Medley Long

I might be a little biased, but this is my favorite time of the year for Beverly! Beverly Homecoming week is in full swing now!

It’s here! 🦞🎆❤️ Beverly Homecoming 2026 kicks off TODAY.

Check out this year’s full schedule of events and plan your 15 days of fun! 🥳

Beverly Homecoming kicks off this Sunday! 🎉
With three times as many days and nearly 100 events on the schedule, this is our biggest Beverly Homecoming celebration yet!
Join us as we celebrate Beverly’s 400th anniversary all summer long. We can’t wait to see you there!

Speak up. Let your voice be heard. If nobody speaks up, we can’t expect change. Too many people who grew up here, work here, or want to stay here are finding it harder and harder to afford living here.

Trash & Recycling / City Budget Update

Thank you to everyone who has reached out over the last few days! Mayor Cahill hosted a meeting in Ward 3 earlier this week and I thought I’d share a few updates and thoughts from the meeting.

First, Mayor Cahill announced that he signed a contract on Monday with Casella Waste for the new automated Trash & Recycling program. Apparently, it is a five-year contract that includes a 5% cost escalator clause each year. The total cost of the program for FY27 was stated at $5.2M.

Per our City Charter, the Mayor has the authority to enter into contracts for services. The City Council, however, has authority over approval of the City Budget and any requests for financial expenditure. So currently, we have a signed contract for a new 5-year Trash & Program that starts July 1st, but the City Council has not yet reviewed, discussed or approved the Mayor’s plan to pay for it or understand how it fits within his proposed FY’27 City Budget.

The City Solicitor also confirmed that a Trash Fee Ordinance change would require only a majority vote of approval by the City Council rather than a 2/3 majority as I had previously misstated.

There was a great turnout in Ward 3. Residents were engaged and asked good questions. Some of the big takeaways for me from that meeting:

1. Mayor Cahill responded to a question about the Trash & Recycling contract process by saying it’s been a “many months process” but did not respond to a question about whether the City Council has been involved in the process. The answer to that question is no, the City Council has not been involved.

2. In response to a question about whether the containers need to be placed in the street or on the curb to be collected, the Mayor acknowledged that he did not know the answer and said he would follow up.

3. Mayor Cahill stated that overflow bags will no longer be allowed. He told residents they can drive to Georgetown to dispose of any extra trash at the transfer station there.

4. In response to questions about the size of the containers, Mayor Cahill told the audience that “we want to help you decrease how much trash you put out” and spoke at length about the composting program.

5. The most concerning comment I heard was related to the City’s financial situation. Mayor Cahill stated that shifting the financial burden of the Trash & Recycling program onto residents “is the last move we have”. My interpretation of that comment is that Mayor Cahill has no plans to change his approach to managing our city finances and he will likely resort to supporting a Tax Override to deal with next year’s looming budget deficit.

6. Regarding the need for the City Hall project, Mayor Cahill offered the following justification:
• It was last renovated in 1933-34
• It has substandard HVAC
• The building needs more meeting space
• The building needs more bathrooms
• He stated that it is a “best practice” to maintain 5-8% budget capacity for debt payments for capital projects
• The Mayor also said he's been “really squeezing the price.”

Based on the feedback I’ve received, it’s clear that residents are concerned about affordability and their cost of living. I haven’t heard any support from residents for passing along a significant increase in the Trash Fee to cover the City’s $3.9M FY27 budget deficit.

In justifying the need for the City Hall project, the Mayor made comments about “best practices” and needing to maintain 5-8% debt for capital projects. Keep in mind the City is still paying for the Beverly High School, the Beverly Middle School and the Police Station projects among others. To me the “best practice” I am most concerned with is avoiding passing along outrageous tax and fee increases on the residents we represent who struggle with affordability and the cost of living in Beverly.

I also take exception with the justification I’ve heard that we need to proceed with the City Hall project because “we have an obligation to maintain our infrastructure”. While I don’t disagree with that sentiment, keep in mind that Mayor Cahill and a majority of the City Council passed a City Budget last year that zeroed out the Road and Sidewalk budget line item. So apparently a $30M renovation of City Hall is “our obligation to maintain critical infrastructure” but a commitment to regularly maintain our road and sidewalk infrastructure is not.

Folks have asked me how they can help. It’s simple. Reach out to Mayor Cahill and my City Council colleagues. Share with them how you feel about the Trash Fee increasing to $425, about the $30M City Hall renovation project and about your feelings about your priorities for our City Budget.

