As State Budget Keeps Shrinking, Melrose Braces For The Worst

This year, the economy has been so bad that every time someone proposes a state budget, it gets smaller. Tax revenues are plummeting. So when the Senate passed its version of the budget last week, it proposed cuts bigger than anything Gov. Deval Patrick or the House suggested earlier this year.

Cities and towns were particularly hard hit. Now, the House and Senate are hashing out the differences in their budgets. Local officials, still in shock at how little the Senate is proposing for basic services, are hoping that the House negotiators can put some money for local aid back in the budget.

The Senate budget cuts came as a huge shock for Rob Dolan, the mayor of Melrose.