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Pittsfield Approves $151M Budget; $11.8M Capital Plan
By Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff
10:00PM / Tuesday, June 28, 2016
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The City Council approved the spending plan at its regular meeting on Tuesday.


The budget places emphasis on public safety, blight, and education to reflect the priorities of Mayor Linda Tyer's administration.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council adopted the $151.3 million fiscal 2017 budget  that was debated for more than 22 hours over the last two weeks.
 
The final approval came on Tuesday night via a 7-4 vote. The total budget is $151,302,164, which is $8,213 more than Mayor Linda Tyer had requested.
 
The budget reflects a number of priorities Tyer has placed in the coming year including blight, education and public safety. 
 
"This is not a budget that has all kinds of bells and whistles. But it is one that addresses particular needs that the residents have asked for," Council Vice President John Krol said.
 
Most standout is a nearly $1 million increase in the Police Department budget to raise staffing levels, bring the overtime number closer to a realistic number, and support additional uniforms and equipment for the officers. 
 
"If we are going to add new personnel, we also have to pay for the uniforms that are required and the ammunition and all the things that support them," Tyer said.
 
The budget is $6,083,336 more than last year, reflecting a 4.2 percent increase. If the city opts to take on a single tax rate, which has not been typically done in recent years, the rate is expected to increase by 5.7 percent and would be set at $24.48 per $1,000 of assessed value.
 
However, the city typically opts to use a split tax rate that places more of the tax burden on the businesses with higher rates for commercial than residential. That discussion will take place in the fall when the City Council sets the tax rate to pay for the $81,354,146 that needs to be raised from taxes to support the budget. The actual rate will depend slightly on property values, which have been estimated to remain flat.
 
That total budget number had changed from the council of the whole approval, which had added a total of $4,713 to the budget over the course of five sessions. In crafting the final figure, the latest number reflected $3,500 more than that.
 
Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said following the meetings City Council President Peter Marchetti and he found a disparity in numbers used on the final day of hearings and it turns out the council's pages shorted the School Department by $3,000 and the mayor $500 but both had been approved earlier in the process. The council had approved the correct budget amounts but the total wasn't reflected in the bottom line.
 
The council also approved an $11,898,000 capital plan. 
 
Despite 22 hours of discussion, councilors who found themselves on the losing end of many votes expressed disappointment in the plan and voted against it.
 
"I have voted to approve the last four. But, the reason why I cannot approve this this year is basically because of the situation we are going to be finding ourselves in last year. I really have a philosophical difference in how we handle this crisis," Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell said.
 
Connell motioned to make more than $400,000 in cuts to the budget to no avail. He was constantly outvoted on those motions. The city is facing an issue in tax capacity in the coming year with the ability to raise the amount coming from the levy by $2.4 million or so. Connell says a $6 million increase will make next year an "absolute bloodbath" when it comes to making cuts to the budget.
 
In voting against the budget, Connell was joined by Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi, Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli, and Councilor At Large Melissa Mazzeo. While Mazzeo says voters sent a message that they supported Tyer's priorities, she doesn't believe voters support such a budget increase. 
 
"I don't feel like the mayor is elected on the fact that she'd raise the taxes 4.2 percent," Mazzeo said.
 
She, too, voiced concerns about the next budget and the levy ceiling situation. Kerwood, however, says the work on the 2018 budget begins now as he both manages the FY17 budget and work with the state's Community Compact program to analyze and address the levy situation.
 
"I think it is a solid budget. I think it recognizes not only the spending requirements we have but I also think it looks to the future with what we are anticipating and how we are going to deal with the levy ceiling," Kerwood said. "We are in this together, councilors, and I hope we can continue the dialogue moving forward."
 
Krol echoed the sentiment, saying the budget makes long-term priorities and invests in a way to help grow the tax base in the future. Krol took exception to the suggestion that since the council hadn't reduced the budget during the series of hearings, it had failed.
 
"We took 22 hours over five sessions looking over every line item in this budget and scrutinized them," Krol said.
 
Despite having a problem with the airport spending in the capital plan — which after reimbursement ends up being just $130,000 in the $11.8 million — Connell voted in favor of the budget, supporting the rest of the projects on the plan. The council needs a supermajority vote for the capital budget to pass, which it failed to get two years ago creating a political standoff and ultimately a year without a capital plan. 
 
