Latest news with #MichaelMcCabe
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
McCabe presents $163.8 million budget to City Council for review
WESTFIELD — Mayor Michael McCabe presented the fiscal year 2026 budget of $163.8 million for review to the City Council at its meeting on June 5. 'This budget has been a difficult budget to prepare,' McCabe said, and specifically thanked City Council President John Beltrandi and Finance Committee Chair Ralph Figy for helping sit in on some of the budget hearings. 'I came before you in March or April and we spoke briefly about issues this budget was going to face and a number of unexpected increases that were beyond the control of the city's management staff or financial team to be able to foresee,' he said, listing special education increases of $1.1 million, transportation increases of $1.3 million, mandatory staff increases of just under a million, contractual obligations of $1.8 million, a health care increase of $5.8 million, utilities cost increase of 15 percent across the board and trash and recycling fees that had a $2.3 million deficit. He said there were also $5 million in inflationary cost increases. McCabe said in FY25 there was also a tax decrease to residents. 'When we used free cash last year to give a tax decrease to folks and offset the budget deficit … that came out to negative one percent,' he said, adding that all in all costs were $17 million over the previous year's budget. He said last year the city used $5 million in free cash to balance the FY25 budget, and the funding is not available to do that again in FY26. Later he said $2 million in free cash was used to balance the FY26 budget. 'Our budget looks like it's going to come in on a free cash balance of 3%. The DOR recommends 5%. I'm not too worried about it, I think when the new free cash number comes in November, I think there will be more than 5 percent overall,' he said. McCabe said there are no new personnel across the board, no vehicles across the board, and an appropriate level of services will be kept status quo. 'There is no real decrease in services in FY26 over FY25, even though we've had this $17 million gap to close.' McCabe said the city closed a couple of schools, specifically Fort Meadow, Abner Gibbs and Franklin Avenue, and added a state-of-the-art Westfield River Elementary School. He said the consolidation in elementary schools helped to reduce costs in personnel and services. Without getting into details about the levy limit and levy ceiling and their interrelatedness to city financing, which he said currently stands at $12.5 million in excess capacity, he said, 'I remember sitting through council meetings in the cheap seats over the last 15 years, and I remember hearing that it was a really good thing if we had excess capacity built into our levy. As as it turns out, the state doesn't want to see excess capacity in our levy, because when you go to them for help, they say 'spend your own money.' ' McCabe said the city expected help from increases in Chapter 70, Chapter 74 and Chapter 90, the state's funding sources, but 'there really was not a lot of help at all.' He said unrestricted government aid went up $120,000, 'which isn't really an awful lot of anything.' In his letter to the council, McCabe said the plan is to spend $3.5 million of the excess capacity in FY26. 'By doing so, better positions to receive state funding, especially Chapter 70 and Chapter 74. This also means we will return to using only minimal free cash this year, and hopefully no free cash in FY27.' McCabe suggested in reviewing the budget, that councilors go to the Mayor's recap in the beginning of the budget for a thumbnail read. He also suggested looking at pages 194-214, the appendices in the back of the budget, 'they will walk you through all the items I just talked about.' 'If you're looking at it, you'll see how we tried to balance the budget. There are only three ways to balance the budget; through new growth, you can pick up through some local receipts — this year we're going to get an advantage of a local recept that is significantly higher than it's been before, and you can do it through taxation and excess capacity monetary use,' McCabe said, referring to the additional $2 million that will be generated by the increase in the trash collection fee. He said without new growth, the only thing left to do is tax at 2.5 percent and then tax the excess capacity at 2.5 percent, which added to the $2 million in free cash and $2 million increase in local revenues was how the budget was balanced. He said the mayor's cut sheet shows the cuts made to city departments of $3.2 million, It also shows a positive offset of $3.5 million in the insurance category. He said the School Department budget was cut by $5.2 million, but saw a four percent increase over FY25. 'It's important to realize that a four percent increase, while greater than the city budget, is a necessary increase. Unfunded mandates are crushing the School Department budget and crushing the taxpayer,' McCabe said. 