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Date: 5/24/2022
NORTHAMPTON – Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra officially submitted the full fiscal year 2023 (FY23) budget, which amounts to a little over $126 million in total, a 4.07 percent increase from the FY22 budget.
According to Sciarra’s summary, the budget is comprised of a $110.2 million General Fund combined with four Enterprise Fund budgets for Water, $6.9 million; Sewer, $6.2 million; Solid Waste, $679,090; and Stormwater and Flood Control, $1.9 million.
“This budget represents historic advances for Northampton, while also reflecting some of the hard challenges of our time,” Sciarra’s budget letter read. “I want to acknowledge that this year’s budget is being created amidst national economic uncertainty and rising inflation, the prospect of rollbacks of fundamental rights by the Supreme Court, and abroad, there are the continued atrocities by Russia against Ukraine and global unrest as the climate crisis rages on.”
According to Sciarra, the collection rates of some revenue streams “may never be the same,” as things like parking fund revenues are projected to have a 40 percent reduction rate due to the coronavirus pandemic, while less marijuana sales are projected due to increased market competition.
Due to fiscal uncertainty, many department heads were asked to submit level-service budgets, and in some cases, were asked to revise their budgets and make cuts. The only exceptions to this rule are in education and the newly restructured Department of Health and Human Services, which will include the Department of Community Care, an unarmed emergency response alternative to policing. This transition includes the second largest increase in appropriation from the General Fund, and the largest in percent at 112 percent. Commissioner Merridith O’Leary will be spearheading this consolidated department.
In Public Safety, the Police Department’s budget was reduced as more information technology costs were shifted to the Information Technology Services Department. Fire/Rescue, meanwhile, saw an increase due to training costs and steep rises in expenses for emergency medical services supplies due to supply chain issues. Forbes and Lilly Libraries, meanwhile, could see increases of 3.12 percent and 3 percent respectively.
The most notable budget changes occurred within the education department. According to Sciarra’s letter, the city appropriation to Northampton Public Schools (NPS) will increase by 5.07 percent, which is the second-largest percent increase of the school budget in 15 years, the first being in FY14. Additionally, Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School will see a 4 percent appropriation increase.
Sciarra cut $109,000 from the budget to give additional increases to NPS for a total increase of $1.4 million. “This increase far exceeds the city’s investment in any other department or service provided to Northampton residents,” said Sciarra. “Maintaining this level of commitment to education in Northampton was a high priority for my administration, even as it required tough choices elsewhere in the budget.”
On April 15, the School Committee also approved an additional $250,000 by a vote of 6-4. While Sciarra was one of the four who did not vote yes for the increase, she still put the money in, anyway. “I voted against the increase because the School Committee stated that a recurring revenue source has not been identified to support the increase,” said Sciarra. “Without that it will result in an annually compounding budget shortfall in the NPS budget.”
The city is also slated to receive $21.7 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money signed in by President Joe Biden in March 2021. The city plans to allocate $10 million in lost revenue for general government services which include the proposed broadband project and covering any COVID-19 expenses deemed ineligible by the Federal Emergency Management Agency; $6.1 million for water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure projects; $4 million for community projects overseen by the ARPA Commission; and $1.6 million for continued COVID-19 mitigation and to support projects that promote economic growth.
Additionally, real estate and property taxes would climb 2.5 percent, which is the highest it can go under state law without a voter approved override. Around $77 million of the city’s $110 million General Fund comes from taxes.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues in and out of city government to find equilibrium between fiscal responsibility and innovative policy,” said Sciarra. “This budget represents my first step on that path.”
People can read the rest of the budget here, along with Sciarra’s message: https://northamptonma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/19949/Budget-Final-FY23-05_16_22. The FY23 budget season runs from July 1, 2022 to June 1, 2023.