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Date: 4/12/2022
NORTHAMPTON – As important financial matters including the budget continue to flood the City Council agenda, the Northampton City Council Committee on Finance met on April 6 to discuss their scope and responsibility as a body over the coming weeks.
“I think we’ve already had an impact by having standalone meetings of the Finance Committee, because I think we’ve opened up an avenue for greater opportunities for public comment,” said Ward 1 City Councilor Stanley Moulton. “I think we saw that in February and March with the topics of the police dash cams and the animal control facility when people had a chance to address those particular topics.”
According to Moulton, subcommittees such as the Finance Committee are great opportunities for the public and committee members to conduct more informal discussions where residents are allowed to engage more.
Under the current model, the Finance Committee typically meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month to discuss important financial items that affect the resident taxpayers. City Council President Jim Nash, Ward 6 Councilor Marianne LaBarge, Ward 7 Councilor Rachel Maiore and Moulton are Finance Committee members. LaBarge serves as the vice-chair while Maiore serves as the chair of the committee.
One of Moulton’s recommendations for the Finance Committee is to work with the entire City Council to develop their own budget recommendations each year. With this process, Moulton and the committee believes that there will be more transparency with the public, as well as an even more collaborative relationship with the mayor.
“I think one of the things we can think about is what’s the process for [developing budget recommendations] each year,” said Moulton. “Ideally, it would start right after the joint meeting that the mayor holds with the City Council and School Committee.” Through this process, the City Council would hope to have a statement for the mayor by March with recommendations that could be considered while constructing the budget.
As the months go on, the city will also have to administer valuable discussions around Coca-Cola’s decision to shutter their plant in Northampton in 2023, which could impact the city’s economy in a major way. Moulton believes that the finance committee should be the important piece that grounds these discussions through community input.
“Coca-Cola represents a third of our revenue in water and sewer,” said Director of Public Works Donna LaScaleia, during the City Council meeting on March 31. “A third of our revenue is quite significant, and we will need to have a good plan for about how we’re going to move forward.”
Moulton also added that community input will be an important facet of future Finance Committee discussions around the stormwater fees throughout the city, which have garnered a lot of debate due to the city’s tiered system. The hope, according to Moulton would be to conduct a public forum on the matter so the city can explain how the system developed over the past few years.
“The problem is it’s not equal at all,” said LaBarge, referring to the current stormwater fee system. To accommodate this issue, LaBarge suggested that a separate committee be formed to specifically study the tiers in each ward and how they affect people. “I find it to be unfair,” she added.
LaBarge continued in the meeting, emphasizing how integral it is for the Finance Committee to consider the budget for all city departments, no matter how large or small, by bringing in department heads to see what they need. “We have a huge responsibility,” she added, referring to the finance committee’s role in budget discussions.
Maiore, meanwhile, commended Moulton for developing recommendations for the committee that would lead to more transparency and proactive discussions around certain issues. “Municipal government, especially council, it’s reactive by nature,” said Maiore. “So, it’s interesting to think about being more proactive … and it also just provides a lot of transparency and opportunities for the public … it’s important for [constituents] to understand our motives.”
The Finance Committee will continue these discussions around their responsibilities in future meetings.