"I will not put this city though what some councilors did two years ago and stopped everything," Connell said.
 
Connell's vote wouldn't have been enough to sink the entire capital plan as only two councilors voted against it. Morandi and Simonelli both opposed the plan. Morandi voted against the plan that fell short two years ago and he said he wasn't sorry because the capital items were still brought before the council on an individual basis.
 
"It is still city money that is coming out, taxpayer money, that is going to be used to support this," Morandi said.
 
In additional to voicing problems with the airport, Connell also called for an inventory of vehicles. He had failed in taking $50,000 out of the sewer enterprise account, which is going to buy a new vehicle. During that conversation, department officials said one pickup truck has outlived its life, which more than 10 years old and has between 75,000 and 100,000 of miles. Mechanics have said it is no longer worth spending money to fix, they said, and instead will purchase a new pickup.
 
"There doesn't seem to be much control. There is more vehicles than workers," Connell said.
 
He is calling for a report on the city's vehicles.
 
The spending plan also includes the use of $2 million of free cash to offset the tax rate; lobbying the state to release $1.6 million in restricted reserves dating back to when the city had a Financial Oversight Board review its operations; and includes a $100,000 toward the other post-employment benefits trust fund.
 
Below is a review of the entire budget process.

 


Mayor Linda Tyer said by making long-term investments now, the city can trigger increased property values.

Day 1

POSTED: June 14, 2016 at 10:42 a.m.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council spent 5 1/2 hours picking apart the mayor's fiscal 2017 budget proposal for seven departments.

Most councilors vocalized concern with the city's finances and asked for various cuts.

But by the end of the session, the council ended up asking for $61,213 to be added to Mayor Linda Tyer's proposal.
 
Tyer has proposed a $151,293,951 operating budget, which represents an increase of $6,070,410 over this year. The mayor says it is a 4.2 percent increase costing the average single-family homeowner an additional $230.47 per year. 
 
This year's budget is particularly notable because just recently the City Council, the School Committee, and administrators were given a review from financial advisers saying the city's levy ceiling is now lower than the levy limit restricting the amount the city will be able to tax. The city has about $6 million in ability to raise taxes.
 
Cities are restricted in the ability to tax by two methods — the tax levy and the tax ceiling. The limit is calculated by adding 2 1/2 percent and calculated new growth to the previous year's levy limit. The ceiling is taking the previous year's total taxable value and multiplying that by 2.5 percent, a restriction in place to ensure that no more than a quarter of the total property values are being taxed.
 
The budget leaves about $2.4 million in excess levy capacity and with property values remaining flat, that would be all the city has to levy from taxpayers next year. Tyer says by making "smart long-term investments" now the city will be able to raise property values, trigger private sector growth, and ultimately raise the ceiling.
 
"The first step in developing our budget strategy is to understand the root cause of the problem. A decade of declining property values and inadequate of growth are the primary factors that are effecting the city's levy limit," Tyer said in introduction.
 
"These challenges have been communicated to all of you, the School Committee, and the management team here in the city of Pittsfield. We understand the seriousness of these fiscal challenges we are facing. Yet, we believe that we can survive and thrive beyond these challenges."
 
She said her budget focused first on "considering what is government supposed to do? How much does it cost? and how many people does it serve?"
 
From there, the numbers were broken down into core services, secondary services, and quality of life. The core services include public education, public safety, and public services, she said.
 
"The budget places a high premium on investments in these areas. Subsequently, we assessed the programs and services in relation to their capacity to foster increased real estate values and inspire new growth through private investment," Tyer said.
 
Tyer's budget is mostly driven by an $1.8 million increase for the School Department, $1.3 million to cover health insurance increases, and $936,208 for Police Department personnel and equipment — a vow she made at a recent press conference to develop specialized units in the department with additional staff to combat an uptick in gun-related incidents. 
 
Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said that while the budget is increasing by $6 million, 10 out of the 19 department budgets are being reduced. That includes stipends for the Licensing Board, the Board of Registrar, and the Emergency Management Director. It also eliminated the human services line, a move that that brought dozens of residents to speak out against the reduction. The City Council sent the budget back to the mayor to restore the funds. 
 
"There are targeted investments within this budget," Kerwood said.
 
Further, he said revenue figures being considered as conservative.
 
