PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council last week preliminarily approved 11 department budgets in under 90 minutes on the first day of fiscal year 2025 hearings.

Mayor Peter Marchetti has proposed a $216,155,210 operating budget, a 5 percent increase from the previous year.  After the council supported a petition for a level-funded budget earlier this year, the mayor asked each department to come up with a level-funded and a level-service-funded spending plan.

"The budget you have in front of you this evening is a responsible budget that provides a balance between a level service and a level-funded budget that kept increases to a minimum while keeping services that met the community's expectations," he said.

Marchetti outlined four major budget drivers: More than $3 million in contractual salaries for city and school workers; a $1.5 million increase in health insurance to $30.5 million; a more than  $887,000 increase in retirement to nearly $17.4 million; and almost $1.1 million in debt service increases.

"These increases total over $6 million," he said. "To cover these obligations, the city and School Committee had to make reductions to be within limits of what we can raise through taxes."

The city expects to earn about $115 million in property taxes in FY25 and raise the remaining amount through state aid and local receipts. The budget proposal also includes a $2.5 million appropriation from free cash to offset the tax rate and an $18.5 million appropriation from the water and sewer enterprise had been applied to the revenue stream.

"Our government is not immune to rising costs to impact each of us every day," Marchetti said. "Many of our neighbors in surrounding communities are also facing increases in their budgets due to the same factors."

He pointed to other Berkshire communities' budgets, including a 3.5 percent increase in Adams and a 12 percent increase in Great Barrington. Pittsfield rests in the middle at a 5.4 percent increase.

"I want to make it clear that I think some people misunderstood us when we passed our original petition to ask the mayor to come to as close to level funding as possible taking in all considerations," Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren said.

"We were very successful in what we were doing. We were asking the mayor to focus very closely and I think he did."

He said the council was "spoiled" this year, as the mayor has had several channels of communication with the council, the public, and the media leading up to the budget proposal.

"So I think we're going to have more public involvement and communication on this budget."

Mayor's Office

The Mayor's Office budget of $261,816 was preliminarily approved with little discussion.  It is a $6,019, or 2.35 percent, increase from the previous year.

In his first year in office, Marchetti has proposed three percent raises for himself and the director of administrative services.

City Council

The City Council budget of $109,262 was preliminary approved with some discussion.  It is the same as last year's budget.

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso unsuccessfully motioned to reduce the education and training line by $1,620, which partly funds attendance at the Massachusetts Municipal Association conference.

"I feel like all the departments, not all but many of the departments, seem to make a sacrifice and I think the City Council needs to make a sacrifice," she said.

Amuso was the lone vote in support of the amendment.

Councilor at Large Earl Persip III feels that the small fee to educate councilors and take advantage of networking once a year is "kind of important."

"I don't want to limit someone's options to be able to participate in this because some people may be able to afford to go on their own, some people may not," he said.

"I don't want to limit people who run and do things for City Council because they can't afford to come be part of the conversation so I won't support that."

Warren agreed, saying the conferences have been beneficial, adding that the council has done more in six months than he has seen the body do in years.

"I think the investment is well worth it," he said.

Veterans

The Veterans Services budget of $826,869 was preliminarily approved with little discussion. It is a $45,823, or 5.25 percent, decrease from the previous year largely due to a $50,000 savings in the program expense.

City Clerk

The City Clerk's budget of $436,540 was preliminarily approved with little discussion. It is a $28,315, or 6.94 percent, increase from the previous year.

City Clerk Michele Benjamin said some of the line items have gone down because there were three elections to budget for last year and only two this year. There is a proposed significant increase in election workers' pay.

"With early voting in 2020, we had 12,000 people early vote and we only had 10,000 go to the polls so we basically had two elections," Benjamin said.

The council at its meeting last week approved her petition to bump election workers' pay by $5 per hour. This is not included in the proposal.

Council on Aging

The Council on Aging budget of $411,103 was preliminarily approved without discussion. It is a $19,061, or 4.86 percent increase from the previous year due to contractual obligations.

Human Resources

The Human Resources budget of $273,374 was preliminarily approved with little discussion. It is a $15,163, 5.87 percent, increase from the previous year.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The DEI budget of $186,502 was preliminarily approved with little discussion. It is a $4,648, or 2.56 percent increase from the previous year.

Amuso queried Chief Diversity Officer Michael Obasohan about the $3,000 increase for professional development.

"Now there are more conferences that focus on equity and inclusion and justice that we can attend," he said. "There are a lot more of our employees that would like to attend these conferences."

The councilor also asked if there was any way that the office could work on the school side, as Obasohan is limited to some meetings within the district about equity and discrimination.

"Is there collaboration on the budget that we could have? That's what I'm looking at," she said.

Marchetti said "anything is possible" but it comes down to "what is the role?"

"I know that in my short term in office, [Obasohan] has assisted me with a school-based issue and that's me, I know there are others," he explained.

"But I think if we're going to look for one person to provide diversity equity, and inclusion for all the employees of the city, all the employees of the school department, and 5,200 children, I'm not sure that that's feasible with one person."

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said there are many people that the department serves, adding "I appreciate the scope of the work that you're doing."

Airport

The Pittsfield Municipal Airport budget of $338,352 was preliminarily approved with some discussion.  It is a $27,137, or 8.72 percent, increase from the previous year.

Persip queried Airport Manager Daniel Shearer on the $12,000 increase in utilities, which is related an increase in the supply rate, and Amuso had questions about the department's city vehicles.

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