Beverly Meeting Digest

What the deficit committee plans to present Tuesday

Deficit Reduction Committee · Thursday, October 15, a run-through for Tuesday

The Deficit Reduction Committee presents to the public for the first time Tuesday at 6:00pm at the Council on Aging (the Senior Center), 90 Colon St: about half an hour of slides, then questions from the room. Questions can also be sent ahead of time to the chair, Councilor Kathleen Feldman. The committee plans to post the slides afterward. ▶15:44 ▶2:46 ▶56:01 ▶12:39

Ideas for saving money or raising revenue

• Health insurance. Two ideas:
  • Who pays the premiums. Shifting more of the cost from the city to employees and retirees. For employees, that must be negotiated with their unions. ▶7:13
  • A larger insurance pool. Joining the state's Group Insurance Commission instead of running the city's own plan. In September the finance director told the committee a comparable state plan costs slightly less today, but that running its own plan, with its own trust fund, lets the city cushion premium increases in rough years; the state plan has at times raised premiums by double digits. ▶1:15:53 ▶1:17:39 A member said last Thursday that a middle option, the Massachusetts Municipal Association's pooled health plan for cities and towns, would save less than the state plan but leave the city more control. ▶8:17 So the trade-off is a somewhat lower price against less room to soften bad years, with a possible middle ground; what the committee will suggest is not yet clear.
• Payments from tax-exempt institutions. PILOTs and SILOTs: money, or services, that colleges, schools and other tax-exempt owners give the city in place of property taxes. Payments add revenue; services cover something the city would otherwise pay for. On September 28, members backed forming a committee to seek more of them; the recommendation is the committee, not a dollar figure. ▶10:55 ▶13:10
• Fees. Two ideas members saw as workable on September 28:
  • Registration fees for the summer drop-off program and day camps. ▶20:41
  • Higher parking rates, or paid parking in more areas. ▶27:22

Longer-term investments

Two ideas that would cost money up front, with any savings coming over years: a city-run electric utility, and a recycling center for hard-to-recycle items. Members acknowledged the timing; one said it is hard to consider that kind of upfront cost during a deficit. ▶34:03 ▶41:20

Early ideas, not ready to present

One slide lists ideas members said they have only started to look at: sharing services with other communities; audits of non-health insurance and of school efficiency; the future of Hurd Stadium and Cooney Field; and a policy on personal use of city vehicles. ▶43:08

Looked at and set aside

• Pension payments. Like most Massachusetts cities and towns, Beverly is still paying down a pension shortfall left from decades of underfunding, and its yearly payment had been set to rise 4.5% a year, about $700,000 more next year. Members looked at changing the payment schedule to ease that. ▶5:06 By September, the retirement board had adopted a new schedule that holds the payment flat and still clears the shortfall by 2032, so on September 28 members set the idea aside. ▶1:38:09 ▶1:39:34
• Regional dispatch. Beverly runs its own emergency dispatch center. One idea was to save money by joining Middleton's regional center instead, but members learned it has no room for Beverly. That research led to a different idea, still being studied: Beverly's center taking on a smaller town's calls for a fee. ▶6:26 ▶7:00

Background on how the budget works

Slides meant to explain rather than propose. None is presented as a fix for next year's budget, but members want residents to understand them.

• Enterprise funds. City operations, such as the golf course and the airport, that are meant to pay for themselves from their own fees rather than from the general budget. Slides on the golf course, the harbor and the airport look at their fees. ▶31:53 ▶30:13
• Overrides. A local vote that lets the city raise more in property taxes than Proposition 2½, the state's tax limit, otherwise allows. The City Council, with the Mayor's approval, decides whether to put one on the ballot, and voters decide whether it passes. A member said nearby communities have used overrides to cover deficits, that an override would not necessarily be something the committee promotes, and that looking at it is part of the committee's job. ▶35:56
• Chapter 70. The state's main formula for school aid. This year Beverly received the smallest increase the formula guarantees, $160 per student, as most districts in the state did. The slide's author called it an explanation rather than a proposal, with one suggested next step: the city pressing state leaders for more school aid. ▶19:05

How Beverly compares

A first look at how Beverly compares with 26 communities chosen by city staff, which members said are not all direct peers. ▶43:46

