EV Vol. 33, No.14 -FREEEVE ER TT Your Local News & Sports Online – Scan & Subscribe Now! ADDOCCO TEAT www.advocatenews.net Free Every Friday An unexpected twist: Defendant Sergio Cornelio and attorney part ways Cornelio’s attorney fi les motion to withdraw as counsel due to lack of payment and communication 617-387-2200 Friday, April 5, 2024 School Board mulls $135M FY25 budget By Neil Zolot T he School Department budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 is currently calculated at $135,307,416. Of that, $130,707,416 is the Operating Budget and $4,600,000 is for Special Education Transportation. The overall total is a 5.21% increase over FY 2024’s $128,612,364. The Operating Budget is rising 5.4%, or $6,699,514, over $124,007,902 in FY 2024, while the SPED Transportation Budget is falling .10%, or $4,462, from $4,604,462 in FY 2024. In the new budget Chapter 70 education aid is rising $6,187,378, or 5.54%, from $111,682,212 to $117,869,590, leaving $43,738,229 as the Required Local Contribution, a 6.78% increase over $40,961,068 in FY 2024. This is offset by a $4,114,162, or 14.37%, increase in chargebacks to City Hall for administrative and retirement expenses, among others things, from $28,635,378 to $32,749,540, plus a new Additional City Appropriation of $1,849,137. Part of the increase is a result of annual salary and cost of living adjustments for employees, increased costs for utilities and retaining 35 positions formerly funded by Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds allocated during and after the pandemic. As a result, the FY 2025 budget can be characterized as providing at least “level service.” A stabilizing factor is a small increase in the number of students from 7,345 to 7,358. The student population has been BUDGET | SEE PAGE 2 IN HAPPIER DAYS: City Clerk Sergio Cornelio listens to his former attorney John Tocci during his reappointment before the City Council in July 2022. Atty. Tocci has requested to be removed as Cornelio’s lawyer during his ongoing defamation lawsuit with the mayor.(Advocate fi le photo) By James Mitchell I n a surprising twist in the ongoing defamation lawsuit fi led by Mayor Carlo DeMaria, Sergio Cornelio, a defendant and counterclaim plaintiff , has apparently dropped his legal counsel in the middle of the ongoing lawsuit, according to an affi davit fi led in Middlesex Superior Court by John F. Tocci, Esq., a partner at the fi rm of Tocci & Lee, LLC. Tocci has been Cornelio’s lead counsel dating back to 2022, including PART WAYS | SEE PAGE 5 SINCE 1921 Messinger Insurance Agency 475 Broadway Everett, MA 02149 Phone: 617-387-2700 Fax: 617-387-7753 NEW COMPETITIVE AUTO RATES AND BENEFITS AVAILABLE ACCIDENT FORGIVENESS DISAPPEARING COLLISION DEDUCTIBLE 11% DISCOUNT WITH SUPPORTING POLICY 10% COMBINED PAY IN FULL DISCOUNT AND GREEN DISCOUNT 10% GOOD STUDENT DISCOUNT Celebrating 100 years of excellence! Monday thru Friday: 8am to 6pm Saturdays 9am to 1pm! Check out our NEW website! www.messingerinsurance.com The City of Everett recently hosted the Easter Spring Fling with hundreds of families gathered at the Recreation Center to celebrate Easter and the arrival of spring. This happy youngster enjoyed having her face painted like a bunny. See page 8 for photo highlights. (Courtesy City of Everett) Spring Has Sprung!
2 Publizr Home