Cal Finocchiaro for Ward 6 Melrose

04/06/2026

Some insight on what’s happening in Melrose. As always, reach out to your councilors with questions or concerns!

12/17/2025

Please be aware of a recent scam targeting Melrose residents and businesses.

Fraudulent letters are being sent posing as City Offices and/or Commissions, requesting $ be wired.

Please take a moment and read the announcement from the city below.

https://www.cityofmelrose.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=64essstin

Melrose Does Not Solicit or Accept Wire Transfers From Residents or License/Permit Applicants

10/27/2025

We are about a week away from the election in Melrose on Tues 11/4.

Here are some of my thoughts and some facts:

1- The city needs more $. This is just a fact. Every past Mayor, regardless of political affiliation, has asked for an override.

2- The amount for the override has risen over the years because we haven’t passed the smaller ones over time that we needed. A $500k override or a 1 million dollar override, once or twice a decade is easier to digest. But we didn’t let it happen.

3- I promise, as your City Councilor, to work with my colleagues to make sure that, if the override passes, every dollar is used wisely — supporting not just our schools, but the MANY needs of our whole community.

4- The administration has made many cuts to save where we can and balance the budget. Right now, 1-the city has reduced staff in every dept, 2-we’ve increased fees to make up some costs, 3-initiated overtime freezes and compensation freezes (the mayor is not taking the raise that was implemented by the last administration), 4-the DPW has been reduced to critical work, 5-many community line items have been removed from the budget.

5- A lot of people don’t realize some of the important steps the city has taken to save money.
For instance, each student placed out of district, including transportation, costs the city about $100,000 per year — and right now, we have 56 students in that category.
Last year, the administration launched a Language-Based Learning Program at the Hoover School to better support students with specific learning needs. Thanks to this program, young students can stay in our district — close to their friends and community — instead of being placed elsewhere. It’s a solution that benefits most importantly our students, but also the city’s budget. We will see the ripple effect of this in years to come.

6- Residents may not realize that the city faces several major cost drivers that are beyond our control. The following four key cost drivers consistently outpace the limits of Proposition 2½.

1-Employee and retiree benefits (both health and pension)
2-Collective bargaining agreements (over 90% of City and School employees are in unionized roles)
3-Property and liability insurance rates
4-Utility costs

7- Going into the next fiscal year, we will be down about $4million. That means everything that I’ve mentioned above will be reduced and cut even more. Maybe will close an elementary school? This isn’t scare tactics, it’s just reality and I wish there was another way out of it other than raising taxes. But this is where we are.

As always, please reach out with any questions. [email protected] or [email protected]

09/29/2025

FYI

Attention Residents! This Saturday (10/4) from 8 AM – 12 PM, Melrose DPW will be hosting a Rigid Plastics Collection Event at the City Yard.

Below is a list of items that are accepted at the event.

If you are still unsure about an item that you are looking to recycle at the event, please call 781-665-0142 or email [email protected] for more information.

09/28/2025

IMPORTANT VOTING DATES

Saturday 10/25/25—Are you registered to vote? The deadline to register to vote for the 2025 Melrose Local Election is Saturday, October 25, by 5 pm.

Tuesday 10/28/25- Mail in Ballots, must complete this online form before 10/28 FOR COLLEGE KIDS, I suggest requesting a ballot by this Friday and mailing back by 10/24 See link attached
https://www.sec.state.ma.us/MailInRequestWeb/MailInBallot.aspx
The ballots will then be mailed to recipients.

10/25-10/31 - these are the In-person Early Voting dates
at City Hall, 562 Main Street:

- [ ] -Saturday, Oct 25 8:30 to 5pm

- [ ] -Mon-Thurs, Oct 27 to 30 8:30 to 4pm

- [ ] -Friday, Oct 31st 8:30 to 12:30 pm

Tuesday November 4 ELECTION DAY
Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School, 90 Melrose Street, from 7 am to 8 pmrr ed.

09/18/2025

HELLO MELROSE FRIENDS!

On November 4th, the City of Melrose will be asking all of you to vote on the future of our city.

There will be 3 ballot questions with different override amounts.

I've heard people say, "I feel like the city is always requesting an override".

YES, multiple mayors have asked for overrides. WHY? Because taxing at 2.5% is antiquated and the city has only actually passed TWO overrides in 32 years.

There's lots to say about our budget and WHY we need the $ and I am willing to have a phone call or meet up where we can talk in length about this.

In the meantime, if you want to understand how the override will affect your wallet, take a look at the TAX CALCULATOR I've attached here. It will give you an estimate based on our property value. Just type in your address and see!

Please reach out to me and I will make the time to talk. [email protected]

Calculate the impact of each override question on your household.

08/11/2025

**Tomorrow Night! Please stop over at the Winthrop School Playground**

—————————————————————

Residents of Melrose Ward 4 and Ward 6 are invited to meet with Mayor Jen Grigoraitis and ward councilors Mark Garipay and Cal Finocchiaro over a slice of pizza at the Winthrop School playground between 6 and 7pm on Tuesday, August 12. The pizza is free and privately funded and the meetup will be an informal opportunity for residents to connect with their elected officials, share questions and concerns, and get to know neighbors. Additional Slice in the City dates are scheduled for other wards as well.e

07/21/2025

Hello Ward 6 Residents!

I realize that lots of people have questions about the city’s budget and the override questions that will be on the ballot this November. I also realize that not everyone has the bandwidth to host a gathering in their home or make the time to attend one.

In an effort to try to make this as easy as possible, I’m offering to come to your neighborhood and chat with you and your neighbors on the sidewalk for a bit at your convenience. Much like the DPW would do to discuss new sidewalks or road repair.

Feel free to email me at [email protected] to set up a date. Looking forward to it.

07/11/2025

FYI, The CITY YARD will be open every other Saturday from now until Dec 1st.

06/04/2025

So the override questions are out. If you haven’t seen them, you can check them out here:
https://www.cityofmelrose.org/mayor-jennifer-grigoraitis/news/mayor-requests-prop-2-%C2%BD-override-november-2025

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be posting some information that I came up with to explain how the city budget works and review confusing terms like levy limit and levy ceiling.

Below is a little explanation of a City Budget. There is so much that goes into a budget but this is a simplified way to look at it.

05/02/2025

On Tuesday evenings from 6:30pm-8pm (for the month of May) I will be at Dunkin Donuts on Main St. If anyone has questions about the city’s budget or override, you’re welcome to come down and chat. Or if you just want to give your two cents about things.

I may not have all of the answers to your questions, but I will get them answered!