The council roster on the chamber dais Tuesday night reflected the outcome of November’s election and the organizational meeting a week earlier. At-large city councilor Pete White is now the body’s president, with fellow at-large representative Earl Persip as vice president. New faces on the 11-member council include Ward 2’s Brittany Bandai, Ward 3’s Matthew Wrinn, Ward 7’s Rhonda Serre, and Alisa Costa and Kathy Amuso in the last two at-large seats. Amuso — a veteran of city politics with prior stints on both the council and school committee — was behind a petition calling on new Mayor Peter Marchetti to send the council a “close to level-funded budget” for fiscal year 2025.
“I did meet with the mayor and go over this, and I know the mayor is worried about the tax rate and the taxes that people have to pay," she said. "And we were sworn in last Tuesday, and I got my first call about the taxes, 2 o'clock on Tuesday.”
The average Pittsfield homeowner saw an almost $400 increase in property taxes after the previous city council approved new rates to fund the city’s more than $200 million budget in December.
“I didn't want to tie Mayor Marchetti’s hands with the budget," Amuso continued. "I said close to level-funded, I didn't give a dollar amount, because I think that's for the people that do the work to come up with. But I do think we have to give the residents of Pittsfield a break on the taxes. Quite frankly, when I opened my taxes, I was stunned. And it's getting to be that you can't afford to live in Pittsfield the way the taxes are going.”
Ward 5’s Patrick Kavey said he agreed with Amuso, and underscored the difficulty of the road ahead as Pittsfield attempts to balance quality services with the need for new revenue.
“The increase in costs for asphalt, for example, has gone up about 8% every year since I've been on the council, and I would not support you taking money away from roads," he said. "But that's an 8% increase. So, then we have to look at other more creative ways to save money elsewhere.”
Kavey said school consolidation is one option.
“We'll be having public meetings about it relatively soon, and it is a way that we have to head in with stabilization of our student body but also how large some of our buildings are and how old some of them are, how much they cost to maintain, etcetera,” said the Ward 5 councilor.
He also invoked one of Pittsfield’s much discussed and yet unresolved economic issues: trash.
“Our solid waste collection went up from $1.3 million in 2020, to $2.2 million in 2023- So, it was an increase of 61%, and part of that has to do with the state making it so we can't burn trash anymore," said Kavey. "So, the facility on Hubbard Ave is becoming a large transfer facility, we had thought that the amount per ton was going to be more than what we negotiated, so that's a good thing. But it's still a very large cost. I mean, it went from what, $90 a ton to about $115. That's still a large increase. Same thing with solid waste disposal.”
Marchetti said he welcomes conversations about school consolidation and the city’s trash policies, and that he’s exploring efficiency studies across municipal departments. However, the former city council president said it’s too early in his administration to make any promises about a level-funded budget.
“I'm not going to commit to anything seven days in, because reducing costs are great, providing that we don't reduce services," said the mayor. "And so, if I produce you with a budget, and as I told Councilor Amuso, if I'm going to level fund, we're probably looking at $8 million worth of cuts in order to be able to level fund. I don't see how I can produce a level-funded budget without seriously impacting the services to the community. I'm willing to look at trash, I'm willing to put forth a proposal for trash, I'm willing to go down the road for the school consolidation study that is almost completed and will go public. You know, some of those- I'm leery to stand here and pontificate about those things, because I think we all know the school consolidation study is two or three years down the road before we can see savings. So sure, we have a green light, but it's not immediate relief.”
As an example of ways to build new revenue streams, Marchetti said his administration is already exploring how to put city properties like the former Hibbard School building on Newell Street on the market.
“It is a city building that is in serious disrepair that we use for storage," he said. "It's time to put it in the private sector and make housing so that we can build revenue.”
Council VP Persip said he would not support Amuso’s petition.
“We really need to think about what services we're going to cut, because there will be cuts," he said. "And it's the services people- They want their trash picked up, they want a firefighter at their door and a police officer at the door if they need one. And if we're talking about $8 million, we're talking about probably one of those things being slower or less of.”
Political newcomer Costa agreed.
“I find the conversation about cuts really disconcerting, and I have for a long time in the city," she said. "I don't believe we can necessarily dig ourselves out of a hole. We are far behind in a lot of our maintenance, and services are a real challenge. And when I was campaigning and knocking on doors, services were a big issue. So, I do not want to cut services. I don't want to see people looking at Pittsfield as a place where they won't get value for their tax dollar.”
Ultimately, the council approved instructing Marchetti to deliver a roughly level-funded budget in a 7-4 vote, with Costa, Serre, White, and Persip in opposition. Fiscal year 2025 starts on July 1st.
