A surprise uptick in revenue could translate to Northampton, Massachusetts ditching an override question this fall. The news comes on the heels of another financial surprise for the city – a month after lengthy budget debates and slated cuts across the school district.
A special city council meeting Monday will decide whether a $3 million operating override is rescinded.
According to the council’s agenda, Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra is requesting the council reconsider the override passed in June intended to fund operating budgets for the city and public school system starting next July.
In a message to the council, Sciarra cited “recent higher than expected returns” and the city’s own financial standing for the move – mentioning a “sharp increase in motor vehicle excise tax revenue” and “higher-than-expected hotel/motel tax revenue.” She adds the city accrued about $2 million in interest on its existing cash balances.
The request comes amid another unexpected increase in funding – thanks to the new state budget.
“The state has now included $104 per student in Chapter 70 aid - we had to base the FY25 budget on the governor's budget, which was $30 per student, which was … [the] budget available at the time that we were creating our budget,” Sciarra said during a city council meeting Wednesday, July 31. “This additional order represents the difference between the two.”
Speaking at both a special city council and school committee meeting Wednesday, Sciarra described to both bodies how school districts across Massachusetts are seeing a bit more money to work with after Chapter 70 education aid received a boost.
That translates to an extra $192,400 for NPS – enough to restore a handful of the nearly 20 jobs slated to be cut to close a deficit in the district.
Recommending what positions to restore and why was the subject of Wednesday’s two-hour special school committee meeting – one that followed soon after the city council authorized the funds.
Among them was the adjustment counselor post at Northampton High School, which received support across the board.
“The adjustment counselor does stand out to me as a place where people are not going to be able to access that anywhere else,” Ward 4 Committee Member Michael Stein said before the restoration vote. “And as pediatricians point people towards their high school adjustment counselor and we don't have one, it's a significant problem.”
Other roles were outlined in various lists of suggestions - based on previous committee member feedback as well as from school principals. One of them - the “district priorities” list - was ultimately picked by the committee.
In addition to the adjustment counselor, the roles included both a math interventionist and a reading interventionist at JFK Middle School – while also boosting a behavior analyst role at the Ryan Road Elementary School from a .8 to a 1.0 full-time equivalency role.
Superintendent Dr. Portia Bonner noted that regarding the reading interventionist, it was also a case of a previously established role being boosted to full-time, going from .5 FTE to 1.0.
As for where the recently-announced revenue might be going, Sciarra said in her message to the council that the “unanticipated revenue from fiscal year 2024” would allow the city to “immediately replace the $2 million” appropriated from the city’s Fiscal Stability Stabilization funds for the NPS FY25 budget.
Including amendments, the current school district’s budget totaled around $40.7 million – an increase from the previous year’s $36.5 million - but not enough to cover all of an emerging $4.77 million deficit for NPS — brought on by the exit of extra pandemic funding, increased staffing, and other factors previously outlined in the mayor’s budget.
Looming job cuts affecting teachers and support staff led to public outcry during budget season including protests at city hall and the formation of a “Fund Our Schools” group supported by residents and the Northampton Association for School Employees.
The city council is scheduled to meet virtually Monday at 9 a.m.
