FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 26, 2014
Contact:  Mike Kanarick
                802.735.7962
                 
City Attorney Eileen Blackwood Statement in Response to U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Striking Down Massachusetts Buffer Zone Law

“The Burlington buffer zone ordinance has both similarities with and differences from the Massachusetts law.  We are in the process of reviewing and analyzing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Massachusetts case to determine the impact on our ordinance and will share the results of our analysis in the next few days.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 25, 2014
Contact:  Mike Kanarick
                 802.735.7962
                
Mayor Miro Weinberger, City and Community Officials, Old North Enders Celebrate Grand Re-Opening of Reinvented Roosevelt Park 
Penny for Parks Program Exceeds Goal with 61 Projects Complete in Two Years

Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger today joined together with City and community leaders and residents of the Old North End to celebrate the grand re-opening of the recently-completed and reinvented Roosevelt Park.  The ambitious and successful effort to rebuild much of Roosevelt Park is one of 61 Penny for Parks projects that have been completed as part of the Mayor’s plan to make significant progress on important community parks projects.  To date, the City has exceeded its goal, having completed 61 projects in two years.

“This project is a great example of the tremendous good that can come from public – private partnerships,” said Mayor Weinberger.  “Roosevelt Park is so important to the fabric of the Old North End, serving as a meeting ground for this neighborhood’s diverse community.  I look forward to a renewed and enhanced relationship between this great park and this vibrant neighborhood.  Today’s event also represents the culmination of two years of focus and hard work by our Parks and Recreation staff to make good on the parks improvements Burlingtonians demanded in 2008 when they voted by a nearly 2 to 1 margin to create Penny for Parks.”

The overhaul of Roosevelt Park, led and managed by the Department of Parks and Recreation, included a remodeling and transformation of the underutilized pavilion into a teen academic center, a complete overhaul of two tennis courts, and two basketball courts.  Future plans for Roosevelt Park include a full mural wrap of and new landscaping around the teen academic center, as well as paved paths for accessibility throughout the park. 

The new teen center will be programmed and managed by the Boys & Girls Club of Burlington.  The partnership originated last winter when Mary Alice McKenzie, Boys & Girls Club Executive Director, pitched the idea to Jesse Bridges, Parks and Recreation Director, and resulted in a memorandum of understanding to solidify the arrangement. 

“The Boys & Girls Club of Burlington is grateful to Mayor Weinberger and Director Bridges for pulling this project together and doing the right thing for the children,” stated McKenzie.  “We are forever thankful to Bobby Miller, Billy Bissonette, Comcast, and our other generous donors.” 

The remodeling of the former pavilion and storage building was accomplished with a $100,000 donation of materials and construction service from Miller’s company, R.E.M. Development Company, and through additional construction labor donated by Bissonette’s property maintenance company, Bissonette Properties.  Penny for Parks funds, with additional support from an anonymous private donor, covered the cost of the courts overhauls.  The tennis courts will play host for the King Street Center’s award-winning and much-loved Kids On the Ball youth tennis program, run by former tennis pro Jake Agna.

“I am really excited about this project,” Bridges said.  “The presence of the Boys & Girls Club in Roosevelt Park will bring new life and energy to the park and will deepen the positive connections between people and parks, between children who grow up in the Old North End and the park that lies at the heart of their neighborhood.”

Penny for Parks is an annual funding plan for parks capital improvement projects.  Established in 2008, it was approved by 64 percent of the voters as a parks improvement fund and is supported by a dedicated tax.  Penny for Parks is a short- and long-range financial planning and project implementation tool developed to address community needs for the ongoing improvement of parks facilities.  Through Penny for Parks, the Parks and Recreation Department is able to schedule the implementation of improvements over time and better able to identify phased funding strategies.

At the direction of Mayor Weinberger, a full community outreach and ranking process was established in the spring of 2012 to get the stalled program moving again, resulting in an aggressive plan to move projects forward.  Since that time, 61 projects have been completed with an investment of $1.3 million of Penny for Parks funds during fiscal years 2013 and 2014.  Further, more than $800,000 from additional funding sources has been leveraged with Penny for Parks funds during that time.

