Forestry Division is a big part of the solution.
M. Reuse and funding for the old North Branch Library. This is the one! This is the political wildcard, if you will, that I referred to in Part One. Why, in a year of austerity, would this even be a priority? The building has been empty and neglected since 2006. Why here, why now and for what purpose? I think that the priority here is not the building, but the people who want the building.
There’s been a push from a few residents to…the word “update” isn’t quite right … how about administer life support, to this building, where windows have been known to be left broken, with animals coming and going. Here’s a picture taken by the City of this building a few years ago:
Some residents want this building to be renovated. For what purpose? Art space has been mentioned, yoga classes, but no specific purpose has been identified.
In an effort to “save and restore” this current building, it’s been claimed that it’s historic. In the City assessment records, this building is listed as having been built in 1941. Here’s a picture of the truly historic building that used to be on this property, built in 1882. Do you see any resemblance?
For more Information: The North Branch Library
So, it’s mystifying that a City government, facing short change, would be willing to go along with this.
The expense doesn’t end with fixing up a small (2,237 sf of usable space) building that’s been shamefully left to rot away by the City for almost 20 years.
After that, the city would have to allocate money in the City budget for utilities and for a city employee to maintain this small building and oversee its use. All in speculation that people may or may not use this small space after all.
In my opinion, there are other options that would make this City property more valuable and accessible to all residents in Watertown and would nicely fit within these budget guidelines.
First, the building may not be historic, but the land is. It was donated to the Town by Maria White Lowell, a long-time Watertown resident and the wife of James Russell Lowell, a famous American poet and abolitionist.
The original Lowell School (above) was built there, but was torn down around 1940.
This property is already zoned as open space, and a pocket park would be less expensive for the City to build and to maintain. It would welcome all; add already City owned property to our open/green space (saving acquisition dollars); support a corner of small businesses across the street; be a good place to bring this land back to its roots (literacy) as a spot for the Bookmobile to visit.
Just my opinion.
So, the City Council meeting is on April 8th from 7 to 10 p.m. Participate, if you can. Write a letter or e-mail to your councilor with your ideas, concerns, opinions. I know that lately a lot offolks don’t feel like it, but it’s your government too!
And, lastly, be sure to thank your councilors for all of their hard work. You may or may not agree with their decisions, but you cannot argue with the fact that this is a massive undertaking!
Thanks again for exploring these issues with me. Now it’s time for your feedback.
Could you share where this is coming from? I’d like to read more about it
‘ When the street is done, it requires more maintenance than other streets, and the City hasn’t budgeted for that in the past. Eventually, I’ve been told by residents who live on these types of streets, the results are run-down, dirty, and narrower streets.’
Thank You
As Watertown continues to evolve into a higher majority rental community, it is losing the free owner-occupied property maintenance of street areas that it has long benefited from in the past. Mixed single family/multi-family neighborhoods are now majority rental properties with many owned by absentee landlords. A significant amount of the street maintenance in front of homes and to the sidewalk verge grass strips areas that was historically upkept by residents of owner-occupied properties now goes undone. Absentee landlord property lots have maintenance performed primarily by landscaping contractors who provide only basic weekly maintenance that in most instances does not include the city owned sidewalk and street areas in front of these rental properties. This is now a maintenance gap that results in accumulated litter and debris along street curbing and grass verge areas. Residential neighborhoods within ¼ mile radius of fast-food establishments, convenience, and liquor stores have a constant flow of trash and litter migrating up into the side streets. The city does not have a regimented street sweeping program. There are far too many motor vehicles parked on residential side streets for long periods of time and overnight that deny access to cleaning the curb areas of the streets. The city does not provide recurring services for sidewalk area cleaning or maintenance/mowing of verge strip grass areas. As of today, I am not aware of any plans that city leadership has going forward to address this maintenance gap or even if they view this a problem at all.
Thank you for your robust support for a robust Forestry Division, Linda! Trees for Watertown heartily agrees. As our climate grows hotter and our city becomes more densely populated, a wisely-planned and well-supported population of healthy shade trees will make all the difference to Watertown’s well-being.
