The Worcester City Manager’s Office, headed by Eric Batista, released their latest five-year financial plan entitled The Fiscal Year 2025-2030. FY2025-2030 draws heavy inspiration from the previous plan, FY2020-2024, with specific focuses for the next five years.
The City Manager’s Office used surveys from the Worcester community, self-study, and statistics to create this plan, which they label a “comprehensive guide” for the city’s future. They are partnering with services including MassDOT (Department of Transportation), Worcester public school systems, and public libraries to improve the city.
FY2025-2030 lays out actionable tasks that center values such as DEI, innovation, collaboration, and professionalism. The document cites increasing cross-departmental communication, improving DEI initiatives, gaining better technology, and centralizing responsibilities as ways to improve organizational measures. In total, the plan has six focuses: economic growth, public health and safety, reducing housing prices and homelessness, creating a strong government with financial stability, increasing quality of education, and establishing a cleaner city. These focuses will “deliver exceptional public services and municipal operations that are rooted in equity, innovation, and integrity, and centered on people,” the document says.
The FY2025-2030’s objectives for public health and safety target gun violence and drug addiction, especially in the context of children and families. It plans to reduce harm in both violent crime and substance abuse by educating the community, tracking statistics, and enhancing law enforcement. The city also says they will place a focus on racial health inequalities through educating the community and health providers.
The objectives for creating more affordable commodities and housing center around lower-income families. In their goals for minimizing the increasing cost and inaccessibility of housing, FY2025-2030 mention veterans, immigrants, people of color, and unhoused individuals. One of the goals is to establish a “Day Resource Center” to increase the access of resources such as healthcare to the unhoused. FY2025-2030 plans to partner with unnamed nonprofits to meet the needs outlined in this section.
In addition to affordable housing, the City intends to better the public school system. FY2025-2030 concentrates on supplying better educational resources such as books and e-books, and better infrastructure for learning. The document charts the course for developing a “School Capital Maintenance Fund with a startup investment of $1 million” with the goal of providing satisfactory environments for children to learn. The City also wants to increase language and math literacy by creating physical and online programs that target young children and their families.
FY2025-2030 also includes multiple “clean city initiatives.” The City plans to decrease pollution such as litter and gasses from transportation and to increase attractive green and blue spaces for economic and social development.
Additionally, the document puts a spotlight on encouraging job growth and small businesses. It also lists tourism, arts and culture, and better public parking as areas of growth.
“To be the best managed city in the country, we must implement sustainable, efficient systems that will enhance and maintain our organizational health and maintain a strong financial position,” the document says.
The entirety of the plan is documented on the City of Worcester website, where the public can learn more about what the City plans to accomplish in the coming years.
