A $500,000 donation agreement with Tufts in July has helped allow Medford city officials to sign a proposal that would eliminate the city's $2.4-million budget shortfall.
According to Tufts' Director of Community Relations Barbara Rubel, the $500,000 figure came up after Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn conducted an analysis of specific areas of the Medford budget that would remain in debt come the new fiscal year, which has already started. The donation will be made in two separate payments of $250,000 over the course of two years.
In a phone interview, McGlynn expressed gratitude to Tufts for assisting Medford with its debt, and described University President Lawrence Bacow as "the most community-oriented president" that he has worked with at Tufts.
"When [Bacow] knew that there was an issue, he called and said that Tufts would like to help," McGlynn said. "I am very grateful because there was a lot of pressure on us. If we didn't make up [the $2.4 million] in time, we'd have to lay off further employees."
McGlynn attributes the $2.4-million debt to a variety of municipal sectors, including $1.5 million owed in health-insurance costs.
"If you have a bad health year where employees are going in for a number of surgeries, medical tests, etc. and you exceed the amount of money brought in by premiums, you have to make it up somehow," the mayor said.
He added that last year's 12-percent rise in health-insurance costs for city employees marked a notable increase from the previous year's 2-percent spike.
In an effort to avoid another deficit, McGlynn is proposing a Medford employee retirement program that would encourage city workers to retire earlier in order to reduce potential health-care costs.
Calling the donation an "act that Tufts has undertaken as a good citizen of the community," Rubel said that it is not uncommon for universities to hold financial agreements with their respective towns.
"Because universities are tax exempt and do not pay revenue, it's common for schools to hold pilot agreements, which are payments to the town in lieu of taxes," Rubel said. "For this reason, it seems only fair that Tufts makes contributions to [Medford and Somerville]."
Rubel said Medford will receive $1.25 million from Tufts — in addition to the $500,000 donation — over the course of 10 years as part of a separate partnership agreement that began in 2004. Somerville holds a similar agreement with Tufts and will also receive $1.25 million over those 10 years.
Recently, the university has agreed to forgive a rent increase for the Tufts Administration Building, which it leases to Somerville, Rubel said. She noted that the dollar value of forgiving the rent increase is roughly equivalent to the $500,000 donation to Medford.
Rubel emphasized the importance of maintaining equal financial relationships with both Medford and Somerville.
"If we weren't giving [the $500,000 donation] to Medford, we would be pursuing discussions about increasing the rent with Somerville instead of forgiving it," Rubel said. "It's important to us to keep some kind of parity with [both cities]."
McGlynn noted that Tufts' efforts to maintain a financial equilibrium with Medford and Somerville and to pursue good town-gown relations have improved.
"My general sense is that [relations] are excellent, something that hasn't always been the case," the mayor said. "There was a lot of bickering between Tufts and the city 20 years ago. But these last 15 years have been great."
McGlynn attributes this improvement to the ability of Tufts and Medford to "understand each other's problems and keep the lines of communication open."
Other organizations, including Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, also donated money towards the Medford budget.