'I've tried to address it with the governor. The problem lies within the legislature - the body that creates the rule and then they don't fulfill the rule that they create. They're the only ones that can fix that rule. If you have any influence with your state legislators, I would urge you to ask them to fund where they say they're supposed to fund,' he added. McCabe gave two examples of funding disparities from the state. He said the Massachusetts School Building Authority is supposed to be funded at 80 percent. The Westfield River Elementary School cost $16 million, and the city was reimbursed $32 million, roughly 50 percent. He said to be fair, the MSBA created their own exemptions. 'If they exempt pieces of the puzzle, they can still say that they're funding 80 percent of the non-exempted pieces of the puzzle,' he said. The other exemption was the funding of Circuit Breaker for special education expenses. McCabe said they are supposed to be funding at 75 percent, but are instead funding at 44 percent. 'That little difference is worth about $1.5 million,' he said. Before running off to the Westfield Technical Academy graduation, McCabe thanked Auditor Vicki Moro, who created the 214 page document, Assessor Ashlie Brown, Personnel Director Anne Larkham, Treasurer/Collector Matt Barnes, School Business Manager Shannon Barry, Solicitor Shanna Reed, City Councilors Ralph Figy and President John Beltrandi and Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski for all the help they have been in working collaboratively on the budget. 'I greatly appreciate their assistance,' he said. The budget was sent by the Council to the Finance Committee for review. Finance Committee reviews were scheduled for June 9, 10, 11, 16 and 17 beginning at 5:30 p.m. in various rooms in City Hall. A financial overview and public hearing for the budget is scheduled for June 23 at 6 p.m. in Room 207, City Council Chambers. On June 24, also in Room 207, city councilors will review the entire budget and make recommendations. On June 30, councilors will vote on the budget. The schedule of meetings is posted on the city website at The budget is also posted on the website under departments, auditor, Fiscal Year 2026. Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
WTA Aviation Class of 2025 called ‘future of aviation'
WESTFIELD — After welcoming everyone to the Aviation Maintenance Technology program graduation for the Class of 2025, department head Galen Wilson acknowledged fellow Aviation instructors Scott Hepburn, Christopher Chaves and Timothy Pfau and Aviation Advisory Board chair Kenneth Dromgold. 'Another great year, another great class. These students will have an impact on the aviation industry.' Wilson said the students had completed 1250 hours of training, tests, evaluations, projects, presentations and readings to make it through the only FAA-certified program in New England. 'It takes a special student to complete it. They have endured a lot. Bottom line, we did it!' Mayor Michael McCabe came to the podium, saying it was intimidating to speak with an F15 right in front of him. Hangar 2 at Westfield Barnes Airport had been mostly cleared of aircraft for the ceremony that were now parked on the landing strip along with a visiting F15 from the Air National Guard 104th. McCabe remarked on the 50% female composition of the Aviation Class of 2025 as he welcomed family and friends, representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration, Gulfstream, and Westfield State University who he said were checking out the program. He then presented certificates from the City of Westfield to each member of the Class of 2025. 'This is one of my favorite days of the year. Being able to celebrate our kids as they move into the future is a blast,' McCabe said. Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski told the graduates, 'Aviation needs people like you,' He said the field requires precision, accountability and an unwavering commitment to safety, skills which he called impressive and essential. 'Thank you for choosing this path. Your future is not only bright, it's airborne.' 'I feel so indebted to and proud of this program,' said keynote speaker Senator John Velis, who is co-chair of the state Aviation Caucus. He said it coincides with his time in office, and he remembers walking from the hangar to Westfield Technical Academy with a plane at 3 a.m. in 2016 for the grand opening of the program. Velis said in the beginning, people were amazed that the program was happening in Massachusetts. 'Now, when we have this conversation, they say 'we know all about it.' We are proud — you should be proud, and I hope you are.' Velis' speech then paused for an emergency response to a medical emergency in the hangar that had a successful outcome. When he resumed, his message to the graduates shifted. 'Far more important than what we're doing today is your well-being,' Velis told the graduates. He said one of the things he knows as chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery, is that the numbers are scary on the impact of mental health on young adults, which he said isn't talked about enough. 