The Finance Committee has been reviewing the proposed fiscal 2017 budget.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city is dealing with lack of staff, an aging workforce and a looming exodus of retirees.

The three public safety and service chiefs told the Finance Committee on Monday that they could use more people.

"We're getting by but the answer is no," said Commissioner of Public Services Timothy Lescarbeau to questions about staffing. "We have more parks than we had 20 years but we have less staff. ... "

"But we do have more equipment to help us get by."

Lescarbeau can fill some holes with part-time retirees, including one from the Water Department.

"You can't replace 30 years of experience," he said. "Outside of that, we pretty much are level funded."

Mayor Richard Alcombright has also added a 30-hour maintenance specialist to next year's budget to help with facilities. The individual had been brought on to begin code upgrades to bring the city into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. There is also $10,000 funded for a McCann Technical School co-op student at least through

"We've got some guys who are getting older ... but we have a committed staff," said the mayor. "But they have a lot of time ... all you need is three to call in sick."

Seniority-driven sick and vacation time, along with employees out with injuries continues to take a toll on overtime. Administrative Officer Michael Canales and Auditor David Fierro Jr. have been tracking the time for several years and feel they can project the costs.

"We have an aging workforce and our average age is 45, 47," said Fire Director Stephen Meranti. Police Director Michael Cozzaglio said his department is preparing for rash of retirements in the coming years.

The Fire Department is budgeting $252,000 for overtime in fiscal 2017 and the Police Department $305,000. By early April, the overtime budgets for both were $225,000 over for the year, largely because of injuries.

Meranti said the line items in his department hadn't changed much other than contractual obligations and step increases. But he's had to increase his overtime multiplier by 2.5, up from 2.

"It's almost a $100,000 increase (in the department budget) and the overtime is a lot of it," he said.

The Fire department budget is up from $1,554,181 adopted in 2016, to $1,654,145 for fiscal 2017. About $1.6 million of that is salaries.

The Police Department is up $245,510, to $1,974,496 for fiscal 2017, largely through the salary lines. It includes a lieutenant, not funded this year, and the addition of a patrol officer.

Cozzaglio said the department is also asking for another police officer to replace one who retired in January, which will hopefully help reduce overtime.

"Based on our current level of activity throughout the city ... we are looking to grow by one officer. ... You know the situation that we're in and you know the level of activity we experience in the city," he said. "We're working to keep that in check but you know how it is. ... We're looking at keeping safe staffing levels that we have to maintain. Sometimes to maintain that level, it costs us overtime."

Two officers are currently out long term, and it's not clear when or if they will return.

"Even if we were to grow by one, we're still going to be down two officers," Cozzaglio said. "But we're heading in the right direction. I am also anticipating within year from now, adding two more officers."

Bringing in reserves are problematic for both departments. Meranti said he uses reserves but if a lieutenant is out, he can't use reserves - only a qualified active firefighter can step in, thus the overtime.

Cozzaglio said it's a matter of finding qualified reserves within area through Civil Service. He asked for a recent list and was pleased to find six names - but only one signed on. In the past, Civil Service would then extend the list out to Northern Berkshire but now it goes statewide pool. No one wants to drive to North Adams for a part-time job.  

"It's easy to say put more reserves on but it's very difficult to find them," he said.

Finance Committee Chairwoman Lisa Blackmer asked if the department was considering ways to get high school and college students considering law enforcement careers.

"How do we change the mindset in this community that policing is a career," she asked.

Cozzaglio said there isn't a lot of outreach but felt the Civil Service regulations were more of a factor.

"I think our opportunities would grow if we did not have Civil Service ... It's very difficult throughout the state ... it's hard to find good candidates, young officers," he said. "We are planning for the future, but we have have candidates."

McCann Technical School Superintendent James Brosnan presented the vocational school's budget, up this year largely because of insurance costs. North Adams will see an assessment of $993,015, up almost 10 percent over this year.

Library Director Mindy Hackner also spoke to the library budget, which is up by about $17,000 over this year.

The library has had some staffing changes with the departure of a longtime employee; the library is currently looking for a children's librarian.

Hackner said her budget was below state expectations, which would be one percent of the municipal budget. The municipal budget is about $39 million.

"The state wants us to be in the high $300 thousands and we're at $322 thousand," she said.

The committee asked if the library could close a day to bring its budget down. Hackner said the state mandates the library be open one day on the weekend and one evening.

"I don't think we want to do something different with our hours of service because it would be a disservice to the community," she said.