2026-11-02 - Finance Committee (City Council) Meeting

00:05[music]

00:13>> Good afternoon.

00:15I don't know if anyone else is going to

00:17join us. It's 5:02

00:20right now and um

00:23might be somebody coming in now.

00:26I'm going to call to order this meeting

00:28of the Finance Committee. Oh, Mr.

00:30Howard, welcome. Come on in.

00:33>> Thank you.

00:34>> And I'm going to acknowledge um

00:36Counselor Clinkscales who's online and

00:39Bill Conway. Hey Bill, where are you

00:41from, Bill?

00:46>> Ward 6 in Springfield.

00:48>> Oh, very nice. Thank you. Thank you so

00:50much for being here.

00:51Okay, I don't know if anyone else is

00:53going to join us, but I am a

00:56respecter of time, so I'm going to start

00:58the meeting on time. Mr. Howard, thank

01:01you for being here.

01:03>> Puerto Rican flag was raised today.

01:05>> Yes, today was uh

01:07the Puerto Rican Heritage Flag Raising

01:09Day and it was a great event right here

01:11at City Hall. I was pleased to be here.

01:14So, um thank you for being here. Thank

01:16you uh Counselor Clinkscales. So, we're

01:19going to be discussing the Cannabis

01:21Stabilization Fund that was established

01:25um by a previous council. I was not on

01:27the council when it was established.

01:29>> I was able to get it now. I was able to

01:31I was able to get it.

01:32>> Thank you.

01:33So, I did email um

01:36a summary of the stabilization ordinance

01:41um and Shawn is printing it for me and

01:44I'm going to reference that a little

01:46bit. So, when we first had uh cannabis

01:50legalized here in the state of

01:51Massachusetts, City of Springfield um

01:56accepted the task of allowing um

02:00establishments to be open here in the

02:02city, and I forgot how many are allowed

02:06in the city. I want to say it's

02:08something like Thank you so much.

02:11It's something like um

02:1411 or 12 or something like that. Right

02:17now, I believe we have five

02:19establishments in the city.

02:21Um

02:23and

02:27the first uh part of the ordinance

02:30language I want to reference is that

02:33when the ordinance was established, it

02:36was determined that 50%

02:38of the 3% retail marijuana tax would be

02:42going to the stabilization fund.

02:45But, um in January 2019,

02:49they announced Springfield announced an

02:51agreement between uh

02:54Mayor Sarno and the Springfield City

02:56Council establishing

02:58uh 33% rate for the fund. So, instead of

03:01getting 50%,

03:03we're only going to get 33%.

03:06The rest of it will go into the general

03:08fund, I guess, of the city uh budget.

03:13So,

03:15this

03:16uh proposal that I'm proposing because

03:19what I another um

03:22I heard from the finance team is that

03:25the city council has to determine how

03:28we're going to go move forward um

03:30approach establishing this uh fund and

03:33how the community is going to access it.

03:36So, one of the

03:40reasons this fund was established that

03:43is because of the impacts of cannabis

03:46um stores and um

03:49establishments may or may not have on

03:51the on the neighborhood. So, this fund

03:54was established. The ordinance says that

03:58the revenue would be directed to

04:01neighborhoods within 1.5 miles of each

04:04dispensary.

04:06So, the existing ordinance uh

04:09contemplates educational, recreational

04:11programming, neighborhood business

04:13incentives, infrastructure, and

04:16community sites.

04:18And this council, we could explore what

04:21that process is going to look like using

04:23those categories.

04:26Um so, I wanted to talk about the

04:29possibility of how we could go about

04:31establishing that. I was And I think

04:34what we're going to do is establish um

04:37a working group as uh Madam President

04:40suggested that we do, so we could come

04:42up with exactly how we're going to move

04:44forward and do this.

04:46Um

04:48I was likening it to something like the

04:50CPA fund, and you know how people apply

04:53for CPA money to use in their

04:55neighborhoods. And that's what I thought

04:57we would do. So, that is what I wanted

04:59to mention about the fund. Are there any

05:02comments or questions at this point

05:04about that?

05:06Councilor Cliff Bruce, please.

05:09>> Yeah, thank you uh Madam Chair. I just

05:11want to say thank you for having this

05:13meeting, and I'm glad we're moving

05:14forward with establishing some sort of

05:18uh

05:18guidelines for this. And I'm in

05:20agreement with you as far as uh setting

05:22something up as far as working groups,

05:24and also the

05:26something is along the lines of the CPA

05:28grants. So, I think that those are

05:30awesome tools that we can

05:32uh reference to. So again, I'm looking

05:35forward to to rolling this out sooner

05:38than later, obviously.

05:39Um but obviously, it's going to take

05:40some time, so I I understand that. So,

05:43again, I'm here to support, and I'm

05:45looking forward to us rolling this out.

