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Tyer outlines final budget proposal; $205.6 million for Pittsfield’s coming fiscal year

A white woman seated in a chair with two people behind her in an office speaks
Josh Landes
/
WAMC
Pittsfield, Massachusetts Mayor Linda Tyer.

As she enters the last months of her tenure, Pittsfield, Massachusetts Mayor Linda Tyer has submitted her final budget proposal to the city council. After two four-year terms, Tyer has chosen to not stand for re-election this year. City Council President Peter Marchetti and former city councilor John Krol are among the candidates seeking to replace her. Tyer’s farewell budget weighs in at $205.6 million, almost 9% higher than the current plan. The council will consider it in subcommittee before bringing it to a final vote before fiscal year 2024 starts July 1st. WAMC spoke to Tyer about her budget, why it’s larger than last year, and how she expects the 11-member council to react to it.

TYER: Well, I think I would best describe this budget as a maintenance budget. In light of the fact that with the investments we're making in wages for the school employees and the city side employees, it's our hope that we will improve recruitment and retention. And this was identified as a priority among the city council and the school committee, and something that I also thought was an important investment to make. So, that's driving part of the increase. Other elements of the increase are related to the fixed costs that we see every year like health insurance, retirement, pension costs, and a big increase again this year is the cost of collection and disposal of the city's trash.

One of the biggest individual line-item increases is the Information Technology line, which is going up over 32%, an increase of over $300,000 from last year. What exactly is that about?

Sure. So, that's an important investment, actually, in maintaining the continuity and advancing the technology within the city of Pittsfield. And in particular, we're making investments in cybersecurity.

What are currently the cybersecurity threats that Pittsfield is concerned about?

Yes, so one of the things that has been sort of a consistent recommendation for municipalities in particular who have a tendency to not invest in technology that protects its data from cyber-attacks because of the costs associated. However, we have seen in the recent past that municipalities are quite vulnerable to these cyber-attacks. And so, while we have some protective measures in place, this is a constant, evolving, and changing environment in the world of technology and cybersecurity. So, we feel that it's essential that we stay on top of it to protect our data.

Another major increase comes in the police line-item, a 20% increase to the police budget. That's one of the largest jumps in recent memory. Can you speak to what the $2.5 million increase in the police budget is going toward?

Sure. So again, it's going towards contract negotiations and wages associated with the police department and staffing that's required. As you know, we are also challenged in the department with recruitment and retention. So, we wanted to address that issue. That has a complimentary effect on the cost associated with the scheduled overtime. In addition, the police budget includes full funding for body cameras. It also includes some investments in the fitness, health, and wellbeing of our police officers in the form of a stipend for any police officer who is able to pass a fitness evaluation and maintain a certain level of fitness.

Are there any incentives given towards other aspects of policing, like de-escalation training or mental health training?

Well, again, we are including- Included in this budget is the expansion of the co-responder program. We have on board now a licensed social worker and two employees who are in the field acting as co-responders. So that's three employees in that area. Part of our training program includes all kinds of training on de-escalation programs, on unconscious bias, training in understanding substance use disorders and mental health interactions. But the biggest component in response to providing a better service to the community is through the interactions and the partnerships that exist with the co-responders and the police officers. There's a great deal of sort of mentoring and training that occurs in the field when the co-responders are with police officers addressing mental health crises that are occurring really often and probably daily in the city of Pittsfield.

Let's turn next to Pittsfield’s capital expenditures. Where is that money going? How are you investing in capital expenditures for the coming 2024 budget?

So, we're making some investments in our public schools. For example, we have funding in the capital borrowing authorization for new roofs and for boilers. We are always following our fleet maintenance plan with regard to equipment purchases for vehicles that are necessary for departments, everything from the health department for their inspections to the fire department to the building maintenance department to the public services department. So, maintaining the fleet is an essential element of what's included in the capital project- For the capital borrowing authorization, excuse me.

Now, this is, of course, your final budget as you're not seeking reelection this year. Talk to me about that. What are your thoughts on putting together a financial plan for an era of Pittsfield that you will no longer be the leader of?

Well, you know, it's been an interesting experience, because when I came into office, we were in a pretty dire situation. We had a lot of challenges that we were confronted by, things that we inherited that we had to address, which we did over a period of time. And we now have fiscal stability here in the city of Pittsfield, with overcoming the levy ceiling challenge, building up the city's reserves, putting forward budgets that maintain and improve services that the people of our community expect and deserve. And so, in this final budget, I think, again, it goes back to making investments in personnel, making sure that we're paying teachers a fair wage so that they feel supported here in the city of Pittsfield. It's a tool for recruitment and retention. That's true for the fire department and the police department, and even for municipal employees that most people don't think about, like a city accountant. So, I feel like I'm leaving office with, and the next mayor has got a solid foundation from which to build upon with regard to fiscal stability, significant reserves, and a budget that will preserve services and support recruitment and retention of employees that provide those services to the community every day.

What's your forecast for the response of the council? This has obviously gone to subcommittee for further discussion. But are you foreseeing this being an easy budget process, a slog? What are your thoughts on how the council will receive this?

Well, I think that the city council provides an important perspective. They represent the community just as I do. I find the budget deliberations to be very interesting. I think that there are really good inquiries that happen, and then I also feel that there are times when I don't appreciate things that are said in the council meetings when the budget is deliberated. However, I do feel that it's sort of been an interesting dynamic over the last few years, because the budget that I have presented to the city council is often voted upon at a higher number. So, it's an interesting interplay, because we often hear members of the city council talking about wanting to cut the budget, it's too high, we need to do better. And then in the end, they have asked me to put more money in. And so, it's been an interesting, sort of confusing, I guess, deliberation, but I still consider the process important. I consider it a partnership that we have to engage in, and I'm always willing to find compromise when I think it's important for the community.

Josh Landes has been WAMC's Berkshire Bureau Chief since February 2018, following stints at WBGO Newark and WFMU East Orange. A passionate advocate for Western Massachusetts, Landes was raised in Pittsfield and attended Hampshire College in Amherst, receiving his bachelor's in Ethnomusicology and Radio Production. His free time is spent with his cat Harry, experimental electronic music, and exploring the woods.
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