Many of the Councilors on Monday expressed concern over the financial situation, making motions to cut budget lines. But ultimately, the restoration of the human services line overwhelmed the cuts. 
 
"We also have a spending problem in Pittsfield. We have a lot of elderly who can't afford it," Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi said.
 
The budget will be reviewed over five meetings and then the full City Council will be asked to vote on it. The tax rate is set in the fall based on the spending plan.
 
iBerkshires will update this story as the budget hearings progress. Below is a review of each budget, the discussion the council had on it, and any changes being made.

 

Mayor's Office

The City Council cut just $1,000 out of the mayor's travel expenses after lengthy debate. The debate wasn't centered on travel but rather the salary of Director of Administrative Services Roberta McCulloch-Dews. McCulloch-Dews was hired at a salary of $52,195 but Councilor at Large Kathleen Amuso motioned to reduce the position to a part-time job, asking to cut the total in half.
 
She was defeated, as were two subsequent motions — one to bring the director down to the Step 1 salary and another to drop it to a 3/4 position. 
 
"I just truly don't believe we can support a $6 million raise," Amuso said, prefacing the first proposal for a cut in a series of motions. 
 
Council Vice President John Krol, however, said the job is too important to cut back so much. He had served in that role years ago under former Mayor James Ruberto and said the job is not only handling phone calls and public relations but also managing "important and confidential" topics on behalf of the mayor. He called the position the "12th councilor" because of a high level of constituent service calls as well as being the person welcoming business and political leaders. 
 
"It really is essential," Krol said.
 
Councilor at Large Peter White added that the job needs employees of high caliber and McCulloch fits the bill. 
 
Tyer says the position is scheduled for 35 hours but McCulloch-Dews works significantly more than that. Further, she said all department head positions have been level funded across the board.
 
"Department head-level positions have all been level funded. There is no one who is receiving an increase," Tyer said.
 
After Amuso's motion found only two supports — Councilors Donna Todd Rivers and Lisa Tully — Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli motioned to drop the salary down to $49,099 — which is the step 1 salary for the job. 
 
"I find it odd that someone starts at step 3 when they should start at step 1," Simonelli said. "Somewhere there is a reason why we have a step 1. That's where people start,"
 
Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo agreed but said it is too late now to reduce the salary. McCulloch-Dews was hired at a step 3 and Tyer said she met all of the qualifications for the job as well as having years of experience doing similar work to be hired at the higher level. 
 
"Roberta works well beyond 35 hours a week and doesn't cost the city any overtime," Tyer said. "I really hope you will not reduce her compensation. I feel confident that she is earning that dollar every day."
 
That motion too failed with Amuso and Rivers being the only two to join Simonelli. Finally, Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi voted to make it a 3/4 position but that too failed.
 
In the end, the position remained untouched, as would most of the rest of the mayor's budget. The council only reduced travel expenses, which had already been cut in Tyer's proposal from $5,000 to $3,000, down to $2,000. The travel expenses are mostly used for the mayor to attend Massachusetts Mayors Association meetings in the eastern part of the state or professional training opportunities.
 
The budget overall is now at $200, 853, which represents a $3,337 decrease from the previous year.
 
 
Account Name 2016  Approval 2017 Approval
Mayor $91,540 $95,000
Director of Admin Services $53,095 $52,195
Executive Assistant $38,355 $36,658
Markets and Advertising $2,000 $500
Supplies $3,500 $3.500
Travel $5,000 $3.000 *Reduced to $2,000
MA Municipal Association $10,200 $11,000


City Council

Councilor at Large Kathleen Amuso voted to reduce the City Council's pay by 2 percent but was defeated. The City Council budget was left unchanged by the councilors. Councilors get paid $8,000 each with the council president receiving $10,000. Amuso's 2 percent cut would have led to a $1,800 reduction in the budget.
 
"If I am going to sit here and ask other people to take cuts, to help out, and do their part, to ask other department heads to cut, I wouldn't feel right about myself if I didn't do my part," Ward 5 Councilor Donna Todd Rivers said, but she was just one of four in favor of the reduction.
 
Councilors Lisa Tully, Melissa Mazzeo also joined Amuso and Rivers in the voting for the cut, the rest kept the stipends alone. Councilor at Large Peter White said the councilors are invited to a lot of events in the community, many of them costing money. The councilors use their stipends to give back to the community in ways they see fit, White said. 
 
Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell voted against the reduction, however he did so because he'd rather see the size of the council shrink rather than the pay. He said he'd like to reduce the number of councilors from 11 to 7 or 9. But that is a charter change and nothing that can be done through the budget.
 
"I think we as a city, as our population gets smaller, I felt the pool of councilors should be smaller," Connell said.
 
Overall the mayor's plan calls for level funding of the City Council budget at $103,892.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Councilors $90,002 $90,002
Clerk of the City Council $4,000 $4,000
Clerk of Committees $8,640 $8,640
Printing $1,250 $1,250

Health Department

The mayor's proposed budget for the health department was cut by $28,000. The majority of the reduction was for property demolitions and the rest came from nuisance abatement. 
 
Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell's motion to cut the property demolition line down by $25,000 passed. The mayor had proposed spending $50,000, which was an increase of $25,000, and Connell's motion brings that line back down to last year's level.
 
"Every time we take down a house and we don't put one back up, we lose the tax value of it," Connell said, encouraging the use of rehabilitation and receivership programs instead.
 

Health Director Gina Armstrong's budget got cut the most out of the departments review on Monday.
Health Director Gina Armstrong said the money will take down two blighted properties. The department has a list of six waiting for demolition and there are four others from the current budget which will be taken down. 
 
"We also have to remember the cost to the city when we are trying to maintain it in that condition, when it is constantly being broken into and we are reboarding it up," Armstrong said.
 
She called the blighted properties health hazards from people breaking into them and being on the brink of collapsing. One of those buildings is the former St. John's Hall in the West Side. Councilor Krol argued there is no way to rehabilitate it, no revenues coming from it, and that the residents in the neighborhood want it razed.
 
Connell, however, pointed out that there is still some $185,000 from the Community Development Block Grant for demolitions, so much of the work will still get done. Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo said the money is just being wasted because the lots become empty fields.
 
"We just keep putting this money in and we are not getting anything out of it," Mazzeo said.
 
Bonnie Gallant from the Department of Community Development said there are about 100 vacant buildings in the city, many of which have been boarded up for years. And Armstrong said the department is using a variety of tools to help fight blight, with an increased focus on "clean and leans." With those programs, the department identifies problem property and city workers or contractors do the work to keep the building from falling into more disrepair. The city then places a lien on the property to recoup the loss — which last year yielded about a third of the money spent.
 
Fighting blight was a key area of Mayor Linda Tyer's campaign and she reiterated that on Monday by saying, "I wish I could fund it at $100,000 but it is cost containment" about her decision to fund it at $50,000 instead of the $100,000 Armstrong has requested.
 
The reduction to the demolition line was passed with Councilors Donna Todd Rivers, Anthony Simonelli, Mazzeo, Kathleen Amuso, Connell, and Lisa Tully in favor.
 
The funding for the "clean and leans," got cut as well. The mayor had proposed spending $10,000 on nuisance abatement, which encompasses that program, an increase from $6,000 this year. Connell was successful in reducing that by $3,000, bringing it to $7,000, based on the expenditures of this current year, plus some.
 
"The quicker we can get these cleaned up, the better," said Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi said in opposition to the cut.
 
Connell tried to reduce equipment maintenance by another $1,000 but that motion failed. That money is on photocopier leases, according to the mayor.
 
Armstrong also explained a new line for medical expenses. She said the most "surprising" cost each year in the budget is that so she created a specific line for it. That line is funded at $8,700.
 
The budget passed at $441,391, which is an increase from last year of $9,717.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
BOH Director $55,945 $64,023
Senior Sanitarian $45,584 $45,880
Inspector of Weights and Measures $0 $0
Animal Inspector $4,500 $4,500
Sanitarians $75,967 $79,725
Senior Code Enforcement Inspector $43,190 $44,760
Nuisance Control Officer $29,379 $29,703
Head Clerk $31,626 $32,780
Public Health Nurse $41,001 $49,300
Senior Clerk $25,578 $26,120
Board of Health Clerk $1,500 $1,500
Water Testing $1,200 $1,200
Uniforms $1,500 $900
Contractual Services $2,000 $1,000
Telephone $3,450 $3,450
Equipment Maintenance $4,500 $4,500
Education and Training $3,000 $3,000
Nuisance Abatement $6,000 $10,000 *Reduced to $7,000
Code Enforcement $0 $6,000
Advertising $3,500 $300
Property Demolitions $25,000 $50,000 *Reduced to $25,000
Medical Supplies $0 $8,750
Supplies $7,000

$2,000


Community Development

Day 5

The Community Development Budget returned to the council with not only the human services line item restored, but a line the council had voted to cut.
 
