Pittsfield City Council Begins Review of $162M Fiscal 2022 Budget
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council on Monday began the review of the proposed $162 million fiscal 2022 budget, giving preliminary approval to seven departments' spending in just over an hour.
The draft budget is up 3.6 percent, or $5,692,244 over this year. The $162,098,825 budget includes focuses on investments in public education including pre-kindergarten in every school, increased staffing within the Department of Public Services, creating a Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and investments in cybersecurity.
The school budget is $67,311,700, up 4.4 percent or $2.8 million over this year. The schools account for about 42 percent of the budget.
Increases in fixed costs include a $737,264 increase in the retirement contribution; a $590,000 increase in solid waste collection and disposal; a $36,453 increase in principal debt payments. Reductions include an $850,000 savings in health insurance; and a $130,305 savings in long-term debt interest.
The total spending plan, including enterprise funds, is $189,209,759. The city will need to raise and appropriate $95,793,641 to fund the budget, about $4 million more than this year. This leaves Pittsfield with $1.6 million in excess levy capacity. Revenues for the balance of the budget come such areas as fees, fines and $60.5 million in state aid. The administration is not proposing to use free cash to offset the tax rate.
"I have to say that this process, this year went a lot smoother than last year," Finance Director Matthew Kerwood said. "Given that we have detectability from the state, specifically around state aid numbers, which obviously, given our dependence on state, specifically Chapter 70 [education aid], it made this process a lot easier than the last process."
In the Committee of the Whole meeting which lasted just over an hour, Ward 4 Councilor Chris Connell motioned for a handful of line item amendments that did not pass.
Pittsfield Budget Review Day 1
Mayor's Office
The Mayor's Office budget of $225,908 was preliminarily approved in a unanimous vote.
The budget is $9,239 more than last year. The mayor's salary by charter is $95,000 with increases tied annually to the Consumer Price Index. The travel allowance — which has shrunk over the years — was again zeroed out.
Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Maffuccio inquired about the executive assistant's pay increase of 10.4 percent and the director of administrative service's pay increase of 5.6 percent. Mayor Linda Tyer explained that the increases are due to a combination of both step increases, and the adjustment to the compensation schedule for non-union employees.
| Account Name | 2018 Approval | 2019 Approval | 2020 Approval | 2021 Approval | 2022 Approval | |
| Mayor | $95,000 | $96,998 | $98,453 | $100,915 | $102,428 | |
| Director of Admin Services | $53,092 | $56,064 | $58,101 | $59,554 | $62,889 | |
| Executive Assistant | $37,285 | $39,364 | $41,354 | $42,125 | $46,516 | |
| Markets and Advertising | $250 | $300 | $300 | $300 | $125 | |
| Supplies | $2,922 | $2,775 | $2,575 | $2,575 | $2,450 | |
| Travel | $1,297 | $1,000 | $1,000 | 0 | 0 | |
| MA Municipal Association | $11,000 | $11,000 | $11,200 | $11,200 | $11,500 | |
| Total | $200,846 | $207,501 | $212,983 | $216,669 | $225,908 |
City Council
The budget proposal received preliminary approval in a 9-2 vote with Connell and Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi voting in opposition.
Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey queried Council President Peter Marchetti on the advertising marketing budget that increased by $1,000.
Marchetti explained that there was a $500 transfer out of education and training to advertising marketing, which is used to for legal notices, and that increase was made to ensure they have enough funds for future years.
At this time, Connell was having trouble with his audio over the Zoom platform. He made an illegible motion to reduce $500 from Advertising and Marketing which was only supported by Morandi and himself.
Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey queried Council President Peter Marchetti on the advertising marketing budget that increased by $1,000.
Marchetti explained that there was a $500 transfer out of education and training to advertising marketing, which is used to for legal notices, and that increase was made to ensure they have enough funds for future years.
At this time, Connell was having trouble with his audio over the Zoom platform. He made an illegible motion to reduce $500 from Advertising and Marketing which was only supported by Morandi and himself.
| Account Name | 2018 Approval | 2019 Approval | 2020 Approval | 2021 Approval | 2022 Approval | ||
| Councilors | $90,002 | $90,002 | $90,002 | $90,002 | $90,002 | ||
| Clerk of the City Council | $4,000 | $4,000 | $4,000 | $4,000 | $4,000 | ||
| Clerk of Committees | $8,640 | $8,640 | $8,640 | $8,640 | $8,640 | ||
| Education and Training | $0 | $0 | $2,420 | $2,420 | $2,420 | ||
| Advertising/Marketing | $1,250 | $1,250 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $2,000 | ||
| Total | $103,892 | $103,892 | $106,062 | $106,062 | $107,062 |
City Solicitor
The Solicitor's Office budget of $227,669 was preliminarily approved in a 7-4 vote with Connell, Morandi, Maffuccio, and Kavey voting in opposition.
