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Date: 5/23/2023
NORTHAMPTON — Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra officially submitted the full fiscal year 2024 budget, which amounts to a little over $132 million in total, a 4.77% increase from the FY23 budget. According to Sciarra’s summary, the budget is comprised of a $116.6 million general fund combined with four enterprise fund budgets for water, $6.9 million; sewer, $6.1 million; solid waste, $534,754 and stormwater and flood control, $1.9 million.
“This year’s budget represents movement forward for key initiatives grounded in the values and expressed priorities of the city of Northampton and our community,” Sciarra said. “It also represents some adjustments and realignment by the city both as an employer and as a government service provider navigating the current economic climate and labor market.”
The largest expenditure increase in the proposed FY24 budget is the appropriation to public schools, which will increase by $1.4 million to $36.5 million. In addition to this $1.4 million increase, Sciarra is also recommending $1.2 million to be added from the Fiscal Stability Stabilization Fund for the schools.
As reported by Reminder Publishing in the past, the reliance on one-time coronavirus pandemic relief funds, the depletion of the School Choice account, and an additional $250,000 with no recurring revenue source voted by the School Committee to balance the NPS budget last year left a significant budget gap in the NPS budget for FY2024 of $2.3 million.
“I was uncomfortable with the proposal to fill some of the shortfall with the possibility of FY23 unspent funds or tailings, which are not guaranteed and risked additional mid-year cuts if the budgeted amount didn’t materialize,” Sciarra said. “I believe that this shortfall is too large to responsibly solve through drastic cuts in the one FY2024 budget year, and urge the City Council to approve the use of $1.2 million from the Fiscal Stability Stabilization Fund.”
Fiscal problems have also persisted because of stagnant Chapter 70 funding, which Reminder Publishing has also reported on in the past.
Massachusetts voters opted to levy an additional income tax on Massachusetts’ highest earners back in November. Known as the Fair Share Amendment, the successful vote amended the state constitution to levy an additional 4% surtax on income over $1 million, to be put toward education and transportation. Eighty-two percent of Northampton voters supported this levy.
Despite this victory, some districts, like Northampton, are not receiving sufficient funds from the state while requirements for school spending continue to increase.
“We have an overall decrease in state aid of $84,422,” said Sciarra, during a School Committee budget meeting back in March for fiscal year 2024. “Required net school spending increased significantly, but Chapter 70 [aid from the state] only increased by a small amount.”
According to the data, required school spending increased by 4.4% this year, while Chapter 70 aid only increased by 1%. 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.
To remedy these fiscal issues, Sciarra is proposing a two-year plan that aims to balance the school budget and return the district to strong fiscal principles. Specifically, Sciarra will ask the incoming administration, helmed by new Superintendent Dr. Portia Bonner, for a budget plan with additional spending reductions for FY25 by December. The city, School Committee, and Northampton Association for School Employees continue to advocate for more state spending, with some even visiting the State House in mid-May to push commonwealth leaders for more K-12 funding in Northampton.
“We are grateful for the mayor’s efforts to form a coalition of stakeholders and representatives to plug a significant portion of the deficit and to build a stabilization plan for the future,” School Committee member Gwen Agna said. “It takes a village and ours is a strong and determined one.”
According to Sciarra, local revenue lines such as short-term rental receipts, meals tax receipts and parking revenue, have almost fully rebounded from the coronavirus pandemic, except for cannabis revenue and parking revenues.
At $13.2 million, health insurance is the operational budget’s largest fixed cost line item, while salary obligations to city and school employees consume the largest portion of the budget.
Sciarra noted how the most significant change to the budget includes the debut of a Climate Action and Project Administration Department, which the City Council approved in February. Accompanying the new department will be a department-head-level position that reports directly to the city’s chief executive officer and be supported by the city’s energy and sustainability officer and the chief procurement officer.
The newly formed department falls in line with the city’s plans to meet a 2030 goal of carbon neutrality for city operations and a 2050 goal for net zero carbon emissions citywide. “Together, they will bring an environmental lens and best-practice project management techniques to the city’s initiatives, projects, and procurement and be a resource for residents working to decarbonize,” Sciarra said.
In public safety, Northampton Fire/Rescue had its busiest year on record with 8,352 calls for service, a 9% increase from last year’s increase of 14%. Additionally, a fire prevention officer has been added to accommodate for a larger increase in Fire/Rescue’s mandated review and inspection services thanks to an update in the Massachusetts Fire Code.
According to the budget summary, there are still major concerns with the Police Department due to a national shortage of police officers and the effects of the city’s decision back in FY21 to reduce staff.
Because of this shortage and the long period for training, many officers in the department are working more overtime, and according to Sciarra, the city would have to double their overtime line in the FY24 budget to aid the amount of overtime that was worked in the last fiscal year.
To address these issues, the city is planning to enable the Northampton Police Department to hire student officers for expected and unexpected vacant positions because of retirement or increased turnover.
The budget also highlights the Division of Community Care, which was created as an unarmed emergency response alternative to policing. The division created a multi-disciplinary training program for their community care response team, and they are now planning the types of public safety responses they hope to respond to.
Currently, their website is up and running, and the division is taking calls during operational hours to help connect people with resources. The DCC staff is also creating a temporary community room with walk-in access at the Roundhouse Building until the space in the Resilience Hub is ready.
“As we approach the upcoming fiscal year, we have reason to be hopeful for the future of our
city,” Sciarra said. “We have ambitious plans and a strong drive towards progress and long-term success. At the same time, we must also address the financial hurdles and carefully plan our resources. I am committed to finding the right balance between responsible fiscal management and implementing innovative and forward-thinking policies.”
The next step is for the Finance Committee and City Council to conduct joint meetings on May 23 and 24 to have more detailed discussions with department heads about the budget before it returns to the full council.
Readers can access the submitted budget on the city website: https://northamptonma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/22140/FY24-Budget-Document-FINAL.