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Date: 6/9/2022
NORTHAMPTON – The Northampton City Council unanimously approved Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra’s $126 million fiscal year 2023 (FY23) budget during a June 2 meeting.
The overwhelming vote comes after two straight nights of public hearings where the City Council and Committee on Finance met to hear the heads of each city department speak on what their budget looks like for the upcoming fiscal year.
Altogether, the Committee on Finance met with Central Services, Fire/Rescue, the Department of Public Works, the Health/Human Services/Community Care Department, the School Department and the Northampton Police Department.
The budget allows most departments to stay at level service, but city spending for Smith Vocational Agricultural High School and Northampton Public Schools (NPS) increased by 4 percent and 5.07 percent, respectively.
The 5.07 percent increase for public schools is the second largest in 15 years and includes an extra $250,000 that the School Committee sought for extra salary, making the total NPS budget amount to over $35 million. The increase came after the Northampton Association of School Employees rallied in early spring to protest wages, arguing that the current pay for educational support professionals (ESPs) leaves them almost impoverished.
The school budget adds a reading interventionist at Bridge Street School and an academic coach at JFK Middle School and cuts a first grade teacher at Jackson Street School, a technology teacher at Northampton High School, and four ESP jobs.
The district added 15 full-time positions in FY22 to assist with struggling students during the coronavirus pandemic, according to Superintendent John Provost. Three of those ESPs are expected to be eliminated, though some of those employees will be moved to other roles.
After Ward 6 Marianne LaBarge questioned whether or not the increase for wages was enough, Provost responded by saying the district is doing everything they can in contract negotiations to push for higher salaries.
Specifically, Provost stated that there has been a “real concerted effort” over the past two collective bargaining meetings to raise wages. “The goal of the last contract was to get our teachers to the median or above for our county,” said Provost. “And that goal was reached. The goal in this negotiation is to push that farther.”
Provost added that the retention rate at NPS has been “good.” When it comes to licensed staff, which includes administrators and teachers, the retention rate in FY22 was 90 percent, which compares to a statewide average of close to 87 percent. The unlicensed staff, particularly ESPs, are seeing a higher turnover rate, but Provost said there has been an effort to direct as much funding as possible to these lower paid positions. According to Provost, there is an extra $7 million of indirect costs that mainly cover health insurance and employee benefits. Those specific costs, however, are a part of the city’s overall budget.
The extra $250,000 is meant to try and prevent the elimination of a sixth grade teacher job at JFK Middle School and a first grade teacher job at Jackson Elementary School.
The Finance Committee also met with Police Chief Jody Kasper to go over the $6.2 million allocated for the Police Department, which is slightly lower than FY22 because of a shift of in-house IT responsibilities to the IT Department.
Despite little change in the budget, Kasper did say that 17 officers have left since the City Council decided to reduce the police budget by 10 percent back in 2020. The result has forced others to work overtime routinely.
When asked how the new Department of Community Care would impact calls, Kasper said she is monitoring the situation with curiosity and openness, as more resources are needed right now.
Due to the four total hours of deliberation with department heads on May 31 and June 1, the City Council spent most of their full meeting on June 2 giving synopses of how they felt about the budget. Most thoughts were positive, but some councilors identified cautions that must be considered.
“I believe [the budget] achieves a balance between important needs,” said Ward 5 Councilor Alex Jarrett. “I very much appreciate the strong support for the schools, and even extending ourselves a little bit further than is comfortable.”
Jarrett continued by acknowledging his concern for the fiscal cliffs ahead, especially as the state budget continues to level fund and decrease school appropriations. “I would also like a more equitable pay system for all school employees,” said Jarrett. “One that doesn’t just reflect what the market will pay, but recognizes the needs of every worker and the hard work that they have put in.”
LaBarge also thanked Sciarra for the budget but continued with her concerns about the education portion of it. “We need money for our schools and our teachers,” said LaBarge. “I am at the point with our schools, that I worry about it every year. I think we’re all going to have to put our thinking caps on, and we’re going to have to be vocal as councilors to support our mayor … and do what we have to do at the State House to let them understand we need to be funded for our educational purposes.”
Council Vice President Karen Foster echoed LaBarge’s and Jarrett’s sentiments about the importance of retaining teachers, adding that layoffs are not a way to boost morale throughout the district. The first order of business, according to Foster, is to get the word out about the Fair Share Amendment, which is a proposed amendment that creates an additional tax of four percentage points on the portion of a person’s annual income above $1 million. The new revenue is set to be spent on “quality” public education.
Foster also acknowledged the importance of “humanizing” the budget, emphasizing how integral it is to understand the impact these city employees have had on Northampton. “Seeing some of the names of our city employees under each department … it just humanizes the decisions we’re making,” said Foster. “The longer I’ve served on council, and the more interaction I have with city staff, the more impressed and grateful I come away for a city that is working so hard on behalf of its residents.”
Ward 4 Councilor Garrick Perry, meanwhile, said that the reduction in parking, meals tax, and hotel revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic really hit home for him. “While we’re trying to be optimistic, I know we are very far from being done with COVID[-19] and the impacts it has on our businesses,” said Perry. “When I see the numbers for the meals tax and the hotels, I don’t see numbers, I see businesses and people.”
Ward 1 Councilor Stanley Moulton said he is very “hopeful” about the city’s new Health and Human Services Department, which will also house the Department of Community Care. “I think the [Department of Community Care] is a model that will be looked at nationally,” said Moulton. “I think this will provide some relief to the Police Department.”
City Council President Jim Nash, who went over some of the major percentage points of the last several years, said, “The fiscal stability fund has brought stability, not just to the city, but it’s also brought into our school systems. As we move forward, we really need to take care of making sure that the plan stays in place.”