Maffuccio and Morandi said they do not support the City Solicitor's budget because they believe Pittsfield should have a full-time city solicitor in-house instead of contracting out for legal services.
"I will not be supporting this budget because I do feel that we're not getting our best bang for our buck, we need a full-time city solicitor and we mean associate city solicitor that we had under the Bianchi administration," Morandi said.
"That office needs to be open five days a week with a solicitor there so both the residents and the counselors aren't getting shortchanged."
Connell also made failed a motion to reduce legal fees/court costs by $2,000.
"I will not be supporting this budget because I do feel that we're not getting our best bang for our buck, we need a full-time city solicitor and we mean associate city solicitor that we had under the Bianchi administration," Morandi said.
"That office needs to be open five days a week with a solicitor there so both the residents and the counselors aren't getting shortchanged."
Connell also made failed a motion to reduce legal fees/court costs by $2,000.
| Account Name | 2018 Approval | 2019 Approval | 2020 Approval | 2021 Approval | 2022 Approval | |
| City Solicitor | $1 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |
| Assistant City Solicitor | $1 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |
| Executive Legal Secretary | $39,011 | $43,207 | $45,246 | $46,873 | $50,169 | |
| Tax Title Litigation | $1,500 | $1,500 | $5,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 | |
| Supplies | $1,000 | $1,000 | $500 | $500 | $500 | |
| Law Library | $11,500 | $11,500 | $5,000 | $3,250 | $0 | |
| Legal Fees and Court Costs | $162,000 | $162,000 | $162,000 | $162,000 | $170,000 | |
| Legal Settlements | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |
| Equipment Maintenance | $2,800 | $2,800 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | |
| Total | $217,813 | $222,007 | $219,746 | $219,623 | $227,669 |
City Clerk
The City Clerk's budget of $363,082 was preliminarily approved with some discussion.
Councilor at Large Earl Persip III queried Clerk Michele Benjamin about the 40 percent deduction in education and training costs and the 300 percent increase in advertising and marketing costs.
Benjamin explained that they haven't been to conferences in the face of COVID-19.
"Unfortunately, the costs, publishing legal ads has skyrocketed because we no longer can use the Gazette on a consistent basis because he's only publishing once a month instead of weekly," Benjamin said in regards to the advertising costs. "And that's why I had the conversation with President Marchetti to increase the councilors' advertisement budget as well."
After some back and forth between Connell and Benjamin related to the election officer's line item, the budget was preliminarily approved in a 9-2 vote with Connell and Morandi opposing.
Benjamin explained that they haven't been to conferences in the face of COVID-19.
"Unfortunately, the costs, publishing legal ads has skyrocketed because we no longer can use the Gazette on a consistent basis because he's only publishing once a month instead of weekly," Benjamin said in regards to the advertising costs. "And that's why I had the conversation with President Marchetti to increase the councilors' advertisement budget as well."
After some back and forth between Connell and Benjamin related to the election officer's line item, the budget was preliminarily approved in a 9-2 vote with Connell and Morandi opposing.
| Account Name | 2018 Approval | 2019 Approval | 2020 Approval | 2021 Approval | 2022 Approval | ||
| City Clerk | $68,682 | $67,607 | $70,062 | $72,514 | $75,825 | ||
| Assistant City Clerk | $43,350 | $45,104 | $47,036 | $42,056 | $43,627 | ||
| Head Clerk | $36,634 | $37,183 | $37,834 | $38,969 | $39,706 | ||
| Assistant Clerk Registrar | $36,211 | $33,373 | $34,843 | $34,754 | $39,367 | ||
| Election Officers | $22,932 | $24,696 | $35,280 | $26,656 | $22,935 | ||
| Secretary Board | $31,120 | $32,381 | $33,775 | $32,229 | $33,741 | ||
| Senior Clerk Typist | $28,048 | $29,185 | $30,445 | $35,923 | $37,609 | ||
| Registrars Board | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
| Licensing Board | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
| Election Custodians | $2,700 | $2,754 | $4,435 | $3,000 | $2,800 | ||
| Equipment Maintenance | $6,300 | $6,300 | $3,300 | $6,471 | $7,173 | ||
| Election Programming | $4,936 | $4,936 | $9,000 | $6,000 | $9,000 | ||
| Election Rentals | $705 | $705 | $1,050 | $700 | $700 | ||
| Education and Training | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $600 | ||
| Advertising and Marketing | $500 | $500 | $500 | $500 | $2,000 | ||
| City Code Updates | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $8,000 | ||
| Records Preservation | $2,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | ||
| Supplies | $16,404 | $16,404 | $23,000 | $16,500 | $23,000 | ||
| Census | $15,000 | $15,000 | $16,000 | $15,000 | $15,000 | ||
| Total | $326,522 | $329,128 | $359,560 | $344,272 | $363,082 |
Council on Aging
The $341,200 Council on Aging budget was approved with little discussion. The amount is $38,835 more than last year.
