MIXED SPEECH
Mayor Koch’s Budget Presentation sounded
like his State of the City.
By Joe Murphy
(opinions are his)
Each January, the Mayor of Quincy traditionally delivers a State of the City address—a chance to highlight accomplishments, reflect on the past year, and offer a hopeful vision for the future. May is budget season — when we’re supposed to talk dollars and cents… and sense. This is when things are supposed to get real. The Mayor’s upcoming year’s budget presentation to City Council usually falls at the beginning of May, and this year it happened May 5. What was billed as a presentation of the FY2026 city budget sounded a lot like a recycled version of his January State of the City.
It had sweeping rhetoric, civic pride, and glowing praise for city staff. What it didn’t have was fiscal detail. There was a brief PowerPoint, but nothing resembling a long-term financial roadmap. Instead of a budget presentation, we got a feel-good speech full of optimism and just a hint of the math.
Click the image above to see the city’s 2026 proposed budget
To be fair, there were a few references to the budget itself:
Mayor Koch proposed a $456 million budget for Fiscal Year 2026, an 8.6% increase over last year.
Most of the increase comes from a $23 million spike in debt service, largely tied to pension obligation bonds.
Public safety, schools, health insurance, and trash collection are all slated for increases.
According to the mayor, the budget maintains current staffing and service levels across city departments.
But what was not mentioned is arguably more important than what was.
There was no discussion of the projected deficit, no mention of Quincy’s structural budget imbalance, and no acknowledgment that the city’s long-term financial flexibility is narrowing. Koch did not reference the recent downgrade of Quincy’s credit outlook by S&P Global from "stable" to "negative"—a significant red flag that suggests Wall Street is no longer as confident in Quincy’s financial health as the mayor claims.
In fact, back in January, during his official State of the City address, Koch proudly declared: “Wall Street remains bullish on our future.” That hasn’t aged well. S&P’s April downgrade cited Quincy’s high debt burden and limited budgetary flexibility. Yet, the FY2026 budget document still describes our credit outlook as "stable." That’s not just outdated—it’s misleading.
And while the mayor paints a picture of financial strength, we’re watching our reserve fund shrink, our debt payments balloon, and our net position continue to erode. We’re spending more to maintain the appearance of normalcy. There’s no strategy—just survival.
(continues below the break)
📊 What's in the Details?
Facts from the FY2026 proposal that I didn’t hear explained — or fully addressed — in the speech
💣 Debt Payments Are Surging
- Debt service jumps from $57.5M to $75M — a $17.5M increase
- Short-term interest grows from $8.4M to $14M
The mayor noted this year marks a “peak” in payments, but offered no long-term strategy to manage rising costs or reduce future pressure. It sounded as if this year would be the worst of it, but that's just in reference to "jumps" in payments. $75M is the new normal.
📉 Wall Street Downgrade
- In January, Koch claimed: “Wall Street remains bullish on our future.”
- In April, S&P Global revised Quincy’s credit outlook from stable to negative
Yet the budget still states the city has a “stable outlook.” The downgrade occurred a month before the budget was released, leaving plenty of time for this to be edited.
💸 Reserves Are Shrinking
- The city's contributions to its rainy-day fund dropped to $2 million, down from $6 million in FY2024
A shrinking reserve weakens the city’s ability to weather future shocks. This is alarming considering the national news.
🏥 Health Insurance Costs Climb
- Health insurance jumps by $4.5 million — now $64.5M, or 14% of the entire budget
This one the mayor did mention in his speech. It’s one of the fastest-growing line items, outpacing general revenue growth.
🤷 What's the Plan?
- There was no mention of a strategy to address the structural deficit.
- No new revenue plan.
- No roadmap to fix Quincy’s long-term financial imbalance.
So where is the oversight?
Certainly not from the City Council, who followed Koch’s remarks with a string of gushing compliments. Councilor McCarthy praised Quincy’s popularity and property values. Councilor Devine spoke emotionally about falling in love with the city and how responsive city staff have been to him personally. Councilor Campbell called the budget's debt service increase “like putting shingles on a roof"—not glamorous, but necessary.
Not a single councilor asked a question about the budget’s sustainability. No one brought up the deficit. No one inquired about debt strategy or future tax pressure. The mood in the room was self-congratulatory. And with no questioning of the city's financial plan, it’s no wonder Mayor Koch feels free to bypass the Council when he wants something.
This is how spending decisions go unchecked: $850,000 for two religious statues—Saint Michael and Saint Florian to adorn our new police station. Another half-million dollars for a monument honoring Indigenous people. $850,000 more for a new cemetery gate featuring angels and other more subtle religious symbolism. We don’t get a fiscal plan—we get civic bling. When no one in the room is asking the hard questions, who’s really watching the checkbook?
To be clear, Quincy has made major improvements. Our roads, parks, and schools needed investment. Infrastructure costs money. But you’d think a city that’s not afraid to run persistent deficits and see its financial position weaken year after year would at least be fair with its educators. Instead, the Quincy Education Association had to fight the Koch administration for over 200 days to win modest raises and basic parental leave protections.
And then, just months later, Mayor Koch proposed a 79% raise for himself and 50% for the City Council. The council approved the raises with virtually no questions or debate. See a pattern? Both sets of raises are currently under investigation by the State Ethics Commission. Rather than walk them back, the mayor has chosen to defer implementation until after the next election, but the raises are still written into law.
Budgets are moral documents. They reflect values. And this one reflects a troubling pattern: praise over planning, spectacle over substance, loyalty over leadership.
We need answers. We need a plan. We need council to push back and demand it.
