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.

Berkshire Concrete Appeals Fines; Residents Demand More Aggressive Actions

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
01:17PM / Monday, April 13, 2026

DALTON, Mass. — The snow has melted and the air is warming — a time when residents open their windows and step outside to enjoy the sun. But for those living near Berkshire Concrete's unauthorized dig site, they say the warmer weather means something else: more sand.

 

Less than a month into spring, the town received its first dust complaint after an overnight storm on March 31 blew sand and fine dust onto Raymond Drive, sending air monitoring data off the charts.

 

"The piles and vast open areas are once again exposed after the snow melt, and it is definitely blowing right into our neighborhoods," said Clean Air Coalition member Lisa Pugh. 

 

"We now have concrete data to prove this. The delays are continuing and the neighborhood continues to be negatively affected.

 

During the storm, the air monitors, placed around town showed particulate matter numbers recorded at over 5,000 units, and at times reaching 10,000. 

 

"These high readings continued for hours," she said. 

 

Levels above 155 are considered unhealthy and according to the Environmental Protection Agency these numbers are considered an immediate public health emergency, Pugh said.