05:47So, thank you, uh Madam Chair.

05:49>> Thank you so much, uh Councilor Cliff

05:51Bruce.

05:52Um yes, uh Mr. Howard.

05:55>> Yes, uh good evening, uh Stephen Howard

05:57here.

05:58Uh thanks for recognizing me, Madam

05:59Chair.

06:00Yeah,

06:01there are five ideas which I would like

06:04to run by uh to say recommend

06:09to the committee

06:10for uh inclusion to to pursue

06:14in

06:16in spending this money.

06:17Now, from what I understand there are

06:19certain limitations

06:21and you know, you can't give it to the

06:23police department and there are other

06:25things that people may want to do with

06:27it

06:28that we not that the fund

06:31prohibits.

06:33Uh one of the things that

06:34uh

06:36what seems to be one of the more popular

06:38recommendations

06:41is

06:42to actually

06:45see how some of the funds

06:49could go towards

06:52property taxes

06:54so that

06:56maybe for a year or two, however long

06:58depending on how much money it goes into

07:00the fund

07:01homeowners could get some relief from

07:04the annual increases

07:07in property taxes.

07:10Uh I have other things I'd like to

07:12suggest, but

07:13I don't know how folks feel about that,

07:15if they think it's a good idea, if they

07:16think it could be one of the

07:17recommendations as to how this money

07:19could be spent because they have $1.7

07:22million sitting

07:24sitting there

07:25doing nothing

07:28after returning $1.3 million

07:31because

07:32that $1.3 million was an overcharge

07:37based on laws

07:40for the percentage of money that could

07:42be taxed.

07:43That $1.3 million was returned

07:47to the cannabis uh

07:49people. So, now you have $1.7 million

07:51sitting there. How do we utilize it? And

07:53that is a That is what I understand this

07:56working group will be about. So, I have

07:59more to say, but I'll I'll land right

08:00here. Thank you, Madam Chair.

08:02>> You're welcome. And and just on those

08:04lines

08:05this fund, the reason there's $1.7

08:08million in there is because it has been

08:11accumulating for the last few years that

08:14we've had um the

08:17establishments.

08:19>> I'm not sure what year it was from.

08:20Could have been from 2020. FY2020 it

08:23says.

08:24Right?

08:25So,

08:27um as I said earlier, 50% of the funds

08:30from the retail tax was supposed to go

08:32to this fund and 50% could go to the

08:35city. I totally agree that

08:40150% could go to the city for property

08:42taxes, right? Um what it ended up being

08:45though is that only 33% is going into

08:49this fund.

08:50And

08:51annually, I think that comes out to

08:53about maybe $500,000 a year. And in

08:57order for

08:59property tax

09:01payers to get relief that don't get um

09:04benefit from the programs that we

09:06already have in place like the

09:08um right now the target tax relief, the

09:11abatement process,

09:13um

09:14people who don't qualify for those, if

09:17we put a million dollars in towards

09:19property tax, you would get maybe $15

09:23off your taxes, right? Which is good,

09:25but it's just $15.

09:28Um however,

09:31uh right now, you know, we're getting

09:34um

09:35like I said, the target tax relief. I

09:38continually every year I say this that

09:41we need to find a way I agree with you

09:43totally, Mr. Howard, to

09:45uh

09:46abate property taxes. And especially for

09:48people who don't qualify for those

09:50programs, for people who don't qualify

09:52for the targeted tax relief, right?

09:55Those are the people who really need our

09:57help and who we need to find a way to

10:01um compensate, but none of the

10:03um

10:04ways that are in place now are able to

10:07do that cuz they're not set up that way.

10:10So, regarding this

10:12particular fund, if we have like right

10:15now we do have 1.7 million.

10:17Um when I what I suggested and I don't

10:19know if you got this on Council Bruce,

10:21is that 80% of the fund could be

10:25expended annually and then 20% would

10:28remain in the fund to

10:31um

10:32just kind of like, you know, for

10:33stabilization for the for the following

10:36year or whatever.

10:37Um

10:38I thought that 30% could go to youth

10:40development, education, and prevention,

10:4320% could go to behavior health,

10:45recovery, and public health, 15% could

10:48go to workforce development and economic

10:51mobility, and 10% could go to

10:54revitalization and community safety, and

10:575% could go to community-based

10:58nonprofits. And then we reserve 20. But

11:01again, that's for the working group to

11:03decide. Those are just my suggestions

11:06that I came up with. Um

11:09because I would love to to, you know,

11:11throw all this money at property taxes,

11:14but I think that the city and the

11:15administration have a responsibility

11:18to do that, right?

11:20They put forward a billion-dollar

11:21budget, which I remind people all the

11:23time that I did not vote for.