After Tuesday. A schedule the committee plans to show on Tuesday has two tracks. For next year's budget, which starts in July: in December, alongside the city's financial forecast, more presentations to people inside and outside city government and public input on recommendations. For the longer term: in January, a list of bigger changes for the year after; ward-by-ward meetings on it in February and March; and in April, the committee's long-term recommendations to the City Council. Members also said they will hold smaller listening sessions, with dates still to be set. ▶58:40 ▶59:20 ▶51:09

After an accidental lockdown, a fix at the Middle School

School Committee · Wednesday, October 14 · Superintendent's report

Beverly Middle School recently went into lockdown by accident, Superintendent Peter Cushing told the School Committee. Staff carried the lockdown through to the end instead of calling it off over the loudspeaker. Announcing a mistake, he said, would teach people that any lockdown might not be real. ▶14:20

A review by school leaders, security staff, the school resource officer and building staff found the cause: a backup alarm system that was easy to trigger by pressing the wrong button, for instance out of habit when meaning to page the building. The district has limited that backup system. He did not say how, to avoid giving out details of the school's security, and offered to discuss them in a closed session. ▶14:58 ▶15:44

He then met with the police chief, the Mayor, the head of the city's public services department and building staff, with a last meeting set for Friday to close out the review and line up procedures at the other schools. About four parents contacted him, and he sent families a memo. ▶15:44 ▶16:21

The schools hire an interim finance director

School Committee · Wednesday, October 14

The schools' director of finance job is open, and the School Committee voted 8-0 to fill it in the meantime. ▶1:11:12 The interim director worked in Beverly's schools for about 20 years, rising to finance director, then spent about 16 years in Amesbury's schools before retiring, Superintendent Peter Cushing said. She works two and a half days a week under a contract that took effect October 15. ▶1:08:33 ▶1:09:50

The permanent job. The committee also approved a new job description, focused on finance alone, with more weight on internal controls and on forecasting three to five years ahead, and a plan that splits the office's duties among other staff until the job is filled. ▶59:24 ▶1:18:52 The superintendent said the district will actively recruit rather than only post the job, since several nearby districts are hiring for the same role. ▶1:05:27 ▶1:06:07

The schools are looking for residents to help review fees

School Committee · Wednesday, October 14 · Superintendent's report

The schools are forming a committee to review the fees families pay, Superintendent Peter Cushing said. The district's finance director would normally lead it; with that job open, its start was pushed to November. He is looking for residents and a city councilor to serve, and one parent has volunteered so far. He said the call for members would go out in the district's newsletter. ▶53:41 ▶54:19 ▶54:58

What it reviews. This school year's fees are already set. They include $115 to $350 per sport for athletics and $346.50 for bus transportation, with a family maximum of $693, and need-based help is available for each. The committee looks at fees going forward, and the superintendent tied its work to the district's coming budget discussions. ▶54:19 Athletic fees come up at the School Committee's Finance and Facilities subcommittee on October 28, with the athletic department's report, the chair said. ▶25:37

The city's Flock cameras, back before the Council

Legal Affairs and Public Services committees, with the Committee of the Whole · Order #120, filed by Councilors Rotondo and Spang

Two Council committees meet at 6:00pm to review the city's Flock cameras, the license plate readers the police department uses, and the city's contract with Flock Safety. It is their second meeting on the cameras; the first was on April 21. The agenda lists no vote and does not mention public comment. At the April meeting the chair took one-minute comments from anyone who came to the podium, with no sign-up, and questions to the police came from councilors, some sent ahead of time. ▶34:29 ▶0:53

What Beverly has. Four cameras on city property: on Rantoul Street near School Street, Cabot Street at Beckford Street, Brimbal Avenue near Otis Road, and Elliott Street at McKay Street. ▶14:13 Police said the first two began as a trial; the Elliott Street camera went up in September 2024 and the Brimbal Avenue one in May 2025. ▶16:48 ▶17:36 ▶18:15 They cost $3,000 each a year, $12,000 in all, paid from drug forfeiture money and the police department's technology budget. ▶51:08 ▶51:49 The cameras take still pictures of the backs of vehicles, reading the plate and details such as the type of vehicle, not faces, and check plates against lists such as stolen cars, warrants and Amber Alerts. Officers must confirm a match before acting on it. ▶12:20 ▶13:43 ▶23:41

The rules. The police department's policy, in effect since April 15, keeps the data for 30 days unless it is saved for an investigation, limits access to trained officers and dispatchers, and requires monthly audits. It bars using the cameras for civil traffic violations or matters of reproductive health, and bars sharing the data for civil immigration enforcement, naming ICE and Customs and Border Protection. In April, police said the city owns the data under its contract, Flock stores it, and no federal agency had access. ▶28:52 ▶32:52

What was said in April.

