Pittsfield City Council Approves $179M Budget for FY22

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council approved both the operating and capital budget on Tuesday in a swift meeting that adjourned at 7 p.m.

The operating budget of $179,205,963.00 was approved in a 7-3 vote with Ward 1 Councilor Helen Moon, Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi, and Ward 4 Councilor Chris Connell voting in opposition.

The budget was amended from the originally proposed $179,410,963 with $205,000 deducted from the Police Department budget: $15,000 from the contractual allowances and $190,000 from the patrol officers' allotment.

Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Maffuccio approved the budget with a disclaimer to his colleagues.

"I was not going to support this budget at the Committee of the Whole level but I am supporting this budget because I do believe the city administrative side, even though they were generous with their pay raises, did add quite a few positions that helped the city out and that the mayor does a good job and orchestrating and putting together a good budget for the city side," he said.

"I do not support the School Committee budget, I don't believe they did the teachers justice, they have failed the teachers year after year with pay raises, they continue to fail our teachers year after year."

Maffuccio added that he believes the Pittsfield Public School district has not addressed retention problems and that out-of-district transfers are "way too high."  

He also said a district of this size should not have underperforming schools.

The council also approved a number of orders within the school budget.  

Below are the budget sessions for fiscal 2022 in order of when they occurred, with the latest listed last.

• The first day of budget review on Monday, May 17, covered the Mayor’s Office, City Council, City Solicitor, City Clerk, Council on Aging, Veterans’ Services, and Cultural Development.
   
• The second day of budget review on Wednesday, May 19, covered RSVP, Information Technology, Berkshire Athenaeum, Maintenance: City, Maintenance: School, Airport, Human Resources, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Community Development, Community Preservation, the Health Department, and Building Inspectors.
   
• The third day of budget review on Monday, May 24, covered the Pittsfield Public School budget.
   
• The fourth day of budget review on Tuesday, June 1, covered the Fire Department, Emergency Management, and the Police Department.
   
• The fifth day of budget review on Wednesday, June 2, covered Public Services, Worker’s Compensation, Finance and Administration, and Unclassified.

Pittsfield Council Says 'Yes' to Soccer at Crane Park

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
06:35AM / Saturday, June 13, 2026

The pitch will have the logos of the city and the US. and Massachusetts soccer associations. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is gladly accepting a "mini-pitch" from the U.S. Soccer Foundation to bring games back to Crane Park. 

Fueling excitement around the World Cup, U.S. Soccer has been working with the Massachusetts Youth Soccer League to make these facilities available to 20 communities — one of which will be at the park at the intersection of Benedict Road and Springside Avenue. 

The City Council accepted the gift on Tuesday during its regular meeting. 

A mini pitch is a compact, modular field typically used for soccer, and it can also accommodate inline skates. It has a galvanized steel border with built-in goals and a rubber plastic surface that is clicked together; installed on the existing inline hockey court. 

Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham said he has gone door to door speaking with nearby residents, and they are "really excited" about the upgrade. He also sees it as a great addition. 

"They say that nobody really uses the court a ton now, and they are excited to see kids back on there playing," he said. 

Decades ago, the Crane Park facility was a wading pool. It closed in 1980, and before the turn of the century, it was filled in and marked for hockey. 

Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath explained that the wooden border around the rink is showing its age, has been vandalized and tagged, and the facility is seeing a "real decline" in use. 

"This would seem to be an appropriate spot for us to remove the board system that's in place and install the mini pitch system through this grant," he said.