Tyer Proposes $189M Pittsfield Budget, Up $10M

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:38AM / Thursday, May 12, 2022Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The mayor is proposing a nearly $189 million budget for fiscal 2023 that is about $10 million higher than the this year's $179 million budget.

Mayor Linda Tyer's request to raise and appropriate $188,589,144 for the FY23 operating budget was referred to the Committee of the Whole on Tuesday.

Departmental deliberations will begin next week on Tuesday, May 17, with a public hearing on the budget and five-year Capital Improvement Plan, which was made available to the public on Tuesday.

The budget proposal includes $242,784 for the mayor's office, $109,262 for the City Council, $9,138,800 for the Fire Department, $11,927,437 for the Police Department, and $56,686,954 for unclassified spending.

The proposed school department budget is $72,398,262, which is a 7.56 percent, or $5,086,562, increase from this year. Most of the increase is in contractual obligations, which increased by about $4.7 million.

Within the school budget is $1,895,347 for administration, $55,822,847 for instructional, $4,526,341 for other school services, $6,372,746 for operations and maintenance, $472,358 for fixed costs, $68,074 for adult learning, $234,047 for acquisition of fixed assets, and $3,626,502 for tuition payments.

With $570,000 in school choice revenues and $50,000 in Richmond tuition revenues, the total budget amounts to $73,018,262.

Three orders related to the Community Preservation Fund were also referred to the Committee of the Whole: to Amend Order 45 of the 2021 Series, appropriating $974,480.93 for the FY22 Community Preservation Fund budget; to appropriate $670,317.00 from the FY22 Community Preservation Fund budget; and to appropriate $818,435.44 for the FY23 Community Preservation Fund budget.

Last summer, the council adopted an overall budget of $743,451.75 for the fiscal 2022 administration of the CPA. Eleven of the 13 applications received were deemed eligible and funded for a total request of $716,782, with a further reduction after two projects were further refined the costs of their projects.

Tags: fiscal 2023, pittsfield_budget,

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Pittsfield Proposes 2.64 Tax Rate Hike

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
04:34PM / Tuesday, November 10, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The proposed tax rate for fiscal year 2027 is less than 40 cents per $1,000 valuation for residential properties and would increase the average property tax bill by about $146 per year.

On Tuesday's City Council meeting agenda is a request from the mayor and Board of Assessors to use a residential factor of .8245 at a shift of 1.75, resulting in a residential tax rate of $17.88 and a commercial, industrial, and personal property tax rate of $37.95.

These matters are typically referred to the Committee of the Whole for deliberation. The proposed rates for residential and commercial are 38 cents and $1.05 more, respectively, from FY26.

The average residential home, valued at $316,792 in FY27, has increased by about $1,500 from the previous fiscal year, and would pay $5,664.24 in yearly taxes.

This is a 2.64 percent, or $145.88, increase.

The average commercial property worth $239,600 saw a $100 increase in value from the previous fiscal year, and would pay $9,092.82 in yearly taxes. This is a $255.27, or 2.89 percent, increase from the previous fiscal year.

The FY27 tax levy of $124,468,317 is a $5.3 million increase from the previous year, or 4.45 percent. There is about $388,000 in excess levy capacity, $2.3 million in new growth, and the levy limit is $124,856,412.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, 11 single-family homes were added to Pittsfield's housing stock this fiscal year, increasing the city's total assessed value by $19,987,600 to $3,592,737,600.

The city lost five two-family homes in 2027, and that housing type decreased by $3.2 million in assessed value, now worth $384,620,400.

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