The municipal, environmental, community and even spiritual benefits that a healthy urban tree provides grow exponentially with time. But it takes decades for a tree to reach mature size. Without adequate support and understanding, existing urban tree canopy is lost much faster than it can be replaced.
This is why we urge Watertown’s Forestry Division be augmented, with at least one urban forestry specialist working on expanding community understanding and engagement.
Linda, you raised so many important questions in this second post on the upcoming budget review. I, too, have questions on the cost-cutting measures. Having a breakdown of those would help us understand if there are areas where we can offset any upcoming expenses. The CVS parking garage is a great example of a very expensive project that we need to watch and one that many people don’t seem to favor.
I don’t know that we can continue to count on revenue from small businesses as they are having very difficult times. We don’t seem to be attracting any new ones to fill the longstanding vacancies in some of our buildings.
Funding a plan to coordinate all street-related projects is deemed a priority, which is much needed. I’d like to focus on the words that these projects are WELL PLANNED AND EXECUTED. I think the word executed is the operative term.
Does the city have checklists to make sure they are actually completed? There was some work on my street two years ago and the gas connections in the street were paved over. I raised this concern and the areas have been sprayed with orange paint at least three times and, guess what, nothing has been done. If I hadn’t called to raise the question, no one was aware of the problem. Has this happened on other streets? If so, have you had better results if you reported issues?
In addition to Morse St. there were other streets on the schedule for 2024 that weren’t done and they are now on the 2025 schedule. Let’s hope they do get done this year as there are so many in need of repairs.
How do we actually benefit from getting the DPW Accreditation that we are hoping to get? Do we get more state money?
As far as the old North Branch Library, it just doesn’t seem practical to preserve or invest more money into it. It’s not the original building and the costs involved in preserving and maintaining it would exceed its usefulness for the broad public.
Having it as open space for the neighborhood to enjoy and having the suggested bookmobile visit seems to tie into a better use. Providing a shaded space with benches for people to be able to read a book there or just interact with their neighbors and friends could provide a real benefit.
Maybe some small borrow boxes with books available for people to swap out would be nice. If someone were creative, maybe these boxes could be crafted to resemble the original building and the current one to tie in the history of the site. Maybe there could be some kind of signage with a brief history of the land donors.
I believe there is a sign there regarding the age of the tree that is there. The last time I walked by there about a year ago, I think I saw something to that effect.
Again I encourage all Watertown residents to watch these upcoming budgets to be sure we are being practical and spending within our means, just like we have to do at home. This is our tax money and it needs to be spent as if it is ours. Now is the time to raise questions or concerns.
Hi Devan,
As I mentioned in my letter, complaints about “complete streets” maintenance are on-going in Watertown. I relied on knowledgeable residents who are addressing this issue for my information, so I haven’t done a complete study on this topic…I’ve been busy!! So, a brief perusal on the topic of the installed bioswales, for instance, gave me these results:
“Complete Streets and bioswales are both part of a broader effort to create more sustainable and livable urban environments, with bioswales being a key element in stormwater management within the context of Complete Streets planning”
Here’s what an EPA technical memorandum says about maintenance of these elements:
“Operation and maintenance is a challenge that when not addressed properly can lead to failure of green infrastructure and high costs associated with restoration.”
And here’s the 23 page memo on this topic:
https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-11/documents/final_gi_maintenance_508.pdf
I wish that the Watertown News response section allowed for images, because I have been shown numerous examples of how these bioswales are being allowed to become eyesores and potentially fail due to lack of City maintenance.
I hope this helps.
Thanks, Libby.
It’s time to plan ahead with the resources that we already have. As I mentioned to Devan, bioswales have their place, but since they’re man-made the problems will be man-made too and will need to be addressed regularly.
I think that our very largest natural resources, our trees, require a certain finesse and expertise that not everyone has. Having a Forestry Department up to the task is optimal, because if these “giant plants” are gone, the only way back will involve suffering in the community and will take decades, if not more, to repair.
Hi Joan,
Thank you for your thorough reading of my “tome” and adding your own well thought out suggestions and questions. I know that you are always careful to think through the ramifications of actions, and that’s a rare skill these days.