In the first day of hearing the City Council voted to send the budget back to the mayor seeking a total of $641,258. The mayor returned with a budget of $669,045. The additional $27,787 was a cut the City Council had made to the community development specialist line item.
 
"You just can't reduce the compensation from a union position," Mayor Linda Tyer said of the reason those funds were back.
 
Tyer said she consulted the city solicitor who said the cut was illegal. Councilor At Large Kathleen Amuso, who was upset that she hadn't been told about that opinion, said the intent was to cut one of the three positions in the department from full-time to half time. The three full-time staff jobs are split in funding between the federal Community Development Block Grant and the city was told that since some of the work one staff member was doing didn't conform with the grant program, it had to be moved to the city budget.
 
"There are four people retiring so we have the opportunity to restructure with half time people," Amuso said.
 
Amuso made the motion to then cut it out of the budget. But, she did so by reducing the increase to the city's cost for that line. She didn't know that that $27,787 also reflected a slight increase for step raises for a second position. After some confusions and requests to receive a copy of that legal opinion, the City Council ultimately dismissed the funds Tyer had put into the line in hopes to review that legal opinion. If on Tuesday the council believes the position can't be reduced, or needs to be reduced by a different amount, the council can make amendments then.
 
Council Vice President John Krol and Councilor At Large Peter White opposed the reduction saying the job is too important to be reduced.
 
"While it seems like a small cut, it is cutting our nose despite our face," Krol said.
 
Krol said the position in question is for someone who is a "point person" in helping businesses who need to know about zoning, available assistance, helps find office space or available real estate, and working with the Pittsfield Economic Development Corporation. 
 
It is a very vital position," said Director of Community Development Janis Akerstrom. "This is the only economic development position the city has to support businesses in the community."
 
She added that PERC is going through a planning process and until that is done, it isn't know how to reorganize the department because the position is "tied into" PERC. 
 
The human service restoration also faced heavy debate, for the second time during the budget process. The mayor restored the line per the council's request but some councilors reopened the debate over its place in the entire spending plan. Tyer had sought to cut out that expense because it was outside of what she called the "core areas" government is responsible.
 
"This is an area we will have to look at again in FY18," Tyer said.
 
The city allocates funding to 17 different service agencies through both this line item and $154,000 in CDBG funding. Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli said the cut of the city's portion was too drastic and caught a lot of the agencies off guard. He motioned to cut the restored budget by $65,000 to support the agencies over the next year as they prepared for further reductions in the next budget.
 
"Organizations are going to have to do more fundraising on their own," Simonelli said.
 
Councilor At Large Peter White opposed the move saying, "eliminating this in this way will have devastating effects on everything we are trying to accomplish.. I can't support cutting it just because the rest of the budget didn't go the way some thought it might."
 
Cutting the budget because of the way the rest of the sessions is what Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi had argued. Morandi said since there were no other reductions, circling back to this one was worth the effort. He later motioned to cut it back out, as the mayor had first recommended.
 
"I supported sending this back. I feel I am left with no choice because we did not make reductions for the first four budget hearings we had," Morandi said.
 
Both of those motions failed.
 
Simonelli later targeted the Tyler Street Business Group, questioning a $10,000 increase for them. Akerstrom said the money is going to help the organization sponsor gatherings, buy banners, promote Tyler Street, and assist with the Transformational Development Program the state is support to redevelop the Morningside neighborhood.
 
Eventually, the Council stuck to its guns approving the budget they had wanted after the first meeting.
The Office of Community Development's budget was the most hotly debated section Monday with dozens of residents speaking during the public hearing calling for the reinstatement of a $123,000 cut to the human services line. 
 
Community Development - Day 1
 
The City Council sent the budget back to the mayor asking for that money to be reinstated but that was after the council agreed to cut $27,787 out the proposal. Councilor at Large Kathleen Amuso called for the $27,787 cut to the community development specialist position, bringing it back in line with this year's budgeted amount.
 
