EASTHAMPTON — Mayor Nicole LaChapelle has submitted a budget for the next fiscal year that calls for more than $400,000 less in education spending, as well as decreases to the city’s ambulance, police department and overtime budgets.
The projected spending plan of $45.46 million for fiscal 2022 is down nearly $1.5 million, or about 3%, from the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.
“Fiscally, things are tight,” said LaChapelle, noting that several unknowns, such as federal funding yet to be awarded, has complicated the budgeting process.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen … so I’m holding tight to all of the city’s pennies to make sure that we have our basic services covered and we can go forward with the basic projects that we’ve started,” she said.
The proposed education budget decreased by $438,402, or 2.5%, going from $17.54 million to $17.01 million in the next fiscal year.
Some departments, such as education, were also bolstered by funding from COVID-19 relief sources, such as the federal CARES Act, and FEMA funding, which keeps more money in the city’s general fund, according to LaChapelle.
While COVID-19 relief funding has helped, the reduction in education spending presents “a significant hit” to the School Department’s budget, said Marin Goldstein, a School Committee member and chairman of the finance subcommittee. The department was held to a 0% increase from fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2020, which Goldstein said also contributed to tight budgeting.
“We are pulling out of our rainy day fund, and everything else,” Goldstein said. “We are absolutely to the bare bones.”
Contractual agreements with the teacher’s union and transportation process require the district to enact 2% to 3% pay increases per year, Goldstein said, “and if our budget isn’t increasing, that means everything else is being squeezed.”
To compensate for this year’s cut, the School Committee plans to draw on savings originally planned for next year, when students are slated to move into the new Mountain View School.
Goldstein also questions what will happen if more funding than anticipated is available for the city’s budget. The School Department is not able to request more funding at a later date, Goldstein said.
“I think it’s absolutely critical that we understand that the School Department is part of the city … and yet, the ongoing slashing of our budget is putting us into sort of dire straits around what kinds of programs we can offer to our school districts and committees,” he added.
The proposed budget also calls for a slight drop in the Police Department’s budget and an almost 20% decrease to the ambulance budget. Departments with overtime budgets also have projected cuts.
Last year, LaChapelle directed all city department leaders to cut their budgets by 2.5% without reducing staffing.
Under public safety services, the city’s police budget decreased by $28,594, or about 1%, from $2.67 million to $2.64 million. The ambulance budget took a larger hit, decreasing by $70,475, or 19.6%, from $358,355 to $287,880. The Fire Department was allotted a proposed increase of $198,504, or about 10%, to just under $2 million.
Some changes to public safety funding are due to contractual obligations, according to LaChapelle.
Departments with overtime budgets were cut “very tight” in the proposed budget, LaChapelle said, though department heads can request further funding from City Council if needed.
“They’re going to probably spend more on that overtime line than I gave them,” LaChapelle said, “but I feel it’s very important that if a department goes over the overtime budget, that they have to come back to the City Council and explain to me why overtime went over … and ask for supplemental appropriation.”
Regardless of additional COVID-19 related funding, LaChapelle said she has made a “firm commitment” to maintaining level funding for stabilization and rainy day accounts, pension and other retiree benefits, and tax relief accounts, and capital stabilization funds.
The budget will not be finalized until the City Council takes a final vote on all submitted budget items. The mayor anticipates that the final vote will take place by May 4, though the deadline for the city to approve a balanced budget is June 30.
Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.