“When the Parks Commission developed Penny for Parks, our goal was to create a funding source to ensure that we got the most out of our parks – to prevent deterioration and to have funds to provide parks for our kids and for all members of the community,” said Dave Hartnett, Ward 4 City Councilor and Treasurer of the 2008 campaign to pass the Penny for Parks ballot initiative.  “We worked hard to get Penny for Parks passed to achieve results like we’re seeing today – meaningful parks improvements like those at Calahan, Leddy, Roosevelt – with more to come.  Mayor Weinberger immediately prioritized Penny for Parks, and now his team has put us on a clear and successful Penny for Parks path.”

For fiscal year 2015, more than 30 parks improvement projects budgeted at over $1.1 million and funded by a combination of Penny for Parks funds, Parks Impact Fees, and the Capital Improvement Program are planned.  Planning also is underway for additional projects funded by tax increment financing, federal and state grants, and private donations.  These projects include the Bike Path Rehabilitation, improvements to Waterfront Park, and Perkins Pier harbor protection.  Residents may submit project ideas to the Parks and Recreation Department through December 31, 2014 for consideration in the fiscal year 2016 project list.  The project request form, along with more information about the Penny for Parks program, may be found by visiting www.enjoyburlington.com/Projects/PennyforParks.cfm.

*Penny for Parks Completed Projects List for fiscal years 2013 and 2014 attached.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 4, 2014
Contact:  Mike Kanarick
                 802.735.7962

Mayor Miro Weinberger Statement about Leopold’s Breach of Fiduciary Duty

“Jonathan Leopold's statement that the past Administration ‘did the right thing’ by inappropriately and secretly spending millions of dollars of taxpayer money is both shocking and wrong.  The Court yesterday ruled decisively that Leopold breached his fiduciary duty to the City, committing a serious violation of law.  Nothing excuses the former Administration's failure to be transparent with the public, the Council, and regulators or its failure to follow the law.  Fortunately, the people of Burlington know better, and the City will continue moving down a different path.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 3, 2014
Contact:  Mike Kanarick
                802.735.7962       

Mayor Miro Weinberger Statement on Decision in BT Litigation (Osier Case)

“Today’s decision confirms what Burlingtonians have long known:  the past Administration breached its duty to the City and taxpayers, and there is no easy path to fix the damage it caused.  Since taking office, my Administration’s top priorities have been to put in place procedures and exercise judgment that will avoid future financial mistakes and protect the taxpayers from further losses related to BT.  I am pleased that the Judge’s decision does not appear to impact the City’s ability to move forward, to settle the Citibank lawsuit, and to remove the financial cloud that has hung over Burlington for years.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 22, 2014
Contact:  Mike Kanarick
                 802.735.7962

Mayor Miro Weinberger Releases Downtown Housing Strategy Report: Report Finds "Affordability Crisis" from Limited Housing Supply, Growing Housing-Wage Gap; Recommends Strategies to Create More Livable, Walkable, Sustainable, Affordable City

Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger today released a new housing strategy report that finds an “affordability crisis” caused by a lack of market rate housing – or housing built without subsidy - over the past decade in the City’s downtown.  Increased housing costs in Burlington’s downtown have risen to levels far higher than in “next tier” cities.  The report suggests that, while continuing to support the great work of Burlington’s renowned affordable housing programs and partners, the City embark on a coordinated effort to support downtown living for the full spectrum of residents, including young professionals, families, empty nesters, and seniors.

“For three decades, Burlington has been attempting to solve its affordability problem and has benefitted from the work of some of the country’s leading housing organizations that have made living in Burlington affordable for thousands of people,” said Mayor Weinberger.  “Yet overall, housing remains far more expensive than it should be for the great majority of Burlingtonians.  We can and will do better.  It is time for new strategies that will fix the housing market and build on the successes of our affordable housing groups to create new housing options for all.  And, the same strategies that make Burlington more affordable also will make our great City more livable, walkable, sustainable, and vibrant.”

