LaChapelleBy BERA DUNAU
EASTHAMPTON — With the city expecting revenues to shrink in the coming year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Nicole LaChapelle has produced a proposed budget for the next fiscal year that is barely larger than the current budget.
Preparing the budget, which she characterized as “as lean as I can get,” was “horrific,” LaChapelle said.
The budget, which LaChapelle presented Wednesday to the City Council, calls for total spending of $47,398,937, a 1.1% increase over the fiscal year 2020 budget.
“That increase is basically the interest on our school bonds,” the mayor said.
The budget doesn’t call for any furloughs of personnel or layoffs. However, “that’s not a promise for forever,” LaChapelle said.
It includes six new positions: four firefighters, hired with federal grant money, a part-time food inspector position that will be paid for partially with fees, and a second assistant planner, which LaChapelle said would help the city pursue additional grant money.
Both the Department of Public Works director and deputy fire chief positions remain unfilled in the spending plan, although those positions will likely be posted this summer when more is known about the city’s revenue situation, LaChapelle said.
The mayor also said the budget could expand if conditions improve.
The City Council referred the budget to the finance committee on Wednesday, which will meet four times in the next two weeks to discuss it.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.