Also, be on the lookout for upcoming City Council meetings and public hearings related to the Trash Fee Ordinance Change and FY27 City Budget. The Beverly School Committee is holding a Public Hearing tonight at 6:00pm at the Beverly High School auditorium related to the FY27 School Department Budget.

Thanks again for staying engaged and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or want to discuss further – 978-810-7713.

-Matt

Sharing because I think this is worth taking a minute to read. We need more people willing to speak up. Beverly is becoming more and more unaffordable for families and individuals who are trying to live, work, and build a future here.

Trash & Recycling Program & Fee

I’ve had a lot of constituents reach out to me regarding Mayor Cahill’s proposal to implement a new automated trash and recycling program.

As I understand it, the Mayor is proposing to increase the Trash & Recycling Fee from $100 to $425 per household (a +325% increase) to pay for the new program. Currently, the $100 Trash Fee covers 1/3 ($1.2M) of the $3.6M program. The revenue generated by the Mayor’s proposed $425 Trash Fee will now cover 100% of the cost of the new automated program. Additionally, the Mayor is proposing a Free Cash Transfer of $1.7M to cover the costs of new containers.

It’s important to understand that this proposal is part of the larger discussion related to the City Budget. The City is currently facing a $3.9M budget deficit for FY27 which starts July 1st and this proposed increase in the Trash Fee appears to be Mayor Cahill’s primary strategy for closing the $3.9M deficit. The Mayor has also said that he plans to raise school fees including athletic fees and transportation fees. The Mayor is essentially shifting tax dollars that previously funded the majority of the Trash & Recycling Program to use those dollars to cover the budget deficit created by years of overspending.

The City is spending more than it is taking in and it is unsustainable. Over the last two years, the Mayor has zeroed out the Road and Sidewalk budget line item and has tapped excess Levy Capacity to the tune of $1.4M to balance the budget, passing along big property tax increases to residents in the process. The Average Single Family Tax Bill in Beverly is now $8,834, an increase of 4.8% year over year, and an increase of 14.2% over the last three years.

Municipal government has a small margin for error and needs to be laser focused on the priorities – public safety, our public schools and maintaining our infrastructure. In the past I have proposed dozens of cuts to the City Budget including cuts to positions in the Mayor’s Office, cuts to consultant line items, cuts to the Mayor’s travel and expense budgets and to the $250k “Reserve for Unforeseen” line item.

I have also advocated for stronger financial management. We should be proactive in looking for additional ways to cut costs including eliminating non-essential positions, renegotiating our city health insurance, eliminating consultants, extending our pension liability payment schedule, freezing management salaries, freezing hiring for non-essential positions, offering early retirement incentives, and re-thinking the “sacred cows” of our City Budget.

I argued a few months ago that the City cannot afford the $30M City Hall renovation project. In January, the City Council approved the Mayor’s City Hall project proposal by a 7-2 vote (Councilor Mullady joined me in voting NO). The debt payment for this project alone will account for ~$2M in the City’s Operating Budget in FY27. We don’t need a new City Hall.

I call on the Mayor and my City Council colleagues to do the responsible thing and CANCEL the City Hall project immediately.

Let’s use that $2M to offset the FY27 budget deficit and avoid passing along outrageous Trash Fee increases to our residents.

I also want to touch on the timing of this proposal which is very concerning.

The Trash Fee is established by City Ordinance and any changes to it would require a vote of approval by 2/3’s the City Council on two separate occasions. The proposed $1.7M Free Cash Transfer for containers would also require City Council approval.

The Mayor has not submitted his proposed City Budget for FY27 despite clear calls from the community for greater transparency related to the City Budget. As far as I know, the Mayor also has not yet introduced a proposed Ordinance change related to the Trash Fee.

We will have less than two months to debate the proposed Trash Fee Ordinance change and to review and approve the City Budget.

I encourage residents to get engaged NOW. Reach out to Mayor Cahill and your City Councilors. This year it’s a hike in the Trash Fee. The Mayor and several City Councilors are already calling for a Tax Override to fund next year’s FY28 City Budget.

Share your thoughts and join me in urging them to CANCEL the $30M City Hall project and vote NO to the proposed $425 Trash Fee. We need a fiscally responsible approach that recognizes and respects the financial burdens placed on our residents and taxpayers.

There will be an opportunity for public input, and I will keep you posted.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or want to discuss this issue further. My cell is 978-810-7713.

Thank you!

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