Fire departments across Massachusetts may find themselves trying to douse some financial flames in the wake of Gov. Maura Healey’s announcement this week that she’s trimming $375 million from the state budget to deal with flagging tax revenues.
Some three dozen departments, from Auburn to Worcester, will see their state funding cut by as much as half, according to a letter the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts sent out on Thursday.
All told, the Democratic administration plans to trim $1.65 million from that account, from the current $5.7 million to a revised $4 million, according to an analysis that Healey’s office released earlier this week.
“The majority of these cuts are reducing local ‘earmarks,’ the association’s president, Richard D. MacKinnon Jr., wrote to local union leaders across the state.
That means, for instance, the Easton Fire Department, which was set to receive $100,000 for equipment purchases, will receive $50,000 instead. The Taunton Fire Department, will see money set aside for upgrades to its central fire station slashed from $500,000 to $250,000, MacKinnon wrote.
In addition to Easton and Taunton, the cities and towns impacted by the cuts are: Auburn, Barnstable, Berlin, Billerica, Boston, Boxford, Braintree, Dracut, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Everett, Georgetown, Hanson, Medway, Milford, Natick, Norfolk, Northbridge, Pembroke, Plainville, Quincy, Randolph, Saugus, Sharon, Southbridge, Stoughton, Stow, Tewksbury, Upton, Whitman and Worcester.
Barnstable County and the Massachusetts firefighter cancer screening program also will be on the receiving end of funding cuts, according to the statewide union chief’s letter.
“We’re always concerned about any cuts to public safety. This funding provides much needed equipment, training, and health care screenings,” to departments statewide, Paul Jacques, a legislative agent for the union, which represents 12,000 union firefighters, told MassLive in a text message.
“As a result of these cuts, some will have to do without,” Jacques said.
What else is cut?
Massachusetts’ state-run health insurance program, MassHealth, will bear the brunt of the cuts that Healey announced this week, with $294 million trimmed from its budget, according to Healey’s office.
Other areas targeted for reductions include grants for high school dual enrollments ($2.5 million); local public safety earmarks ($1.5 million); grants to local public health boards ($2.49 million), and grants to councils on aging ($950,000).
What’s not on the table? Layoffs, a withdrawal from the state’s Rainy Day Fund, or any money that’s supposed to be used to address Massachusetts’ ongoing emergency shelter crisis, a senior administration official said.
The $1 billion tax cut package that lawmakers passed, and Healey signed into law last year, also will remain untouched.
Speaking to WGBH-FM in Boston earlier this week, Healey said she had no regrets about the tax cut package, saying it was “absolutely, in my view, imperative … to make the state more affordable.”
The Democratic administration’s announcement comes just weeks after Healey, who has just started her second year in office, said she did not anticipate making such cuts, according to State House News Service.
Legislative leaders already were casting worried glances at the state’s financial health before the administration’s planned action. Revenue collection numbers released last week drove Monday’s announcement, officials said.
The commonwealth collected nearly $3.8 billion in taxes last month. That’s $82 million, or 2.1%, less than collections at the same time in 2022; and $138 million, or 3.5%, behind official benchmarks, MassLive previously reported.
Year-to-date collections totaled $17.86 billion, which was $60 million, or 0.3%, ahead of collections at the same time in 2023, but still $769 million, or 4.1%, behind projections, according to state Revenue Department data.
In his Thursday letter, MacKinnon said the firefighters’ union will “continue to dig into these cuts and advocate for the funding to be restored.
“We implore you to start conversations with your fire chiefs and local elected officials to determine how these budget cuts may impact your members,” MacKinnon wrote.