Key Findings Regarding Burlington Housing Affordability
Principal findings of the Downtown Housing Strategy Report, conducted by HR&A Advisors, Inc., include:

• The “next tier” cities grew their housing stock two to six times faster than Burlington during the years 2000 to 2012.
• The average Burlington household spends about 44 percent of its income on housing – a percentage that is substantially higher than the 31 to 34 percent among what the report defines as Burlington’s “next tier” cities, like Portland, OR, Nashville, TN, or Austin, TX, and much higher that what is considered “affordable” in a healthy housing market.
• Of the roughly 220 units built in the downtown during that timeframe, only 18 were market rentals. 
• Unlike its “next tier” cities, which saw growth in the percentage of young professional households, Burlington’s percentage of such households decreased by 10 percent during the years 2000 to 2012.
• New households have grown by more than 10 percent regionally, but by less than three percent in the City of Burlington during the years 2002 to 2013 – and the downtown fares even worse.  

“For all its dynamism and creativity, Burlington is in danger of missing the downtown housing renaissance that is transforming America’s progressive cities in response to increasing demand for more vibrant, walkable communities,” said Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) Director Peter Owens. “Thoughtful analysis of our housing shortage and strategic development of existing infill sites that the Mayor has prioritized will help address affordability issues and put Burlington on a more equitable and accessible path in the years ahead.”

CEDO Assistant Director for Housing Brian Pine added, “Growing demand and lagging supply have resulted in a highly competitive market – and a one percent vacancy rate – that leads to rents escalating to the point where housing costs far exceed a reasonable share of income. This hurts everyone, and as a result, we continue to lose young professionals and families from our urban downtown neighborhoods and further limit options for our most vulnerable citizens.”

Strategies Recommended in Report
The report recommends five strategies to address the lack of market rate development in Burlington’s downtown:

1. Prioritize opportunities for infill housing sites.  Infill sites are spaces, like surface parking lots, in existing neighborhoods that can be transformed into new housing.
2. Free up existing housing through the strategic development of new, well-managed downtown student housing.
3. Create economic incentives to increase the production of multi-family housing.
4. Adopt land-use policies that encourage diverse housing development, and in particular Form Based Code zoning reform – which was also recommended in Burlington’s award-winning planBTV.
5. Engage regional and state partners around housing strategies to grow the regional economy.

According to the report, approximately 6,000 students attending the University of Vermont, Champlain College, or other higher education institutions in Burlington depend on off-campus housing.  This increases the competition for the limited housing stock available in the downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.  The development of new, well-managed downtown student housing offers an opportunity not only to increase the total number of housing units available in the downtowns, but also to free up neighborhood housing for single and multi-family use.

“As Chair of the Community Development and Neighborhood Revitalization Committee of the City Council, I look forward to a robust public discussion of this report, and the development of strategies that will create more housing opportunity for people of all income levels, household type, race, and ethnicity,” said City Councilor Jane Knodell.  “As we address the shortfall in housing availability in Burlington, we must at the same time create truly inclusive, diverse communities downtown and throughout the City.”

"UVM supports adding new housing for students and other Burlington residents to a very challenging rental market," said Tom Gustafson, UVM Vice President, University Relations and Administration. "The University would like there to be more options for safe and affordable housing for students when they move off campus. Contrary to the view held by some that all student renters can afford the relatively high rents in Burlington, many students struggle to find a decent and moderately-priced place to live.  New downtown housing will help provide diverse housing options for students and other renters, and will enhance the quality of life in neighborhoods by helping restore a balance of renters and owners."

Beyond student competition for housing, expanding the range of housing options has positive effects for employers across the City of Burlington.

“Unfortunately, the lack of affordable housing in Burlington continues to surface as a more significant challenge to our recruiting and retention efforts at Burton,” said Justin Worthley, Vice President, Human Resources, Burton Snowboards. “Housing availability and pricing are obstacles in our hiring and relocation discussions because the cost of living here is the same or higher than many major metro markets in the US. We also regularly hear from current employees about the impact the high cost of housing has on their overall earnings, including the ability to build careers and families here in the greater Burlington area. We fully support all efforts by the City to accelerate the development of more affordable housing options.”

Increasing the amount of market rate housing in Burlington also has positive consequences for the affordable housing community.

“This tight housing market and low vacancy rate drive up costs for everyone and put rental housing completely out of reach for lower wage and single earner households,” said Brenda Torpy, Chief Executive Officer, Champlain Housing Trust.    

Rita Markley, Executive Director, Committee on Temporary Shelter, added:  “The strategies we’ve used in the past clearly haven’t addressed the need; it’s time for this kind of new approach, one that engages all sectors of the housing market to increase supply.  That’s the only way we’ll be able to ease the impossibly tight rental market.”

