North Adams Budget Down 3 Percent for 2010
 iBerkshires
Mayor John Barrett III discusses the city budget for the upcoming year in his office on Wednesday. |
"This was the toughest budget in my 26 years as mayor," said Mayor John Barrett III on Wednesday. "But it's also the best budget in the sense that we did a lot of creative things here."
The budget does not include any job losses other than through attrition, although a number of currently vacant positions will not be filled until later in the year; maintains and even slightly expands arts programs in the school system and keeps the student-teacher ratio at about 19 to 1; does not reduce public services and should keep any property tax increases at a minimum.
"Many of our citizens are unemployed, many of our citizens are retired, many of our citizens are working people who did not see any increase, but have seen health insurance costs go up and they're up against it, too," he said. "We try to take that into consideration."
The 2010 fiscal budget is down a $1 million, or 3 percent, from this year's approved spending plan, not including some half-million in cuts made during the year as the economy weakened and state aid was curtailed.
The school budget, which makes up nearly half the city's annual spending plan, is down nearly 6 percent from last year, from $16.4 million to $15.4 million. The cutback was expected to be higher — school officials were seeking $1.2 million in reductions — but were able to make up the savings in other ways.
A large part of the savings will come with closing Conte Middle School two years earlier than planned and creating a kindergarten-through-Grade 7 elementary system; eighth-graders will be educated in a wing at Drury High School. Two teachers, two teaching assistant position and a principal's position will lost because of the consolidation and declining enrollment. The city was also able to hold off paying $85,000 into the pension fund for two years because of changes made at the state level.
The School Committee, of which the mayor is chairman, is expected to approve the budget after a public hearing tonight.
Barrett said Superintendent James E. Montepare and other school officials worked hard to craft a budget that maintained programs while significantly cutting spending.
"It's critical that our school program not go backward," he said, adding that it had taken the system 15 years to recover after draconian cuts made in the passage of Proposition 2 1/2. In fact, the city is looking at heightened interest (and revenue) from outside-district parents for school-choice slots in the eighth grade because the move to the high school will open more possibilities in athletics, music and arts programs.
On the city side, the mayor said he held a meeting earlier this spring with employees to find ways to save money. "They came up with all kinds of ideas," he said. "We didn't implement a lot of them because we didn't have to."
Some solutions were simple, such as sending quarterly tax bill coupons together to save a few thousand on postage and mailing. Other options, such as reduced hours or four-day weeks, have been discussed.
Among positions not being filled until fall or later are a code enforcement officer for the Board of Health, a treasurer (Nancy Ziter is doing double-duty as acting treasurer) and an assistant building inspector/superintendent of buildings who, the mayor said, will be required to have a background in energy efficiency and sustainability so as to pursue grants for green improvements.
The city will, however, be adding several personnel each to the Fire Department through a $51,000 SAFER grant and, hopefully, the Police Department through federal stimulus funds.
There are cuts in almost every department across the board; the biggest increase is in debt service, up $300,000 this year. That number fluctuates yearly, said Barrett, depending on borrowing and interest rates.
The city will save about $174,000 by switching from Medex insurance for retirees to self-insurance in the coming year; the Legislature's passage of a local rooms tax of up to 2 percent could bring in another $100,000. Such an assessment would have to be approved by the City Council.
While this budget maybe "solid," next year's will be even more difficult, said Barrett, who holds little optimism the economy will swing upward quickly enough to replenish the state's coffers. At a meeting of mayors with Gov. Deval Patrick on Tuesday, Barrett said he had asked the governor his impression of an economic recovery.
The governor's answer, he said, wasn't rosy: "The economy will improve but in our world of government, it's going to get darker."
The city has already seen a steady decline in state aid since 2001; next year's budget may have to be cut $1 million to $1.5 million if revenues don't significantly improve.
"This is a good budget, a solid budget," said Barrett. "But it will have to be monitored and watched very closely."
The City Council will meet Thursday at noon at City Hall to review and vote the budget, which must be approved by June 30. The hearing is open to the public. The council can cut but cannot add to the spending plan.
Update: The School Committee approved its portion of the budget on Wednesday night and the City Council approved the spending plan after about hours of review on Thursday afternoon.
