Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity Free tax Assistance

08:00AM / Wednesday, February 07, 2024Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity (CBHFH) once again will provide free income tax prep to households earning $64K or less, persons with disabilities, and the elderly through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

All VITA volunteers receive extensive training and are IRS-certified.

"Most of our volunteers return year after year to help with this essential program for our underserved

communities in Berkshire County," said Carolyn Valli, CBHFH CEO. "Over 85 percent of our clients are return clients that have come to us for the past 3 to 8 years. And most of that remaining 15% was from new clients we were able to serve in South County."

Last tax season, CBHFH reported that their 17 VITA volunteers processed 831 returns, totaling $963,832 in federal and state tax refunds to local households.

"We've only been open a week this season, and it has been very busy already," said Lynne Newton, CBHFH Community Navigator and current VITA program coordinator. "But thanks to our wonderful volunteers, we are prepared and ready to help in any way our clients need."

Another plus is that, thanks to Habitat’s bilingual Community Navigators, CBHFH can offer Spanish and French translators to help explain the sometimes complicated forms and IRS requirements.

Habitat's office at 314 Columbus Avenue in Pittsfield has multilingual IRS forms, a copier, and a drop-off box with hours running Mondays through Thursdays from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm, Friday mornings from 8:30 am to noon, and Saturdays from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.

For South County, Habitat will offer service at the Mason Library at 231 Main St in Great Barrington, and VITA hours run from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, beginning on February 6. For more information or to make an appointment at either location, residents can call 413.442.3184. VITA Volunteers are standing by to assist.

Tags: habitat for humanity,

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Pittsfield School Committee Sees Budget Calendar, Chapter 70 Concerns

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:28AM / Monday, January 19, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Public Schools kicked off its fiscal year 2027 budget calendar, and are again facing uncertainties with state Chapter 70 funding.

During the first meeting of the new term on Wednesday, the School Committee OK'd an FY27 budget calendar that plans the committee's vote in mid-April. Interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips stressed the importance of equity in this process.

"It's really important for us through these next couple of months to look at our different schools, our different needs, different student demographics, and really understand, are we just assigning resources equally, or are we really assigning them based on what different groups of students need?" she said.

The district could lose up to $5 million in Chapter 70 funding from declining enrollment, specifically of low-income students. This is a similar issue that PPS saw in 2024, when the discovery of 11 students meeting those income guidelines put the district in the higher funding category and added $2.4 million to the school budget.

"We are in a funding category, Group 11, for a district with a large percentage of low-income students, and that number could fluctuate depending on who exited the district," Phillips explained.

"So we're going to do our best to understand that, but ultimately, these numbers will impact the budget that is proposed to us by the governor."

According to the budget calendar, a draft budget will be presented in March, followed by a hearing in early April, and the School Committee is set to vote on the budget in mid-April. The City Charter requires it to be adopted before May 1, and a meeting with the City Council must occur no later than May 31.

Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Bonnie Howland provided an overview of the Chapter 70 funding and budget process. The budget calendar, she said, is designed to really support transparency, coordination, and legal compliance.

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