The Pittsfield City Council began its review of the proposed 2018 budget this week. The public school spending plan – one of the city’s largest expenses – will be discussed tonight at 6.
Mayor Linda Tyer presented the $163.8 million plan at Monday’s budget hearing – the first of five scheduled over the next two weeks. The budget marks an increase of just more than 1 percent.
“As we begin to discuss this budget proposal, it’s easy for all of us to get lost in all of the numbers, and to lose sleep over the levy ceiling, to exhaust ourselves in calculations and recalculations,” Tyer says.
And that’s the crux of the problem the city is facing: Pittsfield can’t generate any more tax revenue under the 2.5 percent levy limit set by state law.
There is no override vote available to change that. Every city department has either reduced or maintained its budget.
“Asking departments to level fund is asking them for a reduction,” Tyer says.
The city is obligated to fulfill employee pay raises and pensions, and a $3 million hike in health insurance.
The budget eliminates six positions and would consolidate and reorganize several departments. 70.2 fulltime school will also be cut. And property taxes will increase $80 per every $100,000 for residents, and $145 for businesses.
“We are confronted now by a perfect storm of state law limitations and stagnant property values,” Tyer says. “Those are the factors that have brought us to this predicament. It took us a long time to get here and it’s going to take us a long time and a lot of hard work to overcome because there is no single solution.”
But the first-term Pittsfield mayor says the city must work hard to maintain blight-free neighborhoods, competitive public schools and economic growth.
Despite being advised by the city auditor not to use free cash to balance the city budget, Tyer says this year the city doesn’t have much of a choice.
Using roughly $2.25 million from that revenue source, the budget is under the ceiling by just $37,000.
“I’m optimistic that we can survive this downturn and thrive beyond this,” Tyer says.
City Councilors can reduce, but not increase, budget line items as long as the changes don’t impact someone’s salary. Employee obligations are secured by city ordinances.
If the City Council cannot agree on a budget 45 days from the date the mayor submitted it, the budget as proposed goes into effect. The deadline is June 23rd.
In a way, it handcuffs the City Council to act. Councilor Melissa Mazzeo…
“You know, I mean, last year we had a lot of conversation on salaries,” Mazzeo says. “We, as the City Council, we set the salary ordinances.”
Mazzeo says the council should have the right to deduct salaries by way of changing the ordinances. City Solicitor Rich Dohoney disagrees.
“And you can’t do that now,” Dohoney says. “You would have had to do that 60 days prior to the enactment of the budget.”
“And where is that information?” Mazzeo says.
Dohoney says it’s in the City Charter, which was adopted four years ago.
A position would have to be terminated altogether to reduce a line item by salary.
The City Council plans to hold emergency budget meetings if it cannot come to an agreement.
The budget can be viewed here.