• Police called the cameras one investigative tool among many and described cases they helped solve, including a Cabot Street arson, using Salem's cameras, and a home invasion in Prides Crossing. ▶2:02 ▶3:10 ▶7:25
• Residents. Most who spoke raised concerns about privacy, data sharing or the company. ▶35:04
• Councilor Sonia asked whether other vendors offer similar tools with stronger privacy protections. The police chief replied that other companies work much the same way, and that Flock is the system most nearby departments use, which is what lets them share information. ▶46:24 ▶48:34
• Council President Flowers said she has confidence in the police department but concerns about Flock as a company. ▶49:07 ▶50:14
• Councilor Feldman questioned why the price was so low, saying that with tools like these the real product is often the data they collect. She said the community would rather pay more for a system that protects privacy as well as safety, and asked whether nearby communities might move to another system together. ▶52:11 ▶53:40 ▶53:56
• Councilor St. Hilaire asked how often use of the system is audited. At least monthly, police said, and the audit records have been released through public records requests. ▶44:51 ▶45:44
• Representative Hannah Bowen described state legislation that would add privacy protections without taking the tool away. ▶54:23
• The Mayor said the city was arranging a meeting with Flock's leadership on the concerns raised and whether to continue with the company. ▶55:48

Since then. The order has stayed in committee since April, and we found no public account of the meeting with Flock. In July, Salem decided not to renew its Flock contract and to replace those cameras with other units. At the State House, H.3755, a bill that would limit how long license plate data can be kept to 14 days unless it is tied to a crime, ban selling it, and require a warrant to get it from other agencies, has been with the House Ways and Means Committee since March.

Coming up through November 16

• Oct 20Deficit Reduction Committee: first public presentation6:00pm at the Council on Aging (the Senior Center), 90 Colon St. About half an hour of slides, then questions from the public.
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• Oct 21Board of Health6:30pm at the Council on Aging, 90 Colon St. A proposal from Councilor Sonia to bar construction on state holidays through the city's noise rules, and an update on opioid settlement money.
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• Oct 21Clean Energy Advisory Committee6:30pm in the library's Sohier Room, 32 Essex St, and online. City updates include the proposed data center pause.
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• Oct 22Economic and Community Development Council8:30am at the temporary City Hall, 175 Cabot St. The Rogers Building on Cabot Street; a state presentation on a tax break cities can offer for downtown housing (urban center housing TIF); and the Bass River Overlay District.
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• Oct 26Camp Paradise public meeting6:00pm in the Barnet Gallery at the library, 32 Essex St. A Council committee meeting on the city's use of and plans for Camp Paradise, 44 Cole St, requested by Councilors Mullady and St. Hilaire.
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• Oct 27Planning Board and Conservation CommissionPlanning Board 7:00pm at the Police Department, 175 Elliott St; Conservation Commission 6:30pm online. Agendas not posted yet.
• Oct 28Zoning Board of Appeals7:00pm at the Police Department community room. Includes a change to the design of the City Hall addition, and the continued hearing on a 124-foot Verizon cell tower at 12 Tozer Road.
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• Oct 28School Committee subcommittees6:00pm at the Middle School: Finance and Facilities, with the athletic department report, and Curriculum, Instruction and Student Life. Committee of the Whole at 7:15pm.
• Nov 3State electionPolls open 7:00am to 8:00pm. The city's election page lists each ward's polling place.
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• Nov 4School Committee6:00pm in the Middle School library, 502 Cabot St, and online.
• Nov 9City Council: data center hearingRegular meeting. The public hearing on the proposed data center pause is set for 7:30pm.
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• Nov 11Veterans DayTrash and recycling run one day late for the rest of the week.

The city's election pageAgendas

Corrections

• Issue 5 gave the temporary City Hall's address as 195 Cabot St, from a meeting agenda. It is 175 Cabot St, the former TD Bank.