Beverly City Council Approves $144 Million FY2022 Budget in Unanimous Vote

BEVERLY -- June 23, 2021, Beverly City Council approves a $144 million general fund budget for fiscal year 2022 with unanimous votes on every line item. The council voted 9-0 on all items Wednesday night, including a $67,274,926 school budget covering Beverly Public Schools and the Northeast Regional Vocational School, a $16,848,568 public safety appropriation, and a separate suite of enterprise fund budgets for water, sewer, sanitation, recreation, golf and tennis, senior citizens, and the airport. Finance Director Brian Ailes drew extended praise from Mayor Cahill and multiple councilors; Mayor Cahill credited Ailes with managing significant extra workload tied to federal pandemic relief funding, saying he "can't imagine not having him here." Councilor Flowers called publicly for collaborative work with the mayor's office on ARPA and CARES Act spending to benefit residents hit hardest by the pandemic. The council also voted 9-0 to approve a zoning change on Trask Lane from commercial and residential designations to restricted industrial, following an 8-1 recommendation from the Planning Board, and passed a resolution honoring retiring Greater Beverly YMCA Executive Director Judith Cronin, who led a $6.5 million capital expansion and grew YMCA membership from 8,000 to nearly 12,000 during her tenure.