Have a Safe & Happy Mother’s Day! Vol. 35, No.19 -FREEwww.advocatenews.net Free Every Friday BEAUTIFYING REVERE 2025 T 781-286-8500 Friday, May 9, 2025 Supt., School Committee discuss budget deficit; transportation budget shortfall Advocate Staff Report he School Committee’s Ways and Means Subcommittee is grappling with a $7.3 million structural budget defi cit. According to the school district’s Chief Financial Offi cer, Mathew Kruse, several factors combined to put city schools in the hole. Health insurance costs are up between 17 and 19 percent. The district’s payment for tuition for charter schools and school choice placements is up signifi cantly, and the cost of non-salaried tutors has spiked. School Superintendent Dianne Kelly said those tuition cost increases were $8 million this year. Kruse also said the substitution program needed an overhaul. Kelly said the administration is looking for places where it can economize. And she had a list. At Beachmont Elementary School, two classes of fourth graders, each with 20 students, is moving up to the school’s three fi fth grade classes. Kelly said three fi fth grade classes weren’t necessary and one could be cut. But Kelly stressed it was the position being cut, not the teacher. The district would fi nd another place for that teacher; if not at Beachmont, then maybe at Garfi eld. Kelly also said proposed cuts included ending clerBUDGET | SEE Page 3 Power up: RAIN? WHAT RAIN: Many volunteers came out to Beautify Revere, despite heavy rain, as they gather outside city hall on Saturday morning. Shown from left to right, are: Ward 5 City Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya, Ward 1 City Council candidate James Mercurio, Ward 1 City Councillor/Councillor-At-Large Joanne McKenna, Ward 4 City Councillor Paul Argenzio, Mayor Patrick Keefe, and Councillor-At-Large Stephen Damiano. Mayor Keefe Announces Annual Elderly & Disabled Tax Relief Program and Water Bill Relief Program Programs will offer fi nancial relief on property taxes and water and sewer bills Special to Th e Advocate M ayor Patrick M. Keefe Jr. announced this week that the applications for the Elderly & Disabled Residents Tax Relief Program and the Water and Sewer Relief Program for Disabled Residents will be available in the City Treasurer’s Offi ce on the 2nd Floor of City Hall beginning May 1, 2025, and on the City of Revere Website https://www.revere.org/ departments/treasurer. The program is sustained by voluntary contributions from taxpayers who respond to the donation sheet included in each quarterly tax bill. The purpose of the program is to provide relief to elderly and/or disabled taxpayers and disabled water ratepayers who are having trouble paying their real estate taxes and water and sewer bills because of fi nancial hardship. PROGRAMS | SEE Page 2 New electrical program expected to launch next month Advocate Staff Report R evere Power Choice, a municipal electricity aggregation program, launches next month, but it’s not clear if the community is ready. The program is free and simple and off ers benefi ts, such as stable electricity bills, potential savings and the option to choose electricity generated from renewable sources, such as wind and solar power. POWER UP | SEE Page 2
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