The New Bedford City Council held a budget hearing on Monday, June 8, 2026, to review the proposed FY27 budgets for several departments, including MIS, Police, Fire, Department of Public Infrastructure (DPI), Sullivan's Ledge, Wastewater, Water, Facilities and Fleet Management (DFFM), Waste Collection, and the Zeiterion Theatre. The hearing featured presentations from department heads, extensive discussion on proposed cuts, and expressions of support and opposition from councilors. Key themes included staffing reductions, technology investments, public safety, and the impact of state aid.
We will begin our budget hearings. Today is Monday, June 8th, and I welcome everyone to the City Council chambers. I would like to just say I have a few letters to quickly read. The first is from Council Lopes, Dear Council President Pereira, Honorable Members of the City Council. I'm writing to inform you that I'll be unable to attend the budget hearing on Monday, June 8th, 2026, due to work-related commitment. Please read this letter into the record to make my colleagues in the public aware for the reason for my absence. Sincerely, Joseph P. Lopes. Thank you sincerely. Leo Shoket, Ward 1 Counselor. Alright. So first up tonight, we have MIS, which is on pages 93 through 97 in our budget books. Good evening, Councillors. For anyone that does not know me, my name is Jonathan News and I am the current assistant IT director. During the creation of this budget, I was the acting director, and that's why I'm speaking today. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain the FY27 budget for the MIS department. I first would like to talk about some highlights from FY26. The city has expanded the use of its permitting and licensing software OpenGov to additional departments. This expansion has continued to enhance the use of OpenGov by adding more departments permits and workflows into the system, allowing the residents of the city to use one system. We also, in collaboration with the CFO's office, created the first online budget book last fiscal year, which allowed for greater transparency for everyone. This includes the design and implementation of a new ArcGIS enterprise portal environment, which serves as the authoritative source for all city GIS data services and applications. City staff across multiple departments were trained in various aspects of new GIS projects, and additionally, a solution was developed in collaboration with the planning department, I'm sorry, the purchasing department, to manage and share city capital projects, which I know Molly spoke about um in earlier budget hearings. Another important function within the MIS department is the communication division, which supports all city departments and the public by processing internal mail and overseeing the city's main switchboard. In addition, the communication division oversees all city communications, including the administration and support of the internal VoIP systems and all city-issued cell phones. The MIS department has successfully secured several key grants to support and enhance our budget. Among them is a collaborative award with the community services department, the COA department, to offer weekly classes for the adult community during the last fiscal year. These classes have become a valuable addition, providing meaningful learning opportunities and rewarding experience for all departments. The city has been recognized at the state level for achieving one of the highest participation rates in the training during the last fiscal year. Now looking forward to FY27, the MIS budget is primarily influenced by the need of hardware and software acquisitions, maintenance contracts, licensed compliance, security measures, and human resource development. MIS has helped city departments enhance their efficiencies and enhance costs by offering a range of technology services tailored to support their current needs and future goals. The primary driver of the current budget increases continues to be the rising cost of software. Despite ongoing efforts to manage expenses through vendor negotiations and software evaluations, many software providers have implemented annual increases, sometimes exceeding 10%. At the same time, maintaining and continue to invest in technology is essential to ensure operational efficiency and security. Over the past year, the IT department has actively evaluated both existing systems and new solutions to confirm that our current software remains cost efficient, aligned with the organization needs, and positioned to support long-term growth in the city. Regarding the MIS's hardware expenditures, under the city's current budget budget constraints, the capital outlay budget has been reduced by 50% for the upcoming fiscal year. Historically, historically, we have tried to take a proactive approach in maintaining our network infrastructure and computer replacement program to make sure all systems are replaced before they reach end of life. This reduction will likely extend the life cycle of that equipment and increase the time in between upgrades, thus requiring the MIS department to continue to support this aging equipment for longer periods of time. In conclusion, software development, network enhancements, and security updates will extend into FY27. By upgrading outdated software, replacing and refreshing end user computers and investing in employee development, we ensure the continued provision of essential tools to enhance the city's operations. The MIS staff continues to undertake immense amounts of work, often exceeding expectation, and sometimes goes unnoticed, being a supporting office for the rest of the city. I again would like to extend my appreciation for all of their outstanding work this fiscal year. Again, thank you, Counselors, for your consideration for the FY27 budget, and I'm happy to take any questions you may have. Chair Eckness, Councillor Abreu. Thank you, uh Jonathan. I appreciate it. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Good evening, Jonathan. Good to see you again. Um that was my first question I was going to ask about how every other department for the most part has been tightening the belt and really watching the purse strings, but your department ballooned a little bit in the proposal anyway, about 421 extra thousand dollars from where you were at last year that we had adopted.