According to Director of Community Development Janis Akerstrom, there are three positions in the department mostly funded by Community Development Block Grant funds. But, she determined some of the jobs the employees were doing didn't fit the guidelines of the federal program. The $27,787 was added to the budget to pay those staff members for the work outside of the program.
 
Amuso's reduction passed in a close 6-5 vote, as was the case with many of the proposed cuts. Amuso was joined by Councilors Donna Todd Rivers, Kevin Morandi, Christopher Connell, Anthony Simonelli, and Lisa Tully.
 
"I don't see any savings by reducing the amount of personnel we have doing some of the most important work," Councilor at Large Peter White said in opposition to the cut.
 
The Council also questioned an increase in lake management. According to Akerstrom, that line was reduced last year to $20,000 because there was a capital project to do a larger treatment but that was never done.
 
"Last year it was dropped $10,000 and instead there was a capital acquisition for around $72,000 in order to do a systematic rehabilitation of the lakes," Akerstom said.
 

Community Development Director Janis Akerstrom's budget was sent back to the mayor to restore the human services line.
That treatment was expected to reduce the cost of the annual chemical treatments the department does to control invasive species and weeds but since it was never done, and money never spent, the budget needs to be brought back up.
 
"There was no need to do the systemic treatment because the weed growth wasn't as dramatic as predicted," Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said.
 
Kerwood said the additional $15,000 that was cut last year is still being paid for but through the unclassified budget because it wasn't budgeted. 
 
The council asked the mayor to restore the budget for human services to the $138,000 requested by the department. Some 17 nonprofit service organizations including the YMCA, Elizabeth Freeman Center, and the Marilyn Hamilton Literacy and Sports program are funded through annual grants from the city. 
 
"These agencies are the support services behind some of the issues we have with substance abuse and everything else. Many of these organizations really go hand in hand," Connell said."They need it. We need it. Pittsfield needs it."
 
The mayor said her discussion to cut it from last year's $140,000 to just $15,000 was a difficult decision but one that was made when focusing in on what the city needs to provide its citizens. She said there is other funding available for the nonprofits to seek and that the city's funding should be focused on public education, public service, and public safety instead.
 
"There were priorities we had to put up against one another," Tyer said.
 
This budget also includes support for Downtown Pittsfield Inc. that was also cut by the mayor. However, Downtown Pittsfield Inc. President Jesse Cook-Dubin addressed the council to say the organization does not oppose the reduction of $10,750,
 
"We are partners with you. And we're very much aware of the city's unprecedented financial crisis," Cook-Dubin said, saying he worked with the mayor ahead of time on the reduction.
 
Overall the budget was proposed at $546,054 by the mayor. But if the mayor returns with the $123,000 added to human services to bring that back to $138,000 as well as making the $27,787 cut, the budget would stand at $641,28, which is $15,593 more than this year.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Director $40,852 $40,851
Parks Open Space Planner $64,250 $64,001
City Planner $61,150 $61,150
Conservation Agent $49,070 $50,851
Planning Administrator $4,000 $4,000
Executive Secretary $40,456 $40,905
Community Development Specialist $47,579 $75,366 *Reduced to $47,579
Administrative Assistant $6,997 $7,192
Playground Leaders $18,879 $18,879
ZBA Clerk $801 $0
Season Labor $17,195 $17,195
Recreation Coordinator $40,456 $40,905
Permitting Coordinator $0 $0
Human Services $140,000 $15,000 *Expected to Increase to $138,000
Land Use and Zoning $0 $2,000
Lake Management $20,000 $35,000
Conservation Management $0 $0
Supplies $8,000 $8,000
Recreation Programs $7,000 $7,500
Downtown Inc. $43,000 $32,250
Tyler Street Business Group $1,000 $10,000
Planning Studies $15,000 $15,000

Parks and Grounds

The City Council cut out $5,000 from the Parks and Grounds budget. Overall the mayor proposed a budget of $463,384, which was a $3,997 increase over last year. But with the reduction, the Parks and Grounds budget will now show a $1,003 reduction over last year. 
 
Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell successfully motioned to reduce the seasonal labor line from $65,000 down to $60,000. 
 