Failure to grow housing options in Vermont’s most compact, walkable city center counteracts three decades of statewide efforts promoting strong downtowns.  It also undermines the widely shared desire for a more vibrant, livable, walk and bike-friendly City revealed by Burlington’s own planBTV, which was unanimously adopted by the City Council in June 2013.  

According to Greg Marchildon, AARP-VT State Director, “Quality housing that is affordable, accessible, and close to businesses and services is a fundamental component of a livable community.  Limited housing options and high rents drive older residents out of town and away from those services and neighborhoods they rely on to stay healthy and engaged in the community.  This report highlights the need to take action to create more downtown housing and enable residents to age in place instead of leaving Burlington.  AARP fully supports the recommendations outlined in this report.”

Efforts to increase market rate housing supply also could reduce automobile use and commuting time.  That emphasis on active transportation has positive impacts for community health, environmental quality, and social equity. 

“Expanding downtown housing options greatly expands the demand and opportunity for making Burlington a world-class active transportation community,” said Emily Boedecker, Executive Director, Local Motion.  “Across the socioeconomic spectrum, residents are attracted by walking and biking infrastructure that can get them where they want to go – to jobs, shops, school, local food, fun, and recreation.”

Kate McCarthy, Sustainable Communities Program Director, Vermont National Resources Council, emphasized the environmental impacts of increased housing concentrated in the downtown core, stating:  "Having affordable, appealing housing choices in our downtowns and villages is good for the environment, and not just because it helps take development pressure off our farm and forest lands: Smart growth housing development also provides more opportunities to save energy by walking, biking, and using transit – an important step towards reducing our carbon footprints and tackling climate change."

Heather Danis, District Director for the Vermont Department of Health, focused on the health benefits associated with more housing options, stating: “While Burlington is known for being a healthy city, the bounty of good health is not shared equally by all. Too many residents, especially those with lower incomes and education levels, and residents identifying as a racial or ethnic minority, experience poorer health outcomes that are largely preventable. Health starts where we live, learn, work, and play. Livable downtowns have the potential to create multiple health benefits—increased walking and biking, improved access to services, decreased dependence on automobiles, and increased social connectedness, to name a few.”

Jason Williams, Senior Government Relations Strategist, Fletcher Allen Health Care, noted:  “Fletcher Allen benefits from a strong and vibrant City of Burlington.  We support opportunities to increase housing within the City for several reasons.  It will allow our employees to live closer to their work, which will contribute to a healthier and more walkable – and therefore, sustainable – environment.  It hopefully will improve the overall affordability of housing in Burlington and the region, which will help not only our employees, but also the patients we see every day who struggle to secure safe and affordable housing.  We look forward to collaborating with the City as they continue to work on this important issue.”

“The regional Environment-Community-Opportunity-Sustainability (ECOS) Plan and Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy identified the lack of housing as a major barrier for employee recruitment and a major issue affecting the affordability of living here,” noted Charlie Baker, Executive Director of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC).  “Implementing the recommendations of this study will be a very positive step in achieving the goals of the ECOS Plan and the City’s Plan for 80 percent of new development in areas planned for the growth.  CCRPC will continue to support these efforts in coordination with the state and other municipalities in our region.”

Next Steps – Public Hearing + Housing Action Plan in Fall 2014
Mayor Weinberger and CEDO staff have arranged for a public hearing on Thursday, June 12, 2014 at 7:00pm in City Hall’s Contois Auditorium to solicit feedback and comment on the HR&A study.  The feedback will be used to develop a strategic housing plan in consultation with stakeholders, including the affordable housing community, the active transportation community, local employers, AARP, our major institutions, the development community, Preservation Burlington, and environmental groups.  CEDO staff will incorporate the report findings and public comments into a Housing Action Plan.  A draft of the plan will be presented for public comment at a second public meeting in early September, with the goal of having the plan adopted by full City Council in fall 2014. 