11:25Um and currently we're in the process of

11:27talking tax breaks. So, this is not

11:30where we're going to find property tax

11:32relief, unfortunately, right? I wish it

11:35was, but this is not where we're going

11:37to find it. Um

11:39but what we are going to do is establish

11:41a working group, and I assume Council

11:43Quick Bruce that you would like to be

11:45involved in that group.

11:47>> Yes, absolutely.

11:48>> Excellent. And I Let me look and see

11:51what the um

11:54Yeah, I'm going to ask um

11:56what

11:56Oh, Council Davina, he's here. Thank you

11:58for being here. Um

12:02I didn't see where the working group

12:04Okay.

12:05Here we go, the working group.

12:09Okay, so the working group of the

12:11membership could be an appointee from

12:13the mayor's administration,

12:15representatives of the city council,

12:18um maybe a finance team, and we want Oh,

12:22oh. Did we lose the people on Zoom?

12:29>> No, we're still here.

12:31>> Okay, good. So, I can't see you guys.

12:33The television went blank.

12:35Um

12:38Yeah.

12:39Uh public health and neighborhood health

12:41uh representatives from different

12:42agencies, community-based people, and

12:44residents. So,

12:48maybe between seven and we can talk

12:50about how many people uh how many

12:52representatives would be in the working

12:54group. I would say between five and

12:56seven is a good number.

12:58Uh

13:00and then we can decide who wants to be a

13:02part of that. I as the finance chair, I

13:04really would like to be a part of that.

13:07Um

13:09They're still on there.

13:10>> Yeah, they are. I just said but yeah, I

13:12don't know why the screen went off.

13:13>> I don't know why the screen The screen

13:14went off. I apologize.

13:17I thought you guys left me.

13:19>> [laughter]

13:21>> And then And I think we could um

13:25within 60 days of adoption. Okay, so we

13:29have to meet with we have to form the

13:31working group and start meeting to

13:33develop the proposal and implement it.

13:36So, that

13:38Who's

13:39Is there anyone else here who is

13:41interested in being a part of that

13:43working group?

13:49I know other people have

13:50>> but some of the I'm a council member and

13:52chair.

13:52>> Okay. All right. You don't have to be.

13:55But, other people have said that they

13:57want to be a part of it. So, that's

13:59okay. Um Okay, so that's where we're at

14:02right now. We'll probably meet within

14:04the next 2 weeks and to start working on

14:07the proposals. And I think by the

14:09beginning of January 2027, we could

14:13potentially have a vehicle where

14:15neighborhoods that are impacted by

14:18these establishments can have access to

14:21these funds in the in the upcoming year.

14:24Does that sound okay?

14:26>> Yes, ma'am.

14:27>> Okay.

14:28>> Yes.

14:29>> Excellent.

14:29>> Madam Chair, I just want to make sure

14:30did you did you

14:32hear my request?

14:34>> What request? That you wanted to be on

14:35the working group?

14:37>> Yeah.

14:38>> I did. Yep, I wrote your name down.

14:42>> All right, thank you. Are we are we guys

14:44hear me? I

14:45having problem with the signal.

14:47>> I can hear you.

14:49>> Okay.

14:51Okay.

14:53Testing 1 2 3.

14:56>> You can you can hear us.

14:57>> You're good. We can hear you.

15:00Oh, yeah, but the screen goes out once

15:02in a while.

15:03>> Yeah, I know. That happened here, too.

15:06All right. Any other questions or

15:08comments, Mr. Conway?

15:12>> No, Madam Chair. Thank you very much. I

15:15I appreciate it.

15:16>> Thank you for being here. Okay, well, if

15:18that's it, I love short meetings.

15:21>> [laughter]

15:22>> So, I'll see you guys probably within

15:23the next Yes, Mr. Howard.

15:25>> Uh is there any time limits

15:28for this spend

15:30to happen?

15:31And if it doesn't hit that target date,

15:35could those funds be sent back to the

15:38cannabis organizations? Do you know the

15:39answer to that?

15:41>> I don't know the answer for sure, but

15:43I'm thinking that if there's not a time

15:45limit, it's a tax that has been

15:48collected by the city, so the money's

15:50there. So, it's not going to be sent

15:52back anywhere.

15:53>> Yeah, but the 1.3 was sent back.

15:56>> Well, that part was, yes.

15:57>> Because of overcharges.

15:59>> Right.

15:59>> So, I just want to make sure there's no

16:01sunset on when

16:03Okay.

16:03>> No, not from what I can see. The only

16:05thing is if we don't establish a fund,

16:07the money will just sit there and

16:09probably eventually just go to the

16:10general fund, which we don't want that

16:13to happen.

16:16>> Okay, thank you.

16:17>> Thank you. All right. All right, well,

16:19thank you all. You can have 45 minutes

16:22back.

16:23Have a great day.