PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayor Peter Marchetti detailed the city's $243 million spending plan during the first budget hearing of the season on Tuesday. 

The proposed operating budget for Pittsfield in fiscal year 2027 is $232,782,090, a 2.9 percent increase from this year. Marchetti compared that to hikes in fixed costs: a 9 percent increase in health insurance, a 7 percent increase in debt service, and more than a 5 percent increase in retirement contributions. 

"We needed to make reductions in other places," he explained. 

The total proposed budget is $243,234,868. It breaks down into $145,927,029 for the municipal operating budget, $86,855,061 for the schools, and $10,452,778 for proposed state assessments and overlay. 

To balance the budget, the administration will not fill several vacant positions, is funding police social workers and co-responders through opioid settlement funds, and reduces the library's Thursday hours. 

"Probably one of our most painful cuts that we have produced: The overall [Department of Public Services] budget has been reduced by $738,000 from fiscal year 26 to 27, with a reduction of five positions that are currently vacant, have been vacant for some time, and we believe the reason that those positions are vacant is based on our salaries," Marchetti explained. 

"So once we are able to successfully negotiate a contract with the teamsters, we will be back looking to be able to fund these positions from a later appropriation. It is not our intent to let them go vacant all year, but it's impossible to budget when we know we can't fill them, and we don't know what salary at this current stage to use." 

The budget includes $2 million in free cash to offset the tax rate, $19,791,219 from water & sewer enterprise funds, $81,959,322 from state aid ($68,855,061 in Chapter 70 School Aid), and $15,388,750 in local receipts.