Mayor Says Braintree Prepared, if Necessary, for Local Aid Cuts
Gov. Patrick has proposed a wide-ranging plan to cover a budget gap that he blamed on the upcoming "fiscal cliff" created by Congress and lower-than-expected state receipts.
The local aid reductions proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick to help close an expected $540 million state budget gap could mean a $70,000 to $100,000 hit for Braintree if approved by lawmakers. Patrick blamed the mid-year cuts on the failure by President Obama and members of Congress to avert a "fiscal cliff" of massive federal spending decreases. The reductions, scheduled to begin gradually in January, were put in place after a Congressional "super committee" failed to reach a deal on reducing the budget deficit. “The uncertainty of the fiscal cliff and the resulting slow down in growth, is the direct cause of our budget challenges," Patrick said in a statement. In the statement released on Tuesday, Patrick said that the administration revised…
