NORTHAMPTON — Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra’s first budget since taking office in January would boost spending on city schools, libraries, public works and public health next fiscal year, representing a 4.07% increase over the current year.
The $126,026,677 proposal keeps most departments at level service while increasing city spending on Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School by 4% and Northampton Public Schools by 5.07%.
The schools allocation, the second-largest increase in 15 years, includes $250,000 that the School Committee sought for salary negotiations, even though Sciarra voted against that request last month and committee members did not develop a way to fund it.
Sciarra is due to present the budget to the City Council during a virtual meeting Thursday at 7 p.m. The council will ultimately approve or reduce the budget; councilors have no authority to increase spending.
“My FY2023 budget represents another historic step forward for Northampton in supporting our schools, values, and infrastructure for the future,” Sciarra said in a statement on Tuesday. “At the same time, it honors and reinforces a decade’s worth of promises made to Northampton voters by continuing the Fiscal Stability Plan,” which Sciarra credits for “nationally recognized financial practices, consistent service delivery from experienced city employees, and the avoidance of the whiplash caused by cycles of growth and cuts.”
The public works and Fire Rescue budgets would rise mainly in response to soaring energy and material costs. Forbes Library would get a 3% increase and Lilly Library would get an extra 3.12% over the current year.
The Health Department would become the Department of Health and Human Services. DHHS would fund and operate the Department of Community Care (DCC), an unarmed emergency response alternative to policing.
In a letter to the City Council accompanying the budget proposal, Sciarra wrote that DCC is “moving forward with creating a training curriculum and job descriptions for peer outreach workers.” The budget lists six full-time DCC jobs starting at salaries of $60,000.
The $21.7 million promised to the city under the federal pandemic relief law known as ARPA is set aside for the restoration of lost government revenue, utility infrastructure projects, promoting economic growth and funding projects approved through the city’s ARPA Commission.
A community survey, presented to the ARPA Commission by the mayor’s office last week, shows that residents’ highest priorities for the federal funds are food security, climate change efforts, housing assistance, homelessness assistance and “public health response.”
Real estate and personal property taxes would climb 2.5% under Sciarra’s budget proposal, the highest jump allowed under state law without a voter-approved override. More than 70% of the money in the city’s budget comes from local taxes.
Sciarra wrote that the city is projecting a 40% reduction in parking revenue from pre-pandemic levels and lower revenue from marijuana sales due in large part to increasing competition in the market.
“While we have seen some recovery in areas of local revenue, others have remained at well below pre-pandemic levels,” the letter reads. “In truth, the collection rates of some revenue streams may never be the same.”
Several departments, including police and parks, saw decreases in their allocations because their formerly in-house IT services were transferred to the IT Services Department.
Sciarra did not recommend rate increases for water or sewer, noting in her letter that the four enterprise funds are self-sustaining and “mostly level funded.” The money is used to support each utility’s capital projects and operational costs.
State law requires the city to pass a balanced budget. Fiscal 2023 runs from July 1, 2022 to June 1, 2023.
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.