PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council pulled $300,000 from free cash to fund a new line item within the Emergency Management budget to assist in the city's effort to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The council held its first remote meeting Tuesday and accepted an order from the mayor to transfer and appropriate $300,000 from certified free cash to a new line item within the Emergency Management budget to aid the city in its continued efforts to combat the novel coronavirus.

 

"While we intend to do everything we can as a municipal government to be responsible to COVID-19 we also are incurring expenses that are impacting our municipal operating budget," Mayor Linda Tyer said. "The transfer of funds from free cash are intended to make those budget line items whole and I would just add that this is precisely the type of emergency and one-time cost that the free cash account should be used for."

 

In a letter to the council, Tyer said the city has expended resources from the existing fiscal 2020 budget and, at this time, more than $100,000 has been tapped on a range of expenses excluding non-personnel related costs. This includes the purchase of additional cleaning supplies for city buildings and rolling out the Central Berkshire Emergency Operations Center.

 

Also, funds have been used to ready the former St. Joseph's High School as a temporary homeless shelter.

 

The council first had to vote to waive Rule 27 to fast track the order rather than sending it to the finance subcommittee but this drew some concern from Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell, who rather the item first go to subcommittee for some more discussion.

 

"I think this is a large enough item that it should be sent to finance," he said. "...This is a longer conversation and I have several questions about it."

 

Tyer said she was comfortable delaying the order but that she was worried about running down the operating budget.

 

The majority of the councilors agreed that it was acceptable to waive Rule 27 and move the free cash to various departments.

 

"These are different times than what we usually have and ... I think this is only $50,000 more than we used from free cash for bleachers up at [Berkshire Community College]," Councilor at Large Earl Persip said. "... It is a big-ticket item but it's not that big ... where we can't waive the rule ask our questions tonight and get the city departments the money they need."

 

"It feels like at this time with so many things changing every day this really is not the time to hold back on getting resources to the city and our first-responders," Ward 1 Councilor Helen moon said.

 

Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey noted that many of these costs are eligible for reimbursement at a rate of 75 percent from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Financial Director Matthew Kerwood added there is the possibility the city could make up this 25 percent through other reimbursement opportunities.

 

Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi asked when the city could anticipate reimbursement and Kerwood said the city can really only begin to sort things out once the pandemic is over.

 

"You don't submit this paperwork until after the state of emergency has stood down and we don't know when that is going to happen," he said. "This is unlike a natural disaster where it's quick ... right now no one can really say when that is going to happen." 

 

He said currently Pittsfield is in the FEMA queue. Once the city is reimbursed, the funds would come in as revenue ultimately making their way to the general fund.

 

Connell was the only councilor opposed to waving Rule 27.

 

As for the actual order, Connell reiterated that his issue was not with allocating the funds but the process. He also felt there was no need to create a new line item. He said he thought the city could just pull from free cash after the fact and clean up the spent line items

 

Tyer said she thought a separate line item would be cleaner and more transparent noting only COVID-19 related costs could come from this fund.

 

Councilor at Large  Peter White agreed and said he thought it was cleaner accounting that would only make the reimbursement process easier. 

 

"It is cleaner accounting and i think it is cleaner for reimbursement," White said. "It is just a better way to handle this and it will be easier to see what has come out of this when we review it later."

 

Connell and Morandi were the only votes in opposition.