Persip questioned the zeroed-out Part-Time Activities Leader line item, to which Council on Aging Director Jim Clark explained that the individuals retired and were being replaced with a full-time position.
"We had actually two part-time people in that position," Clark said. "And we reduced one of those positions last year because the two had retired and because of COVID, we didn't necessarily need them. We're taking that position and actually making it a full-time position and reducing the kitchen coordinator to a part-time position."
"We had actually two part-time people in that position," Clark said. "And we reduced one of those positions last year because the two had retired and because of COVID, we didn't necessarily need them. We're taking that position and actually making it a full-time position and reducing the kitchen coordinator to a part-time position."
| Account Name | 2018 Approval | 2019 Approval | 2020 Approval | 2021 Approval | 2022 Approval | ||
| Director | $52,910 | $54,508 | $59,728 | $61,221 | $64,240 | ||
| Senior Clerk Typist | $31,180 | $32,709 | $33,282 | $34,251 | $34,898 | ||
| Administrative Assistant Supervisor |
$28,084 |
$34,895 | |||||
| SDC Assistant | $23,558 | $25,233 | $25,675 | ||||
| Soc Serv Tech/Custodian | $32,000 | $32,867 | $33,443 | $29,267 | $30,640 | ||
| Soc Serv Tech/Custodian (PT) | $25,377 | $25,967 | $26,422 | $28,240 | $34,546 | ||
| Program Assistant | $32,125 | $33,490 | $34,076 | $35,055 | $39,463 | ||
| Activities Leaders (PT) | $21,545 | $22,017 | $22,403 | ||||
| Activities Leader | $11,202 | $33,218 | |||||
| Kitchen Coordinator | $22,490 | $23,449 | $23,860 | $23,860 | $15,600 | ||
| Temp. Labor | $3,382 | $3,484 | $3,485 | $3,485 | $5,000 | ||
| Equipment Maintenance | $6,435 | $6,000 | $6,300 | $6,300 | $6,300 | ||
| Building Maintenance | $13,500 | $13,400 | $14,000 | $14,000 | $15,000 | ||
| Printing | $1,300 | $888 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | ||
| Supplies | $2,500 | $2,500 | $2,500 | $2,500 | $2,500 | ||
| Program Expense | $24,350 | $23,900 | $23,900 | $23,900 | $23,900 | ||
| Total | $292,652 | $300,414 | $310,074 | $302,365 | $341,200 |
Veterans Services
The Veteran's Services budget was approved without discussion. The $1,007,804 budget is $2,154 more than last year due to the increase in the Veterans' Agent and Administrative Assistant line items.
| Account Name | 2018 Approval | 2019 Approval | 2020 Approval | 2021 Approval | 2022 Approval | ||
| Veterans' Agent | $48,100 | $52,061 | $51,101 | $53,657 | $55,312 | ||
| Administrative Assistant | $29,478 | $27,112 | $28,123 | $33,243 | $33,742 | ||
| Temporary Labor | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
| Equipment Maintenance | $975 | $0 | $842 | $1,400 | $1,400 | ||
| Rental Expense | $0 | $5,900 | $5,000 | $6,500 | $6,500 | ||
| Education and Training | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
| Flags | $0 | $1,500 | $0 | $8,600 | $8,600 | ||
| Supplies | $3,000 | $2,000 | $2,59 | $2,000 | $2,000 | ||
| Program Expense | $1,000,000 | $962,250 | $790,772 | $900,000 | $900,000 | ||
| Award and Declarations | $300 | $250 | $0 | $250 | $250 | ||
| Total | $1,081,853 | $1051073 | $876,097 | $1,005,650 | $1,007,804 |
Tags: fiscal 2022, pittsfield_budget,