* Please click here to view HR&A “City of Burlington, Vermont: Downtown Housing Strategy Report.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 15, 2014
Contact:  Mike Kanarick
                802.735.7962

Moody’s Investors Service Improves Burlington’s Credit Rating Outlook;
Cites Recent Stabilization of General Fund Operations and Terms of BT Settlement as Factors

Burlington, VT – Moody’s Investors Service published a Ratings Report, in which Moody’s improved Burlington’s credit rating outlook to “stable” – revising the City’s rating to “Baa3 stable” from “Baa3 negative.”  In its rating rationale, Moody’s shared the following: 

“The stable outlook reflects the recent stabilization of General Fund operations and management’s commitment to addressing the negative unassigned fund balance in the General Fund and nonmajor governmental funds over the near term.  The outlook also incorporates the terms of a pending settlement in the BT [Burlington Telecom] lawsuit that, if approved by the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB), will significantly limit the General Fund’s liability.”

“This is great news,” said Mayor Weinberger.  “After nearly four years of downgrades and projections of further troubles, Moody’s has taken positive action regarding the City of Burlington.  This improvement is confirmation that, as a result of the collaborative work of the Administration, City Council, and the public, we have turned the corner toward rebuilding the City’s finances.  This news should give us confidence both in our current path and in our community’s ability to overcome major challenges.”

Other Ratings Report highlights include:

• “Fiscal 2013 audited financials reflect the first General Fund operating surplus in five years of $793,000 (net of bond proceeds) attributable to conservative budgeting of expenditures.”
• “The [deficit funding] bond proceeds have eliminated the city’s need to rely on short term financing through tax anticipation notes and lines of credit (LOC).  In fiscal 2014, the city established a $10 million LOC but is expected to end the year without drawing on the balance.”
• Moody’s listing of “[c]losing of BT settlement without alteration of current terms”  as a factor that “would make the rating go up” in the future.

*Moody’s Investors Service Ratings Report is attached.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 7, 2014
Contact:  Mike Kanarick
                802.735.7962

Mayor Miro Weinberger Delivers State of City Address;
Reports City Has Turned Corner in Pursuit of Fixing Municipal Finances

Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger this evening delivered the State of the City Address in City Hall’s Contois Auditorium during which he reported that the City has turned the corner in its pursuit of fixing its municipal finances.  The Mayor was joined by the City Council, former Burlington Mayor Frank Cain, City Department Heads, other members of the dedicated City employee team, and community members.   

“As we take stock of the past year, I see many signs of progress and can confidently say that, after two years of focus and resolve to fix our troubled municipal finances, we have turned the corner, and the State of the City is steadily and measurably improving,” said Mayor Weinberger. 

The Mayor set forth four major components of his plan to resolve the City’s remaining serious financial issues:

• Finishing the major financial efforts already underway; 
• Confronting directly the dramatically rising costs of both K-12 education and our retirement system to stem the unsustainable growth of property taxes we have experienced over the last decade; 
• Focusing on long-term, careful stewardship of our municipal assets; and
• Increasing municipal revenues from sustained economic growth.

The Mayor concluded his address as follows:

“In closing, the Administration’s top focus must remain fixing the City’s finances in the year ahead.  In addition, I am confident that, as we have done during the past two years, we will continue to move forward in many areas by sharing the governance and management of the City with the people of Burlington.  From the unprecedented, two-year long planBTV that engaged thousands of citizens in a range of public settings and online, to the rebuilding of the waterfront and the Moran building through a competition open to all, to the collaborations between our business community, advocacy groups, and institutions that are shaping City parking policy, active transportation policy, and the new economic development strategy of BTV Ignite, to pioneering the use of the SeeClickFix smartphone app to empower citizens to report and monitor quality of life issues in their neighborhoods, to opening up the City’s data so that a new generation of civic hackers can use technology to make a better Burlington, to weekly open coffees at the Bagel Cafe, City government is engaging its citizens more broadly and productively than ever before.

“With so many citizens moving Burlington forward in so many ways, we know we have turned the corner, and we know our brightest days as a City are on the horizon ahead.”

*Full State of the City Address follows.

State of the City Address

Good evening and welcome to City Hall for our annual night of reflection, assessment, and democratic renewal.  As is our tradition, I would like to share with you the state of our City and my vision for the year ahead.

