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Mayor Jim Fiorentini

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NEW:

Wall Street Journal article about Haverhill and Mayor Fiorentini, click here

"Hard hats swarm empty brick factory buildings, turning them into upscale apartment complexes. New restaurants are opening, a suit manufacturer relocated here this spring, and the city recently got its first two national chain stores. Property-tax receipts are rising." click here

A letter to our citizens on the budget crisis 

Fellow citizens,

This year, Haverhill will receive $6.5 million less in State aid than we did last year. 

We will survive this crisis with our core services intact and in much better shape than most other cities our size.  We accomplished this by holding the line on spending, and by building our tax base to bring in more long term recurring revenues. 

Our five year long-term plan:  Strict Fiscal Discipline and build the tax base

Fortunately, the city has been planning for the entire five and a half years I have been in office.  We have imposed strict fiscal discipline and expanded the tax base to bring in new recurring tax revenues. 

Strict fiscal discipline

 When I took office, many people thought the city would become the first city since Chelsea in 1990 to go into receivership. 

We said no to unreasonable union demands, and held the line on spending.  At a time when governments everywhere were adding people to the payroll, we trimmed our payroll by 11%.

We put money aside for the rainy day that we knew, as surely as night follows day, would sometime hit us.  Last year, I put $1.4 million aside into a rainy day fund, and cut fourteen positions. 

Today, we have over $100 million of new investment downtown, and the largest retail boom in our history.  We’ve brought in hundreds of new jobs and businesses like Southwick Clothing, makers of Brooks Brothers suits.

The challenges ahead are daunting.  We can meet those with strict fiscal discipline, and continuing to expand our tax base.  

$100 Million in new investment transforms our downtown!

Moving Haverhill Forward