AMHERST — As Town Manager Paul Bockelman puts together a nearly $29.5 million fiscal year 2026 budget for Amherst’s municipal operations, the spending plan is currently projected at around a $540,000 deficit.

With his budget proposal due to the Town Council May 1, Bockelman told the Budget Coordinating Group last week that this is an unusual situation for the town at this point in the budget preparation.

“The half million dollar deficit is something we have never experienced this late in the fiscal year on the town side of the budget,” said Bockelman, who has been the town manager since 2016.

“Just doing salaries and the health insurance, we’re about half a million dollars in the hole,” Bockelman said.

But the Budget Coordinating Group, made up of town, school and library representatives, was notified that the earlier 3.5% across the board increases for the town, Amherst-Pelham regional and Amherst elementary schools and Jones library budgets is being increased to 4%, which will mean an additional $382,000 spread among those budgets.

This increase, brought to the Finance Committee on Tuesday, was possible by reducing the amount set aside for abatements and exemptions that could be provided to taxpayers to lower their property tax bills. Traditionally, the town has calculated this as 1% of the base levy, consistent with state Department of Revenue guidelines, so that it has sufficient money available when this tax relief is sought. This is being reduced to .5%, with the amount set aside going down by $624,048, from $972,055 to $348,007.

“We’re going to try that for this year and see how that works out going into the following years,” said Finance Director Melissa Zawadzki said.

The percentage increase means the town would get another $140,000 and the libraries would get an additional $13,000. For the town, the overall increase would be $1.13 million, from $28.4 million to $29.5 million, and for the library would be $92,083, from $2.3 to $23.9 million

The remainder would go to the schools, where both the regional and elementary schools could lose about 18 positions, though it might not put much of a dent in the deficits, with the elementary schools budget facing $1.56 million in cuts and the regional schools about $1.4 million in cuts.

The Amherst elementary schools budget would get an additional $134,852, with the overall increase by $1.08 million, from $26.97 to $28.05 million.

Under the regional assessment formula, Amherst’s assessment would go up by $1.11 million, from an $18.5 million base to a $19.6 million base, along with $355,440 provided for this fiscal year through a gift. But because the formula determines how much each of the smaller towns, Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury contribute, the extra money may not make a difference to the regional schools bottom line.

Bockelman said he is still developing the town budget and may apply the extra money to lower the existing deficit.

“We are still going through, department by department, what their budgetary needs are,” Bockelman said.

District 5 Councilor Ana Devlin Gauthier said town officials may need to look at what services can be eliminated on the town side, as she would prefer that extra money go toward the schools.

“I don’t know it is equitable of us to say we’re striving for level services on the municipal end at the detriment of the schools getting anywhere close to level services,” Devlin Gauthier said.

At-Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke, though, said she is concerned the other member towns of the regional district may not be paying enough, and will continue to ask Amherst to pay more than its fair share.

Bockelman said it’s a fair question why schools are often in deficit, when the town typically hasn’t been. He pointed to special education mandates, the complications of funding formulas for the regional schools and whether all communities are paying their fair share of educating students, and not getting a sufficient state aid bump. “There’s a structural challenge for the school,” Bockelman said.

The town has been able to keep its budget steady by limiting the creation of new positions, only adding firefighters and the Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service department in recent years.

“Position control is crucial,” Bockelman said.

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