NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council on Tuesday approved the use of nearly $2 million in free cash to reserves and to clean up some accounts in deficit.

 

"Overall, we close the year in the black, which you want to do, with some money on hand and we were able to clean up some of our our books," said Mayor Jennifer Macksey, describing "accounting deficiencies" in the past. 

 

The city's fiscal 2022 free cash was certified at $1,953,766. Of that, $984,145 was transferred into the stabilization account.

 

Transfers into accounts were $200,000 to cover an airport grant, $255,000 into the skating rink account, $380,240 into the 911 grant, $89,881 to the sale of cemetery lots account, and $44,500 to the Municipal Tech Fund.

 

"One of the things we looked at when we got into office, when I got into office, was where we were with our revenue, and what areas we needed to improve," the mayor said. "How we could kind of pull in our spending so that when we got free cash certified, we could clean up some of the deficit accounts that were left."

 

The $200,000 for the airport is to offset a donation that had been pledged for the airport building but not received. Macksey said she was hopeful it would come through but in the meantime, it was a deficit that had to be filled. 

 

The skating rink has been running at a deficit, but she said a focus on setting fees and "really selling all the ice we can" looks like it could be in the black this year. The transfer into the account will allow a fresh slate to work with, she said. 

 

The 911 grant has been used for dispatch for years but last year, in Macksey's first budget, dispatch salaries were back as a line item. 

 

"So traditionally over the years, we have deficits in the grant ... we get X number of dollars for the grant but our salaries are higher than the grant so that should come out of somewhere in the budget," said Macksey. "That wasn't done before fiscal year '23 and it's a significant numbers. So that's many, many years of deficit spending grant."

 

She said these have been areas of concern because they come off the free cash.

 

"So in a year that we performed well, I felt it was appropriate to clean up our our deficits and move forward," the mayor said. "So we're going to start with a fresh slate."

 

The $89,881 going into the sale of cemetery lots was to replenish funding taken out for other expenses. Councilor Marie T. Harpin had asked if there was an opportunity to do so, said Macksey, and she felt it could be accomplished this year.

 

The Municipal Tech Fund had been used last year to hire a second information technology person with the support from the council. The $44,500 transfer will replenish that withdrawal. 

 

"So we've performed very well in fiscal year '23 but I have to say, in my basketball analogy, was truly a full court press to really start pushing on collections, to really start pushing on revenue and and trying to manage our expenses," she said. 

 

The mayor anticipated presenting the council with a draft budget on May 23, to be followed tentatively with Finance Committee reviews on May 30 and on June 6, 7, 8, and 13.

 

In other business:

 

• The council confirmed the appointment of Ferris Miksic to the Youth Commission, with a term to expire May 9, 2026; Dan Weissbrodt to the Public Arts Commission for a term to expire May 1, 2028; Nina Keneally to the Public Arts Commission to fill the unexpired term of Suzen Larsen-King to expire May 1, 2027, and the reappointment of Jesse Lee Egan Poirer to the Redevelopment Authority for a term to expire June 1, 2028.

 

• The council approved a license to drive a taxicab for RJ's Taxi to William H. Wheeler Jr. and a secondhand dealer license to Keith Bona for Berkshire Emporium & Antiques (Bona abstained).

 

• The council approved a $2,000 appropriation from the Tinker Fund for the Hill Side Restoration Group. It will be used for cleaning supplies and maintenance of equipment for the restoration and repair of grave stones in the historic Hill Side Cemetery.