'If you find yourself at any point in the future or a friend finds themselves struggling, remember these three most important words — 'I need help.' Please get it. You're going to find in the not-too-distant future circumstances where you're going to fail at something — not a single person who hasn't. What separates those who push forward and who don't is your response,' he said. 'You make us so proud. Thank you for going down this path. Remember, you've got a lot of people in this room who want to help out,' Velis said. Wilson then introduced the Class of 2025 Distinguished Graduate Mason Jacquier of Southwick. In describing Jacquier he said he was a soccer captain, class treasurer, on the Student Council, in the National Technical Honor Society, 4H Club, Key Club, captain of the Aviation Explorers Post, flying, and 'oh yeah, not bad at motocross either,' in which he said Jacquier has won numerous awards. Jacquier will be attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida to study aerospace engineering. 'It's an honor to speak at our graduation. When we started as freshmen, we were intimidated … We were met with unwavering support, constant encouragement and guidance,' Jacquier said. He said over the four years they developed confidence, patience and pride, and were pushed out of their comfort zone and are on their way to becoming pilots, air traffic controllers and in the Air National Guard. After he spoke, pilot Ray Robidoux of the Westfield Aviation Museum located in Hangar 3 joined Jacquier at the podium to present him with a $2,000 scholarship. 'We present this scholarship as our way of saying thank you. The graduates today are the future of aviation,' Robidoux said. Scott Hepburn, instructor of the Class of 2025, thanked the other instructors for bringing the class over the finish line. He said it was a pleasure to have them for 3.5 years, 1911 hours total. He then awarded certificates to the FAA Program graduates and the non-FAA Aviation Program graduate, telling stories about each one before presenting them. The FAA Program graduates of the Class of 2025 include Savannah Chapman of Granville, who will be entering the Air National Guard 104th; Rielynn Cigal of Westfield, who will be going to Springfield Technical Community College for medical studies, and Hailey Dubiel of Westfield, who will go to CT AeroTech. Hepburn said Dubiel entered WTA 'bound and determined to get into aviation,' adding that she was one of the smartest students to ever come through, having only one test score less than 100 at a 97. Also graduating were Emma Fernandes of Westfield, who will go to Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Jason Harris of Westfield, headed to CT Aero Tech, Mason Jacquier of Southwick, going to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Jason Jones of Westfield, who will be going to STCC. Thomas Knapik of Westfield will be the first graduate of the program to become an Air Traffic Controller through the FAA. In a presentation before the School Committee in November, Knapik said he first thought about becoming a pilot, but discovered through the program 'the infinite possibilities in aviation.' Hepburn said about Olivia Pease of Westhampton that she came in wanting to be a private pilot by graduation, and became one. She will be entering STCC in the fall, and has a goal of becoming a commercial pilot. Joshua Masse of Westfield will be going to work at Bombardier in Windsor Locks and Mark Poznyur and Maya Reyes will join Gulfstream at Westfield Barnes. Non-FAA Aviation Program graduate Andrew Reed of Southwick will be going to Atlantic Aviation as a line technician. Hepburn said you could ask him whatever you wanted to know about airplanes. 'He knew so much about our planes, and is an incredible photographer,' he said about Reed, whose extended family in Southwick and South Carolina came to the graduation to support him. 'It's time to push this program bigger,' Hepburn said. He said they can only accept 14 students per year out of the 80 to 100 that want aviation. 'I'd like to double this program in the next couple of years — some way, somehow.' Wilson also awarded numbers 21 and 22 of the 25 coins made to distinguish the first 25 students from the program to complete their FAA certification. Wilson, a 30-year veteran of the US Air Force called it a USAF tradition. 'It means that you are a member of an elite group of people.' Coin number 21 was presented to Brandon Laviolette and number 22 to Zachary Fedora. Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Westfield hosts annual Memorial Day Parade
WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Westfield honored service members who passed away Monday morning with its annual Memorial Day Parade. While many people view this observance as a three-day weekend, many Westfield residents have deep ties to the military. American flags and lawn chairs lined the streets of Westfield as the Memorial Day Parade kicked off at City Hall. What's open and closed on Memorial Day in Massachusetts? High school marching bands and retired military Humvees strolled down Court Street, tossing candy and tiny American flags. Westfield Mayor Michael McCabe told 22News what this holiday is all about. 'It's about remembrance of those people that have gone before us and have fallen in service to their country,' McCabe said. 'You know, everybody's related to a military vet. My dad's a military vet, my father-in-law's a military vet, brothers and sisters, they're all veterans of service.' Memorial Day parades like the one in Westfield were seen all across the state to honor our fallen service members. One Westfield Councilwoman can relate to this very well. Cindy Harris is the daughter of a Korean War veteran, Frank Carlson, who died in action in 1954. She spoke about her relationship with past and current service members. 'As far as I'm concerned. everybody in serves in the service, any branch, is a brother and sister of mine,' Harris said. 'My father died when I was this big, and every Memorial Day is like going to another funeral. But we all stay happy and put one foot in front of the other. We think about them and enjoy our life because that's what they wanted us to do.' Today, there are over 37,000 fallen service members from Massachusetts. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alera Group Acquires Trinity Advisors Group
DEERFIELD, Ill., May 13, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alera Group, a leading national insurance and financial services firm, announced today it is expanding its Mid-Atlantic footprint with the acquisition of West Chester-based Trinity Advisors Group (TAG), a retirement plan consulting firm. For nearly two decades, TAG has delivered qualified retirement-plan consulting to corporate clients across Greater Philadelphia. The firm is led by founder Michael McCabe, who established the company in 2006 and has been consistently recognized for his expertise in the retirement-services industry. "Michael and his team have earned a reputation for excellence, and we're thrilled to welcome them to the Alera Group family," said Christian Mango, Executive Vice President and National Practice Leader, Retirement Plan Services. "Their deep expertise in the Philadelphia market strengthens our capabilities and accelerates our strategic growth in the Mid-Atlantic." Following the asset purchase, TAG will operate within The Ascent Group, an Alera Group company. "Joining Alera Group opens an exciting new chapter for our team and our clients," McCabe said. "We saw in Alera Group a culture that matches our own commitment to exceptional client service. With their expanded resources, we can deliver even greater value to plan sponsors and participants while maintaining the high-touch approach they expect." ERISA Consultant Carmela Elco and client service professional Tracey Kirby, CPC, CPFA, will in their current roles. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. About Alera Group Alera Group is an independent financial services firm with $1.5 billion in gross revenue, offering comprehensive property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, wealth services and retirement plan solutions to clients nationwide. Working collaboratively across specialties and across the country, Alera Group's team of more than 4,500 colleagues offer unique solutions, personalized services and proactive insights to help ensure each client's business and personal success. For more information, visit and follow us on LinkedIn. View source version on Contacts Tina Powelltina@
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Jupiter Power lithium battery project in Westfield canceled over eco concerns
WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – A developer for the proposed lithium battery energy storage facility in Westfield has decided to pull back on the project. This update was announced during a news conference held by the city's mayor outside City Hall. This decision is bringing relief to the community as many were concerned about the potential environmental and health impacts this facility could've brought. The Texas-based company Jupiter Power was looking to construct a lithium battery energy storage facility over the Barnes aquifer. This is the sole source of water for Westfield and the surrounding neighborhoods. There was also concern about long-burning lithium fires at the site, releasing harmful chemicals into the air. And in the last few months, the mayor and other state lawmakers were activeLy working with Jupiter Power for them to reconsider their proposal. Mayor Michael McCabe expressed gratitude for the developer's willingness to withdraw and listen to the community's concerns and reassess their plans. 'The protection of our city's natural resources should be paramount in all of our decision-making processes. And to that end, we are very pleased with this development,' says McCabe. While the company believed the facility would bring economic and resiliency benefits, they decided to focus their efforts on other projects. In a statement to 22News, Jupiter Power explained they've got a wide range of projects in development and must carefully decide which ones to invest in and move forward with. It is still unclear as to what's next for the property. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
