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Date: 12/12/2023
NORTHAMPTON — For the second year in a row, the City Council Committee on Finance conducted early listening sessions to hear from the public about what the city should prioritize for the upcoming budget season.
Although the official budget process for fiscal year 2025 does not officially start for another couple months, the finance committee uses these listening sessions as another tool to help guide them through the future discussions of the upcoming budget season.
The sessions, which were conducted on Nov. 28 and 29, were mainly dominated by public discourse around budgeting for Northampton Public Schools.
“We depend on our city to keep [our schools] great, and the way that needs to happen is by prioritizing our schools in the budget,” said Andrea Egitto, the president of the Northampton Association of School Employees.
In the past, Northampton schools have experienced a lack of Chapter 70 funding.
“We have an overall decrease in state aid of $84,422,” said Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, during a School Committee budget meeting back in March for FY24. “Required net school spending increased significantly, but Chapter 70 [aid from the state] only increased by a small amount.”
During those budget meetings, Sciarra said that over the past 16 years, the city’s foundation budget has increased by almost $12 million while Chapter 70 state aid has increased by only $810,033.
Because of these past issues with state funding, the city has usually relied on local funds to close the gap in the budget.
The district’s $37.7 million budget for FY24, which was approved by the School Committee this past April, included a $2.3 million deficit that was eventually cut to $649,300 after Sciarra covered more than half the shortfall by using pandemic relief money and a one-time payment of $1.2 million from the city’s stabilization fund.
The deficit was accredited to district spending from their school choice account exceeding the revenue it receives from municipalities that send students to Northampton.
In an announcement back in the spring, Sciarra said the FY24 budget would still require some budget cuts to address the deficit, but none of the cuts would lead to significant loss of staff or programming.
Sciarra added that the remaining deficit will be closed through attrition, which includes not filling currently open positions or not replacing retired staff.
To ensure a balanced budget for FY25, Sciarra asked the district’s administration to produce a plan with additional spending reductions by this December, which is earlier than usual during budget season.
This new plan is being created under a new administration, which includes recently hired Superintendent Portia Bonner.
During the listening session on Nov. 28, Egitto said the $1.2 million from the mayor helped prevent what would have been “crippling budget cuts” this past fiscal year, but Egitto argued that future school budgets may not be enough without that added buffer.
“Gone are the days when 3- 4% increases in the school budget is enough to give our children what they need,” Egitto said. “The cost of educating a child, just like the cost of everything we are paying for is going up exponentially.”
A couple of School Committee members expressed concern about not having that $1.2 million one-time payment that was allocated last year from the stabilization fund. They felt that, without it, the budget would be in a worse position.
Ward 4 School Committee member Michael Stein, who also serves on the Budget and Property Subcommittee of the School Committee, expressed concern about possible cuts that may happen within the district in the next fiscal year and added that the full School Committee is expected to see a presentation by the district’s leadership with what the next school budget might look like on Dec. 16.
“The type of cuts that are being talked about are really startling,” Stein said. “From my perspective, the under-investment in the schools historically … needs to be addressed, and we have to figure out a different model and make us more competitive.”
Ward 1 School Committee member Meg Robbins also expressed concern with the idea of not having that $1.2 million allocation from the city for this year, arguing that without it, the district will be struggling once again.
Despite these concerns, city officials said that the city is doing the best they can in mitigating the challenges and concerns.
City Finance Director Charlene Nardi reminded the public that it was clear in Sciarra’s budget message last year that the $1.2 million was a one-time addition to the school budget, and there was an understanding that cuts by attrition were going to happen.
“Schools are a priority, and I think the city has been, at least by my view of the budget, made them a priority,” Nardi said. “But we also have to look at the larger picture where all this money goes, and we do have limited finances; we don’t have endless pots of money.”
City Council President Jim Nash pushed back against the notion that the city is deliberately underfunding the schools.
He noted how the school budget has increased by almost $10 million since 2017 and he added how, even without that $1.2 million this year, the school budget could still see an increase of over 4%.
“I want to push back against the idea that we are thinking negative thoughts about funding our schools,” Nash said. “In terms of city dollars, it’s the biggest department in the city, and every budget I’ve been a part of has made the point of valuing our schools.”
Gwen Agna, who serves as the vice chair of the School Committee, said she agrees with Egitto in the sense that the school district — much like the rest of the country — is facing significant challenges, but she hopes the city and School Committee can work together without acrimonious conversations.
“I’m hopeful we can find ways to have a dialogue,” Agna said.
The mayor is expected to present the state of the city’s finances during a joint City Council and School Committee meeting sometime in January.