NORTHAMPTON — While the city is in the middle of budget drafting for next fiscal year, Mayor David Narkewicz is holding public meetings to preview the planned budget’s contents and hear feedback.
“It’s just really an opportunity to talk about what are the budget issues facing the city for the upcoming fiscal year, talk about some of the long-range planning we’ve been doing,” Narkewicz said Monday.
Narkewicz said he must submit a finished budget to the City Council by May 16.
“I wanted to hold these three town hall style budget hearings just as an opportunity to reach out to the community,” he said.
Narkewicz held the first budget meeting last week at the Senior Center. Wednesday he’ll host another at 7 p.m. at the Florence Civic Center, 90 Park St., followed by a final meeting Thursday at 7 p.m. in the library of Leeds Elementary School, 20 Florence St.
The mayor said he is taking time in the meetings to discuss the city’s fiscal stability and how it has changed over time. Additionally, he is informing the public about how state and federal shifts impact our budget.
“We’re also keeping a watchful eye on what’s happening on Beacon Hill, because the decisions they make will be impacting the budget I submit next month,” he said, naming Chapter 70 education funding and charter school reimbursement as the big state budget items he’s looking at.
“We’re talking about city services and we’re going to talk about where we stand in terms of what we’re seeing so far, based on the revenue projected,” Narkewicz said.
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.