AMHERST — After a contentious debate, the Town Council agreed last week to recommend the town spend nearly $422,000 more on schools next year than originally recommended.

The measure calls for supporting year-over-year increases for both the Amherst elementary school budget and the assessment for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools that combined go above the financial guidelines the town manager is using in developing a total operating budget for the town.

Even as Town Manager Paul Bockelman anticipates a $350,000 shortfall in the municipal budget, that would result in the loss of 6.5 full-time equivalent positions, councilors on April 7 voted 10-3 to support up to a 5% increase in the elementary school budget and to meet the 4.81% assessment increase requested by the regional school committee.

Bockelman, who has to deliver the overall spending plan to the Town Council on May 1, is advising councilors that the town, schools and Jones Library could be facing up to a $1 million shortfall and losing 19.5 positions.

On Tuesday, Bockelman said that he intends to follow the financial guidelines set by the Town Council last fall that offers 4% year-over-year increases for the municipal budget, the Jones Library budget and the budgets for both the elementary and regional schools. He said the new request is out of sync with the 4% guidance.

“We’re going to struggle with this no matter what,” Bockelman said.

Voting in favor of the request were District 4 Councilor Pam Rooney and Jennifer Taub, District 5 Councilors Bob Hegner and Ana Devlin Gauthier, District 3 Councilor Heather Hala Lord, Council President Lynn Griesemer, District 1 Councilors Cathy Schoen and Ndifreke Ette and At Large Councilors Ellisha Walker and Andy Steinberg. Voting against were District 3 Councilor George Ryan, District 2 Councilor Pat De Angelis and At Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke.

While Bockelman expects to bring a balanced budget forward, he said there are limited options for more revenue to cover the higher school budget increases, with little appetite for pursuing a Proposition 2½ tax-cap override and councilors not coming to a consensus on where cuts should be made, such as reducing capital spending or dipping into reserves.

The School Committee’s preferred plan for the elementary schools is a $28.59 million budget, rising by 6%, or $1.62 million, from this year’s $26.97 million budget. That proposal is $539,408 higher than the Town Council guidelines.

For the Regional School Committee, the preferred plan is a $37.08 million budget, for town assessment at $19.74 million, rising by 4.81%, or $905,670, from this year’s $18.84 million assessment, and $152,000 higher than Town Council guidelines.

Councilors, though, referred a package of adjustments proposed by Devlin Gauthier to the Finance Committee for more study.

Ryan said no vote on her proposals, which included reducing capital spending from 10.5% to 10% of the overall budget and cutting library spending to a 3% increase, was needed because Bockelman heard their discussions.

“He has ears, he understands, he’s been listening,” Ryan said.

Hanneke said there was no consensus on where to pull the extra money from to support the school spending.

“A conversation that is this contentious and split, in my opinion, gives the manager no guidance,” Hanneke said.

Reducing capital spending was not appropriate when there are demands for improving roads and sidewalks, Hanneke said, arguing there is “extreme amounts of capital need.”

Schoen, too, said there is an understanding that money is needed to increase support to the schools, suggesting taking from the stabilization account to cover the extra money for the elementary schools. “I agree we have to find the money to do this,” Schoen said.

Other councilors suggested it would be OK to wait to May 1 to see what Bockelman proposes in the budget, and then deal with it then.

Devlin Gauthier said the Town Council’s responsibility is to get as close to having needs met as possible for the town, library and schools. “We are not going to fix a systemic problem by not adding this to the base,” Devlin Gauthier said.

Ryan said offering a one-year bridge for the elementary schools, with the new school opening in fall 2026, makes sense, but that he hasn’t gotten answers about salary increases and a sustainable fiscal plan.

“I am really troubled by this idea that this is going to become part of the base, because we already know what the problem is, and the problem is we have to give more money to the schools,” Ryan said.

Steinberg said he is uncomfortable that the process is pushing issues farther down the road.

“You think this year is a problem, I really think next year is going to be a much bigger problem, and we need to start grappling with that reality that we’re living in a period where a recession is now becoming likely and we’re in the midst of losing a tremendous of federal funds to the state,” Steinberg said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.