Mayor Daniel Bianchi at a recent speaking event. He plans to submit his fiscal 2016 spending plan to the City Council before the end of May.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayor Daniel Bianchi is expecting to submit his $150 million fiscal 2016 spending plan by the end the month.

 

The mayor is suggesting a 1.9 percent increase in city operating expenses and a 3.5 percent increase to the schools. In total, the budget raises the city side by $1.4 million and the school by some $1.9 million for about a $3.4 million increase in total spending.

 

"It is the continuation of debt service and contractual obligations," Bianchi said on Friday. 

 

The biggest drivers, the mayor said, was an increase in debt service from previous years' capital projects, utility costs increasing and new contracts with public employee unions. The departmental budgets will be mostly unchanged, Bianchi said.

 

"It is pretty much holding the line," he said.

 

He added that the Police Department budget will see an increase in overtime allocation to help bring foot patrols back to North Street. Previously, the downtown merchants advocated for more patrols and last summer those were offered to officers. Instead of hiring more officers, the mayor allocated additional overtime. Bianchi, however, wants to continue those downtown foot patrols and is boosting the department's overtime budget to do so.

 

Police Chief Michael Wynn has been advocating for additional staffing in recent years, though not necessarily for downtown patrols. He said at a recently Police Advisory Committee that the budget will pay for the officers currently in the academy but that only brings the department up to the "minimum" staffing level.

 

The school budget is $59.2 million ($58.5 million coming from the city and was approved by the School Committee on April 30. Despite a $1.9 million increase, school officials proposed a series of cuts. 

 

Between utilities, contractual increases, new buses, and lose of federal revenue, the School Department had a need of $4 million to stay with level-services. So with only a $1.9 million increase, the difference came in a number of ways including the reduction of 28 full-time jobs.

 

Last June, the City Council reviewed the operating budget in one marathon session, which lasted nearly nine hours. But the council later voted not to do that again. In June, the City Council is expected to hold a series of meetings at night to review the budget.