Mayor Tells North Adams Council to Expect 'Decent' Budget Reserves
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council on Tuesday approved the transfer of $241,699 from the fiscal 2021 free cash account to stabilization and a half-million in transfers to close out fiscal 2022.
"We ended up in a good place, more to be reported on that as the numbers come rolling in," said Mayor Jennifer Macksey.
She expected "some decent reserves" when the fiscal 2022 free cash is certified.
The mayor said the stabilization account had $574,000 in it, bringing the total amount now to about $815,699. This zeroed out the free cash account; if it had not been transferred, the funds would have rolled into the free cash calculations for fiscal 2022. Free cash is any excess funds at the end of the fiscal year.
"Overall, our fiscal year '22 budget has gone very well, the budgetary piece as well as local receipts," Macksey told the council. "We're still working on closing out both the budget and local receipts but we can confidently say that we've exceeded our total projected local receipts on revenues and that we have within, certainly, our budget."
To close out accounts for fiscal 2022, the mayor was asking for $498,937.33 to be transferred out of the Public Services, Unclassified and reserve lines to cover shortfalls in a range of other accounts. These funds are available largely because of overfunding of the Veterans Services line (done because it is difficult to determine how much may be needed) and a health insurance premium holiday.
Macksey went over the reasons for the shortfalls: legal fees for a number of bidding documents, advertising and land sales; fines for failing to fix the public safety building; payouts for vacation and other benefits for the former administrative officer; higher volume of waste disposal; snow and ice; building maintenance and repairs; overtime and materials in several departments; and the unexpected costs for transportation for a student to attend Smith Vocational High School in Northampton.
The mayor said some of these lines were not fully funded in last year's budget but are in the coming year; others, such as legal fees related to land sales, were one-time costs that won't be repeated this year.
Councilor Marie T. Harpin asked about the transfer station costs and why the council hasn't seen the calculations for this year's prices.
"We're struggling with what the correct number should be and if we make improvements today at some of our operations, how does that impact us with the number what we're seeing on the revenue side and the tonnage side as usage obviously has gone up," said the mayor.
Overall, she anticipated the closeout to go smoothly and free cash to be certified by the state.
"We are working the numbers for the fiscal 2022 budget, but it's too early," Macksey said. "Once we get our free cash certified, that number will be presented. But we're pretty confident we're going to have some decent reserves."
In other business:
• The council confirmed the appointment of William Diamond to the Airport Commission, term expiring Feb. 1, 2025; Shannon Santelli to the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access Committee, term expiring Feb. 8, 2023; and Amanda Hartlage and Suzen Larson King, both to the Public Arts Commission, with terms expiring May 1, 2027.
• An ordinance on short-term rentals was again postponed. Wilkinson, who has been working on the issue with the administration after the first proposal was voted down, said it has been very frustrating because of the building code.
He said they have looked at what other communities have done and they "appear to be burying their heads in the sand" and opening themselves to liability.
"What we bring to you is going to be it because we've beaten our heads over this," he said.
• The mayor reported that the city received a small grant for traffic calming equipment to address safety issues around Eagle, Main and Church streets such as cones and portable speed detectors. The city also received a $500,000 grant for design work and study of the Notch and Mount Williams Reservoirs and dam.
Tags: fiscal 2022,
