NORTHAMPTON — Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra has officially debuted her $145 million fiscal year 2026 budget for the city, continuing to defend her plan for the school district while warning of possible instability from federal cuts.

The new budget represents a 4.8% increase from the previous fiscal year, with $129.5 million in the city’s general fund and the remaining to be used across the city’s four enterprise funds. Within the general fund, school funding makes up 43% of all expenditures, with $43 million budgeted for Northampton Public Schools and another $11 million for Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School.

The mayor increased the school budget last fiscal year by 8%, double her original proposal, following public pressure in opposition to a budget that led to staff cuts to the district. Over the course of last year, several of the positions were added back, with additional appropriations to the school district bringing the total appropriations even higher to a 9.7%, or $4.8 million, increase.

This year’s budget for NPS represents a 5.8% increase from what was originally budgeted for fiscal year 2025. Superintendent Portia Bonner said that amount would be enough to stave off layoffs but would still lead to a reduction of services.

The Northampton School Committee had recommended a “strong budget” around twice that amount, and advocates for higher school spending remain steadfast in opposition to the mayor’s spending plan.

In her message to the City Council included in the fiscal 2026 budget, Sciarra continued to defend her strategy for school funding.

“Unfortunately, it is not possible to build a fiscally responsible budget based on [the School Committee’s] request,” Sciarra wrote. “Some of the School Committee members who voted for the recommendation even acknowledged that in practice it would be fiscally irresponsible.”

In an interview with the Gazette on Monday, Sciarra said she also did not foresee additional increases to the school budget next fiscal year.

“This budget is stretched as far as it possibly can stretch,” Sciarra said. “The schools can, and I anticipate will, tap into the what’s remaining for the year for their special education stabilization. So I trust that they will use that resource soon, but there will not be an additional appropriation.”

Sciarra also said in her budget message that the state needed to provide more funding to the district via Chapter 70 monies, describing public education as being “under attack” by the administration of President Donald Trump.

“There’s a great deal of work ahead to push for more support from both the state and federal governments,” she wrote. “At the same time, we need strong collaboration here at home to explore the best ways to allocate our existing resources and ensure every child receives the best education possible.”

Beyond the schools, Sciarra warned of the further impact of federal cuts to long-established grant programs, while also criticizing the Trump administration’s policy of deportation of migrants and dismantling of gender-affirming care.

“The level of anxiety in Northampton is palpably high because national instability, economic uncertainty, and deliberate attacks on public institutions are not abstractions. These are daily realities that shape what is possible for our city,” Sciarra wrote. “It feels like every day we learn about more funds that have been stable and dependable being pulled from organizations and agencies that provide essential services and support the well-being of our community.”

Division of CommunityCare funding

The instability of funding grants could have an effect on the city’s Division of Community Care, founded in 2023 under Sciarra’s tenure as an alternative emergency response unit to address issues of mental health and homelessness in the city.

The city plans on expanding the program, citing the increase of homelessness within Hampshire County, but doing so requires an Equitable Approaches to Public Safety (EAPS) grant from the state. That grant is not included in the governor or House versions of the state budget, but is included in the Senate version.

“For now, there some vacancies [at DCC] that we’ve left unfilled and that would be funded pending getting that grant,” Sciarra said. “We’re sort of freezing that expansion for now.”

Should the grant funding be successful, the DCC would add a supervisor of operations position along with five additional responders and a communications specialist.

The city also looks to obtain a grant to expand its Fire Safety department, with plans to add an additional nine workers to address increased call volume. The city will look to apply for a Staffing For Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Should the grant fail, the city has included the salary positions into the base budget and would begin hiring in October, around the time the city would learn about the result of the grant.

The budget will be introduced to the council at its Wednesday meeting. The city will then hold two budget hearings, with various department heads in the city presenting, before the council takes its first vote on the budget in June.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.