First, I would like to recognize and thank former Burlington Mayor Frank Cain, his wife Mary Jane, and daughter Susan for joining us again tonight.  When I enter the Mayor’s Office every morning, I pass your photograph from your service during the years 1965 to 1971, along with those of the 34 others who have served as Mayor of Burlington since the City’s founding in 1865.  Your photograph and presence here tonight remind me that the greatness of Burlington is built on a solid foundation of 149 years of hard work, good judgment, and shared sacrifice.  It is our responsibility to work with urgency and purpose to carry forward the legacy of progress that you and others have left in our temporary safekeeping.

I welcome back to the City Council long-time Burlington public servant and State Representative Kurt Wright and two first-time elected officials Selene Colburn and Bianka LeGrand. 

As a City that seeks to embrace its growing diversity and understands that our future success is tightly tied to our ability to be an inclusive community, I share with you what I see as the special significance to Bianka’s election.  Since the early 1980s, Burlington has officially been a federal refugee resettlement community, and over three decades, we have welcomed to Burlington New Americans from more than 25 countries. 

Bianka is part of that Burlington story, having come to this country from war-torn Bosnia as a 17-year-old, then graduating from Burlington High School, UVM, and with a master’s degree from Norwich University, then establishing herself as a business woman and teacher.  With her swearing-in tonight, Bianka has become the first member of any of these recent New American communities to be elected to this Council, proving that the ageless American story of immigration, hard work, and success that has defined our country continues.  I offer deep congratulations to Bianka and her family for this achievement and, Bianka, I thank you for what you already have done for this City even as you begin your elected service this evening.

I would like to thank former Councilors Bryan Aubin, Paul Decelles, and Kevin Worden, who have just completed their service to our City as Councilors and encourage them to stay engaged in moving our City forward.  We all have benefited from their service to Burlington.

I also would like to welcome back the eleven veteran members of the City Council.  I look forward to another year filled with debate, joint decisions, respectful disagreement at times, and partnership always, as we together attempt to put the City on the best path forward.

In addition, we are joined tonight by nearly every Department Head and many other members of our dedicated City employee team, all of whom work long and often stressful hours every day to make our community a better place in which to live.  I could not be more proud of the energetic, responsive, creative, and committed group currently occupying the leadership roles in City government.  I ask all of the Department Heads and other City employees who have joined us tonight to stand and be recognized for all that you do for our community.

Also, I say thank you to the families of our City workers, who play special roles in moving our City forward by supporting their loved ones who work so hard and give so much focus to their work to make Burlington an even better place.  One of those City worker family members is my amazing wife Stacy, who is here with us this evening.  Stacy, thank you for your unwavering support and partnership through the many challenges of these last two years.  I also want to thank my father for being here tonight, and for all he did to prepare me for this work.

Finally, I am thankful that tonight’s re-organizational meeting is taking place on the day that, at long last, we received some clear evidence that the winter of 2013-2014 will eventually end, and on an evening when the buses in our community are rolling once again.

As we take stock of the past year, I see many signs of progress and can confidently say that, after two years of focus and resolve to fix our troubled municipal finances, we have turned the corner, and the State of the City is steadily and measurably improving.  This turning of the corner is demonstrated in ways both large and small.

We know we have turned the corner because we have ended the secretive and destructive financial practices of the past.  For the first time in memory, we now follow the standard practice of generating and publicly releasing monthly financial reports and reviewing them at the Board of Finance.  Also, as part of the City’s new open data portal, the City’s general ledger now is visible to all online and updated daily.

We know we have turned the corner because the credit ratings at the Airport and the Burlington Electric Department have finally officially stabilized after dramatic downgrades in recent years.

We know we have turned the corner because State Treasurer Beth Pearce and the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank recently cited the City’s improved financial condition as the basis for a new bond issue, saving Burlingtonians millions of dollars in the years ahead.

And, most significantly, we know we have turned the corner because we have secured and are in position to fund a Settlement Agreement that will, when completed, resolve the Burlington Telecom problems that have haunted the City for more than four years.  I am pleased that the recent and important step of securing bridge financing was made possible by a local businessperson and bank – Trey Pecor and Merchants Bank – and believe that it puts the City on the strongest footing possible for completing the Settlement Agreement and for maximizing the community and economic development potential of BT.

This progress should serve as an indication that the hard work and shared sacrifices of the past two years are producing results, and should give us the confidence we need to keep moving forward.  I ask the Council, our public employee unions, and our incredibly engaged community to remember that the financial hole we were in two years ago was very deep, and our climb out is far from over.  In the year ahead, we must remain focused on financial discipline and progress towards resolution of our remaining serious financial issues.

