Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said the administration wants to be partners with local municipalities.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is facing some significant financial challenges in the next few years and the state is helping to overcome the hurdles.
On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito signed a community compact agreement with the city that will give it $25,000 to work with the Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management to develop long-range financial planning.
"First we will create customized financial forecasting models that will include a review of historical data and an assessment of assumptions. This model, once created, can be monitored year after year and help us develop long-range financial planning priorities," Mayor Linda Tyer said.
"Our second best practice is to improve budget transparency. Budgets are policy documents and fund priorities and expectations of the community."
The city's levy ceiling has just crossed with the debt limit, a rarity that will limit the amount of taxation possible without an override. The city can raise taxes about $6 million more before hitting that ceiling, but that ceiling is expected to rise without a significant boost in taxable value.
With rising costs in nearly all sectors of the city budget, that puts the administration in a situation of find ways to make the numbers work.
"The timing of this partnership couldn't have come at a better time. We are grappling with emerging and significant financial constraints and I am confident that the work that is completed through the community compact will position us for better decision making," Tyer said.
Pittsfield is just the latest to sign compacts with the state — in fact, the city is the 195th to sign. Every city and town in the commonwealth has the opportunity to pick from a large list of "best practices" to implement. The state will fund the consulting or technology needs with the agreement that the practices will be implemented.
"It's funded. This is not an unfunded mandate, which is not something we support in state government either. Both the governor and I were selectmen in our hometowns so we knew this had to be a voluntary program and it had to be funded," Polito said. "We provide the resources for you to be able to engage the Collins Center for technical assistance."
While Pittsfield has its own challenges and opportunities for other state resources, smaller towns don't have the professional staff to take on major projects. In Hinsdale, the town has never had a master plan developed.
"Hinsdale is a very small town and we just brought on a town administrator. So we are actually coming into the 21st century almost. With this best practice, we are working on master planning and open space protection. We are working on budgeting and capital transportation," Selectwoman Laurel Scialabba said.
Scialabba signed a contract of Hinsdale's own in the City Council chambers on Tuesday that will provide the resources to guide a working group through the process while also helping financial staff create a new "comprehensive budget system."
"The Community Compact Program is an initiative that we put together and it is intended to reach all cities and towns," Polito said.
Cheshire is another small town with limited access to state grant programs. Selectwoman Carol Francesconi said her town also doesn't have a master plan to help guide decision making. But that will change after she, too, signed an agreement with Polito.
"Cheshire has grown so much that we have wanted, for a long time, a master plan so we can contain our growth so it is done in a proper way and to the best advantage to the town of Cheshire," Francesconi said.
Williamstown Town Manager Jason Hoch, Hinsdale Selectwoman Laurel Scialabba, and Cheshire Selectwoman Carol Francesconi.
Williamstown Town Manager Jason Hoch was the last of four to sign agreements Tuesday, and the 198th statewide. For his town the "best practice" being adopted is for complete streets.
He said there is a big push in the community with residential areas and Williams College to be more friendly to all modes of transportation and the complete streets program develops plans for roads ensuring there are sidewalks and bike lanes for all modes.
"We're thrilled to be joining with a focus on complete streets. There is a strong interest in our community for this over time. We've already had some good partnerships and teamwork on projects where we've gotten close and this will let us get to the next level of doing that work," Hoch said.
Polito is a former selectman so she has seen firsthand how some of those issues impact each town. But, she also knows that not every town in Massachusetts faces the same things.
The Community Compact Program was crafted by Gov. Charlie Baker, also a former selectman, and Polito as a way to improve the partnership between state and local officials. She said the administration has also vowed to increase its support for funding programs such as Chapter 90 for roads and Chapter 70 for schools.
"The best practices is one part of it. The resource sharing is another part. We just need to give you all of the tools as possible," Polito said.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier said the Berkshires are a place where groups of people work together to solve problems. That partnership extends to the legislature and the rest of state government. The community compact program, which is funded by the Legislature, is one of the ways to improve that teamwork, she said.
"We get it. We have to work as a team to get things done because we are geographically isolated," Farley-Bouvier said.
While both Farley-Bouvier and Tyer mentioned that the Berkshires are a ways from Boston, Polito said the administration wants all corners of the state to be as vibrant as the state's capital.
"Our administration cares about the whole state. There is a lot of activity in eastern Massachusetts. We know our capital city is really booming with activity. We want to see every part of our state have that spark, that excitement," Polito said.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.
No Comments
Dalton Man Accused of Kidnapping, Shooting Pittsfield Man
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Dalton man was arrested on Thursday evening after allegedly kidnapping and shooting another man.
Nicholas Lighten, 35, was arraigned in Central Berkshire District Court on Friday on multiple charges including kidnapping with a firearm and armed assault with intent to murder. He was booked in Dalton around 11:45 p.m. the previous night.
There was heavy police presence Thursday night in the area of Lighten's East Housatonic Street home before his arrest.
Shortly before 7 p.m., Dalton dispatch received a call from the Pittsfield Police Department requesting that an officer respond to Berkshire Medical Center. Adrian Mclaughlin of Pittsfield claimed that he was shot in the leg by Lighten after an altercation at the defendants home. Mclaughlin drove himself to the hospital and was treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries.
"We were told that Lighten told Adrian to go down to his basement, where he told Adrian to get down on his knees and pulled out a chain," the police report reads.
"We were told that throughout the struggle with Lighten, Adrian recalls three gunshots."
Dalton PD was advised that Pittsfield had swabbed Mclaughlin for DNA because he reported biting Lighten. A bite mark was later found on Lighten's shoulder.
Later that night, the victim reportedly was "certain, very certain" that Lighten was his assailant when shown a photo array at the hospital.
According to Dalton Police, an officer was stationed near Lighten's house in an unmarked vehicle and instructed to call over the radio if he left the residence. The Berkshire County Special Response Team was also contacted.
Lighten was under surveillance at his home from about 7:50 p.m. to about 8:40 p.m. when he left the property in a vehicle with Massachusetts plates. Another officer initiated a high-risk motor vehicle stop with the sergeant and response team just past Mill Street on West Housatonic Street, police said, and traffic was stopped on both sides of the road.
Lighten and a passenger were removed from the vehicle and detained. Police reported finding items including a brass knuckle knife, three shell casings wrapped in a rubber glove, and a pair of rubber gloves on him.
The response team entered Lighten's home at 43 East Housatonic before 9:30 p.m. for a protective sweep and cleared the residence before 9:50 p.m., police said. The residence was secured for crime scene investigators.
Berkshire Hills County Club is seeking a variance on its pool permit to allow for cost savings on staff members starting next year, including fewer lifeguards. click for more
Voters approved all but one of the 22 articles on the warrant at the annual town meeting on Monday night at Wahconah Regional High School. click for more