Adams Finance Committee Votes Down McCann Budget
ADAMS, Mass. — The Finance Committee approved recommending the majority of the proposed $15.5 million municipal budget but voted against the McCann assessment, which is increasing 27 percent.
The Finance Committee had few concerns with the town side of the fiscal 2018 budget Thursday but refused to recommend the McCann budget with a 10-1 vote. The Board of Selectmen is recommending it after a 3-1 vote.
"I admire the job McCann does … but if there is no resistance to the trends that are going on it is just going to be easier for them to keep coming back for more," Finance Committee member Craig Corrigan said. "There will be no incentive to make tough decisions and I think this time we have to say no."
Because 14 more students are anticipated to attend McCann, the Adams portion of the budget has jumped to $1,030,016
Much of the town’s issues with McCann are not teacher's salaries but with benefit packages that the town hopes the school will reduce.
Although Superintendent James Brosnan has said at previous budget hearings that he heard the town's concerns, Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco suggested sending a stronger message.
"You have to be stronger than just taking his word for it I think you should say no to the budget," Mazzucco said.
"They are not sharing in the same sacrifices that my employees are sharing in…municipal employees continue to get kicked in the teeth and have a fundamentally lower benefit packages... Even Adams-Cheshire voted to close a school and are making tough decisions."
Finance Committee member Matthew Pitoniak said he has also heard frustrations from Adams-Cheshire Regional School District parents who have to pay for their children to play athletics. McCann parents do not have to make any financial contribution for their kids to play sports.
Chairman Tim Burdick said the vote would essentially be a protest vote because nine towns are part of the Northern Berkshire Regional Vocational School District and multiple towns would have to vote down the budget to send McCann back to the drawing board.
Most of the communities make smaller contributions than Adams and likely see small increases if any at all.
"If we chose not to approve this budget, it is 99.9 percent going to happen regardless … any more than three voting against it would kill it," he said. "But there is little likelihood of that happening. You can say no but it really is not going to change anything, but we would be sending a message."
Although the committee shot one education budget down, it approved the Adams-Cheshire's assessment of $4,940,421, which is a 3 percent increase over this year, with an 8-2 vote.
Even though the School Committee has yet to pass a budget, the Finance Committee followed the lead of the Selectmen and approved the budget town officials originally said they could afford.
The School Committee has failed to pass its proposed $19.2 million budget that included the closure of Cheshire School on a 4-3 vote along town lines when a 5-2 vote is needed for approval.
The School Committee also voted on a larger $19.9 million budget that kept open both elementary schools and made no cuts at the request of a Cheshire representative. That also failed to receive enough votes.
Superintendent Robert Putnam told the Finance Committee school officials will try again Monday.
"We are at an impasse," he said.
Adams School Committee representative Stephen Vigna said the committee plans to meet Monday and work out any issues members may have.
"These meetings have become very contentious and we as a committee need to have a dialogue … and come together as a committee and understand what each other committee member is looking for so we can come to an agreement," he said.
Finance Committee member Sandra Kleiner said she hoped school officials would not re-vote or discuss closing C.T. Plunkett School in Adams instead of Cheshire. She said because of the animosity between the two towns, she felt it was best to move on and focus on the budget.
Mazzucco agreed and said if the committee chooses not to close a school they will not be able to solve their financial issues.
"A decision was made, and it’s unfortunate but it was made and if the School Committee reversed their decision they are basically saying that they are never going to close a school," he said. "We know things need to be done differently."
Mazzucco said he did not think the district could pass the larger budget, which calls for a 10 percent hike in Adams' assessment, because it would require an override. He does not think the town would pass one because Adams is so close to their levy ceiling already. He added that he didn’t think the budget would be sustainable in fiscal year 2019.
Mazzucco reiterated that it may be best to approve Monday’s $19.2 million budget and attach an override option on the town warrant – so if the override fails they still have a budget.
"It is much easier to spend money than it is to cut money," Mazzucco said. "…This here is a very dangerous game and it is a very very very big gamble."
If the towns cannot both pass the same budget the district would be put on a smaller budget until they can propose a budget the towns agree on. This would mean an immediate $275,000 worth of cuts.
The Finance Committee also held the library budget after push back at a School Committee meeting Wednesday night where Cheshire residents suggested that town decreases its hours of operation or close the library so they can allocate more funds for education.
Mazzucco said the library has made sacrifices throughout the years. He said cutting a service used so much by the town is out of the question.
"That suggestion is absurd on its face not only have we cut the library throughout the years but the idea that we would close our century-old library just to provide money to another part of the budget is absurd," Mazzucco said. "Over my dead body."
Library director Holli Jayko said while to the town has been in financial distress the library has been more in demand and students from ACRSD, McCann, and St. Stans all use its resources.
Tags: ACRSD_budget, adams_budget, Finance Committee, fiscal 2018,