I see four major components of the remaining financial work that we will tackle together.

First, we must finish the major financial efforts already underway.  It is critical for our financial future that we secure approval of the Burlington Telecom Settlement Agreement from the Public Service Board.  As we pursue this approval, it is important that Burlingtonians and organizations invested in Burlington’s progress remain unified in their support of the Agreement, which was unanimously approved by the Council. 

Further, we must complete the work of improving financial practices and internal controls that reduced by one third the number of negative findings in our most recent audit.  And we will continue and deepen the efforts to find operational efficiencies that reduce the cost of effective governance that have saved the City many hundreds of thousands of dollars since the beginning of fiscal year ’13.

Second, to complete our restoration of the City’s finances, we must confront directly the dramatically rising costs of both K-12 education and our retirement system to stem the unsustainable growth of property taxes we have experienced over the last decade.  The results of last month’s Town Meeting Day demonstrate that this work can no longer be avoided. 

For many months, my Administration has been taking steps to address these complicated challenges head on.

Last fall, we held a well-attended and detailed Pension Summit that identified a number of issues about Burlington’s Employee Retirement System warranting further discussion.  In response, my Administration and the City Council, in consultation with Retirement System stakeholders, created the Burlington Retirement Committee with representatives from each stakeholder group to discuss the challenges the System faces and reach consensus on a path forward.  The Committee has been meeting since January and is making progress developing a shared understanding of the drivers of our unfunded liability and increasing retirement system costs, as well as the options we have for addressing this issue.  I remain committed to finding a comprehensive resolution that puts our retirement system on a more sustainable footing and that respects the interests of City employees and taxpayers.

With respect to education costs, while the Mayor and City Council are not directly responsible for the school budget, we have a duty to ensure that the property taxpayers who we share with the School District are not overly burdened and that financial support is available for municipal services, as well as the schools.  To this end, my Administration is working to address the unsustainable trends in Vermont education costs in two ways:

First, we have secured an agreement from the Burlington School District to create a joint committee to oversee an unprecedented effort to coordinate municipal and school capital spending, explore the possibility of combining financial functions, and explore together what opportunities there are for regional savings.  I am committed to this effort being one of the top priorities of the CAO’s Office over the next year, and I welcome the partnership of the City Council in this initiative.  We look forward to starting this work as soon as the new School Board, whose members are being seated tonight, selects three representatives.

Second, I am working hard in multiple ways to impact state education policy, as it is clear that state policy-makers also need to focus on this issue if we are going to be successful at changing the trajectory of unsustainable education cost trends.  Some of the major drivers of education costs – state mandates and state interpretation of federal policy, state property tax policy, and a shrinking statewide student base – are beyond the ability of local school boards to control.  That is why I have encouraged the Vermont Mayors Coalition and the Vermont League of Cities and Towns to make this issue a high priority for this legislative session.  I am pleased that the State Legislature has responded to these and other calls for action with: 1) a significant reduction in the planned statewide property tax increase for next year; and 2) serious consideration of a change to the state’s out-of-date education governance structure.   

While I am confident that these efforts will yield results over the medium- and long-term, the Burlington School Board faces the immediate challenge of passing a fiscal year ’15 budget that both respects the strong message from voters on Town Meeting Day and does right by our children.  Like the Council and the public, I am looking forward to seeing a new, complete budget to consider.  As the School Board approaches this difficult task, I urge them to put forward a budget that reduces next year’s proposed property tax increase and maintains Burlington’s strong commitment to both the elimination of racial and ethnic disparities in our schools and to the voluntary economic integration of our schools.  Our future success as a City in the increasingly global economy depends, in part, on all our children thriving in Burlington schools and growing to meet their full potential.

Third, to restore the City’s finances, we must focus on long-term, careful stewardship of our municipal assets.  In the last two years, we have taken significant steps in this direction by making maintenance and improvement of our parks, the bike path, and our municipal buildings a high priority, and the results are beginning to show.  Over the last two years, we have eliminated a long backlog of Penny for Parks projects, improving over 40 parks throughout the City, and by the end of fiscal year ’15, we will do the same with our municipal facilities, eliminating a more than $1 million backlog of maintenance and improvement projects that had been funded by taxpayers in prior years, but not built – projects that include everything from crucial life safety installations in the library to boiler upgrades throughout the City that will pay for themselves in well under a decade.  

