Marchetti Defends Pittsfield Tax Rates in Advance of FY25 Budget

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayor Peter Marchetti defended the city's tax rate on Tuesday, asking residents to look at all of the figures before making a judgment.

While Pittsfield ranked the highest tax rate countywide in fiscal 2024, the average bill ranked 10th. The administration also provided data showing that there has been a 37.9 percent increase in the value of single-family homes from FY20 to FY24 and a 6.4 percent decrease in the residential tax rate during this period.

"When we continue to hear about how we're comparing to other communities and we've heard it several times that jeez, we're the highest tax bills in Berkshire County, I think using the data from (the Department of Revenue) and (the Division of Local Services) we can prove that that is not necessarily the case," Marchetti said during a joint City Council and School Committee meeting.

In FY24, the residential tax rate was $18.45 per $1,000 of valuation and the average home was assessed at $268,000, making the average tax bill nearly $5,000 annually. The mayor plans to submit a proposed FY25 budget to the council on May 14.

Early in the term, the City Council supported a petition from Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso requesting a budget that is "close to level-funded" due to concerns about tax increases. Marchetti said even if the administration were to provide a level-funded budget, he would still be standing in front of the body in December asking for a tax increase.

The potential impact of a level-funded budget would be:

• the city not being able to renew its Massachusetts Municipal Association membership.
• the closure of a fire station on a rotating basis due to a reduction in overtime
• a loss of 11 police officers due to a reduction of overtime
• a reduction of five Highway Department employees and two Parks Department employees
• a reduction of the building inspector's administrative assistant
• the reduction of one full-time librarian and the Berkshire Athenaeum closing earlier on Thursdays

He has asked each department to provide three spending plans: a level-funded, a level service-funded, and a wish list — though essentially no wish list items have been expressed. A level service-funded budget is the goal.

Amuso reported the high volume of calls she gets from residents about the "astounding" and "alarming" tax bills, explaining "I do not want to dismantle departments but we can do better." She doesn't see taxes being reduced but would like the city to explore all options to lessen the burden on taxpayers as much as possible.

"Although I didn't really appreciate a petition on day seven that said, 'Hey, you need to do these,' we took your petition seriously, we went through the exercise," Marchetti said.

Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren asked that the administration look at the average income of Pittsfield residents as compared to the tax bills, speculating that residents have lower incomes than other communities.

To date, the city has collected $11.5 million for local receipts, or 90 percent, and $53.4 million for state aid, or 73 percent.  Of the $109.3 million appropriated budget, it has expended nearly $84 million.

The "not ideal" school budget is seeing a $3.7 million gap in funding largely due to the sunsetting of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds and a dramatic decrease in Chapter 70 funding due to what the administrators said is a technical error.

After showing a decrease in the percentage of low-income students, the district is being docked $2.3 million after missing the cutoff for a higher reimbursement group by 0.04 percent.

The City Council supported a resolution calling for legislative change to fully reflect recent inflation in the Chapter 70 definition of the foundation inflation index for fiscal 2025 and to eliminate the cap in future years to restore the purchasing power of district Foundation budgets to reflect the intended resource allocations of the Student Opportunity Act.

Marchetti said he will share some "hopeful positive news" in the near future but that Superintendent Joseph Curtis, Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Kristen Behnke, and himself have been working diligently with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Legislature to resolve the issues.

The school is anticipating the reduction of more than 100 staff members to bridge the $3.7 million gap.

"I do want to note that these reductions we are making aren't ideal, are not, and I don't think anyone here believes they are ideal cuts at all," School Committee member William Garrity said.

Remembering the 'Forgotten War' in Pittsfield

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
01:17PM / Sunday, July 26, 2026

The bell is rung as the name of each local casualty of the war is read.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A small group gathered at City Hall's "Forgotten War" monument on Saturday to honor those who had served.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 448 held its annual ceremony at the Korean War Monument to mark the 73rd anniversary of the armistice that saw the fighting end in Korea. The 2002 monument names 20 Pittsfield residents who were killed in action. 

"Today, on behalf of the brave men to which their names appear on this monument, and to 36,516 that lost their lives in the Korean conflict, and the 1,243 that lost their lives thereafter, often referred to as the Second Forgotten War, or the DMZ Wars, and to many others that have served their countries without recognition, and to those still serving, we wish to honor them all in appreciation of their sacrifice and contributions towards the preservation of our freedoms and values of the United States of America and its allies," said post Cmdr. Arnie Perras, saying there are still many people unaware of what happened in that overseas war. 

The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when North Korea invaded South Korea after border conflicts and insurrections in the south. Hostile action ended unofficially on July 27, 1953, in a truce. During the war, more than 23,000 American troops were killed in action, and 100,000 were injured. South Korea lost more than 200,000 soldiers, more than 13,000 other allied troops were killed, and nearly 3 million civilian and military lives were lost on both sides. 

A peace treaty was never signed and a demilitarized zone has separated the two nations since.

An armistice was signed, but Perras reminded attendees that this didn't end the war, relaying thousands of reported military engagements inside the Korean Demilitarized Zone between 1954 and 1999. 

Perras outlined actions that occurred during the ceasefire, such as the DMZ Wars, especially active in the 1960s, when many U.S. and Korean soldiers were killed in ambushes, firefights, and minefields. In 2010, North Korea torpedoed a South Korean corvette submarine, killing 46 people.

Today, the United States has about 28,500 troops deployed in South Korea, mostly at the Army station at Camp Humphreys. 

"Although it has been decades since major hostilities, U.S. troops remain as a deterrent to the nuclear-armed and often belligerent North Korea."

The monument — dedicated on Veterans Day in 2002 — honors the 20 servicemen who were killed during the war with a time capsule buried beneath, including dog tags, a small P38 military can opener, military patches, and a DVD from a one-hour fundraiser televised on Pittsfield Community Television.

A bell was sounded after each name was read aloud.

Perras is the last living member of the Korean War Monument Committee and closed the event with a wish for new members to continue the veteran organizations' charge.

"I'm the last man standing, and I can barely do that. We really need our younger veterans to help us out by joining soon to carry our torch forward. As a huge incentive, the VFW Post 448 is still offering a five-year free membership to new members. Otherwise, you'll no longer be seeing these type of ceremonies, unfortunately," he said.

Mayor Peter MArchetti along with City Councilor Pete White were also in attendance to honor the fallen. 

"I think it's important to be here today. We remember the brave men and women who served in the war, and every service member that sacrificed their life for this It's our job to make sure that they're not forgotten and that they're honored for defending our nation and protecting our freedoms, they went to war, protecting people that they never met and never knew. It's important for us to remember them, not just for that war, but for all wars," Marchetti said. 

The names of Pittsfield residents who were killed in the war:

• Francis R. Abbott
• Bryceland C. Ames
• Arthur A. Boland
• Edward J. Callahan
• James C. Costello
• James C. Couch
• Raymond L. Di Maleo
• Bernard A. Greenleaf
• Hubert C. Harrison
• Joseph A. Mc Cue
• Eugene H. McGovern
• James M. O'Boyle
• Hugh A. Olsen
• Clifford C. Pye
• Jack H. Roberts
• Robert A. Skowron
• Roger B. Smith
• William J. Smith Jr.
• John E. Stammel
• Antonio C. Stracuzzi