Pittsfield Council Preliminarily OKs Last of FY25 Budgets

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council preliminarily approved the last five departmental budgets with unanimous votes last Thursday.

The final vote on the $215,955,210 spending plan — which includes a $200,000 cut to the schools — will be taken on June 11.  

The FY25 budget is a 5 percent increase from the previous year. Though a January petition asking for a close-to-level-funded budget was initially a stressor for Mayor Peter Marchetti in his first month of office, he said it was a good thing.

"The Jan. 9th petition to create chaos in my world about developing a budget was actually a good thing," he said. "Because I got to go about doing the budget, trying to make cuts, and I got to say, 'If you don't like it, blame the City Council. That's their directive.'"

The Pittsfield Police Department's nearly $15 million budget generated the most conversation, including an unsuccessful attempt to reduce the Shotspotter and body camera line by $250,000. Other departments were supported with little or no discussion.

Councilors also preliminarily passed several orders from Marchetti:

• To appropriate $2.5 million from free cash to reduce the FY25 tax rate
• To borrow an aggregate sum not exceeding $10,192,500 for FY25 general fund capital expenditures
• To borrow an aggregate sum not exceeding $7,700,000 for FY25 enterprise fund capital expenditures
• To appropriate and transfer $234,000 from the public works stabilization fund to the Department of Public Services for new equipment
• To authorize the use and expenditure of the city's current reviving funds for FY25
• To appropriate $249,600 for parking-related expenditures for FY25

Budget deliberations DAY 1
Budget deliberations DAY 2
Budget deliberations DAY 3

Police

The Pittsfield Police Department budget of $14,998,410 is a $633,737, or 4.41 percent, increase from the previous year.  It was preliminarily approved after surviving one proposal for a reduction.  

Councilor at Large Earl Persip III felt it was a solid budget and one of the better ones that the police have produced. He pointed out that the department made cuts in areas that were not fully spent in the past, adding, "I thank you for doing your due diligence with your budget."

"Your budget gets criticized a lot and I've criticized it in the past and I will gladly criticize it again if I think it needs it but I'm not going to do it just to do it," he said.

Department of Public Services

The Department of Public Services Budget of $11,382,122 is a $286,559, or 2.58 percent, increase from the previous year. It was preliminarily approved with no discussion.
 

DPU Water Treatment

The water treatment budget of $6,544,196 is a $344,458, or 5.56 percent, increase from the previous year. It was preliminarily approved with no discussion.

DPU Waste Water

The waste water budget of $10,977,109 is a $16,583, or 0.15 percent, decrease from the previous year.  It was preliminarily approved with little discussion.

Sewer Enterprise

The sewer enterprise budget of $1,008,169 is a $6,013, or 0.60 percent, increase from the previous year.  It was preliminarily approved with no discussion.

Pittsfield City Council Weighs in on 'Crisis' in Public Schools

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
08:59PM / Monday, December 23, 2024

A half-dozen people addressed the City Council from the floor of Monday's meeting, including Valerie Anderson, right.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — After expressing anger and outrage and making numerous calls for accountability and transparency, the 11 members of the City Council on Monday voted to support the School Committee in seeking an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct by staff members at Pittsfield High School that have come to light in recent weeks.

 

At the close of a month that has seen three PHS administrators put on administrative leave, including one who was arrested on drug trafficking charges, the revelation that the district is facing a civil lawsuit over inappropriate conduct by a former teacher and that a staff member who left earlier in the year is also under investigation at his current workplace, the majority of the council felt compelled to speak up about the situation.

 

"While the City Council does not have jurisdiction over the schools … we have a duty to raise our voices and amplify your concerns and ensure this crisis is met with the urgency it demands," Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey said.

 

About two dozen community members attended the special meeting of the council, which had a single agenda item.

 

Four of the councilors precipitated the meeting with a motion that the council join the School Committee in its search for an investigation and that the council, "be included in the delivery of any disclosures, interim reports or findings submitted to the city."

 

Last week, the School Committee decided to launch that investigation. On Monday, City Council President Peter White said the School Committee has a meeting scheduled for Dec. 30 to authorize its chair to enter negotiations with the Springfield law firm of Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas to conduct that probe.

 

Ward 7 Councilor Rhonda Serre, the principal author of the motion of support, was one of several members who noted that the investigation process will take time, and she, like Kavey, acknowledged that the council has no power over the public schools beyond its approval of the annual district budget.