However, we must do much more.  Overall, our infrastructure continues to degrade at a faster rate than we reinvest, and there is no comprehensive, coordinated plan for properly caring for the community assets we have inherited.  I have directed the CAO’s Office to lead an effort to craft an affordable and comprehensive 10-year capital plan for presentation to the City Council for approval no later than Town Meeting Day 2015.  This plan will include responsible investments in our roads, sidewalks, municipal buildings and parking garages, our water, sewer, and stormwater system, the bike path, parks, and our schools.  The plan also will include better management of our fleet of over 250 vehicles to reduce maintenance and fuel costs, as well as capital costs.  I see this plan as a key document for ensuring that we make good on our responsibility to leave the City in better shape than it was when we started.

Finally, to achieve long-term financial success as a City, we must increase municipal revenues from sustained economic growth.  Our City has considerable opportunity for such growth.  Our waterfront already generates more than $1 million a year in revenues that fund Parks and Recreation programs, even with the northern waterfront and southern waterfront dramatically underutilized.  There is enormous pent-up demand for new revenue-generating housing in our downtown.  Since the year 2000, our downtown has seen only about 120 new market rate homes developed.  This number is far below the percentage of housing growth experienced in peer cities during this same period, when downtown housing grew dramatically across the country for many years.  A well-planned Pine Street corridor will enhance the organic, tech-driven growth we already are seeing in this dynamic part of the City.   

Our reinvigorated Community and Economic Development Office is focused on these and other economic development opportunities.  CEDO is on its way to reclaiming its historic role as an engine of economic growth and innovation through the promotion of new ideas, new technology, new businesses, and new jobs. 

For the first time in many years, we actively are moving our waterfront projects forward with a series of new public improvements that, when completed, will leverage over $35 million dollars of additional investment and more than $15 million of new economic activity annually.  The BTV Ignite initiative, launched at last fall’s Tech Jam in partnership with many community institutions and organizations, and our emerging tech sector, promises to harness our fiber network to accelerate the growth of our creative economy.  An early win in this economic development effort came little more than one week ago with the incredibly successful launch of Generator, Burlington’s first makers space located in the basement of Memorial Auditorium.

Again, however, we have much more work ahead to grow the grand list and increase other tax receipts, while also meeting the livability, walkability, and sustainability goals of planBTV.  We will focus on a number of areas for revenue growth in the coming year.

First, in the year ahead, we will stay focused on the implementation of the voter approved improvements to the waterfront that have the potential to dramatically increase municipal waterfront revenues.

Second, we will continue to target our economic development funds and seek regulatory changes that will encourage the creation of new housing in the downtown as envisioned in planBTV.  This new housing will generate additional property taxes, while also increasing opportunities for family housing in the City, and making Burlington more pedestrian-friendly, environmentally sustainable, and affordable.

Finally, we will launch a planBTV effort for the Pine Street corridor to lay out a vision for walkable, environmentally responsible investment in the dramatically underutilized areas west of Pine Street that complements the treasured historic neighborhoods nearby.

In closing, the Administration’s top focus must remain fixing the City’s finances in the year ahead.  In addition, I am confident that, as we have done during the past two years, we will continue to move forward in many areas by sharing the governance and management of the City with the people of Burlington.  From the unprecedented, two-year long planBTV that engaged thousands of citizens in a range of public settings and online, to the rebuilding of the waterfront and the Moran building through a competition open to all, to the collaborations between our business community, advocacy groups, and institutions that are shaping City parking policy, active transportation policy, and the new economic development strategy of BTV Ignite, to pioneering the use of the SeeClickFix smartphone app to empower citizens to report and monitor quality of life issues in their neighborhoods, to opening up the City’s data so that a new generation of civic hackers can use technology to make a better Burlington, to weekly open coffees at the Bagel Cafe, City government is engaging its citizens more broadly and productively than ever before.

With so many citizens moving Burlington forward in so many ways, we know we have turned the corner, and we know our brightest days as a City are on the horizon ahead.

To the Council, to the public, thank you and I look forward to another year of pursuing this important and deeply rewarding work together.

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