The council did also questioned a $10,000 expenditure for Wahconah Park. The Pittsfield Suns lease the park during the summer but the city's staff is on hand for each game and maintains the park.
 
"In general we take care of the field, getting it prepped for opening day and the Suns take care of it after that," Commissioner of Public Services David Turocy said.
 
The council questioned why the private company wouldn't be doing the maintenance. The city's Director of Maintenance Denis Guyer said it was part of the lease and that the city wants to have authority over managing its park to make sure it is done up to the city's standards.
 
"We want to have our people maintaining and managing that property," Guyer said.
 
But, he said that portion of it could be renegotiated when the lease ends.
 
"Hopefully we'll have a higher level team coming into town," Guyer said.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
MEO-2 $39,586 41,396
Park Maintenance Men $165,589 $166,889
Park Maintenance Superintendent $59,212 $60,099
Seasonal Labor $65,000 $65,000 *Reduced to $60,000
Collegiate Baseball/Wahconah Park $10,000 $10,000
Maintenance of School Fields $15,000 $15,000
Maintenance of Parks $88,500 $88,500
Equipment $15,000 $15,000

Maintenance: City

Despite lengthy discussion, the council left the Maintenance budget untouched. The mayor proposed that budget to be $1,810,618, which is an increase of $50,489. 
 
The council particularly focused on a new custodian position for a cost of $28,707. Director of Maintenance Denis Guyer said there was an employee being paid out of seasonal labor cleaning the two downtown parking garages but he had quit. So, now the position is being classified as a custodian job. 
 

The mayor's proposed maintenance budget remained untouched.
"We have hundreds of people who pay to park in our garages, we have visitors coming from out of town," Guyer said.
 
Guyer said the custodian finds a number of unsightly items in garages and cleans them up in the morning before visitors and residents arrive to park in them. Since the seasonal labor was now being reclassified but that budget line hadn't dropped, City Councilors Christopher Connell and Kathleen Amuso both motioned to reduce that line but to no avail. 
 
Instead, the council agreed with Guyer that there is plenty of work to be done in the more than 100 city-owned buildings - and the council came close to even asking for the addition of two staff members. 
 
"We are triaging work orders. We don't have the staff nor the maintenance budget to keep up with the work orders we have out there," Guyer said.
 
The council then looked at the line for repairs municipal, which is the line Guyer uses to buy supplies. With more help, Guyer says there needs to be more supplies. He feels he can find savings in the way supplies are being purchased, but he also hopes to increase the number of projects being completed.
 
"The repairs line item is directly tied to the work orders we get done," Guyer said.
 
On the school maintenance side, the council left the budget untouched.
 
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Director of Maintenance $67,522 $67,264
Boiler/HVAC Repairman $43,995 $44,485
Painter $44,151 $44,652
Parking Garage Manager $54,182 $53,985
Parking Control Officers $56,173 $58,222
Working Foreman Craft $44,666 $47,455
Plumber $87,660 $89,645
Carpenters $135,428 $133,513
Principal Clerk $27,913 $33,071
HVAC Technician $88,526 $90,510
Custodian $31,031 $32,999
Custodian $0 $28,707
Office Manager $36,093 $42,767
Electricians $131,823 $132,606
Seasonal Labor $16,000 $16,000
Temporary Labor $0 $0
Custodial Labor Rentals $30,000 $30,000
Assistant Director of Maintenance $59,966 $59,737
Utilities $520,000 $520,000
Repairs Municipal $225,200 $205,200
Abandoned Property $0 $20,000
Contractual Allowances $4,800 $4,800
Repairs/Services Garage $55,000

$55,000

 

Maintenance: School 

The total budget for school maintenance is staying level at $475,000.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Contractual Services $257,500 $217,500
Maintenance Supplies $217,000

$257,500


Cultural Development

 
The Office of Cultural Development budget is also remaining the same, withstanding a push from Ward 1 Councilor Lisa Tully to cut an administrative assistant position.
 
The budget is set at $106,191, which is a $3,239 decrease from last year. Tully said the department should be consolidated with other city staff picking up the duties of the assistant. Primarily that job, currently being done by Shiobbean Lemme, who is also the Third Thursday coordinator, but Director of Cultural Development Jennifer Glockner says she does much more than that.
 
"I don't know if we could pull off the 10X10 festival or Third Thursday if we didn't have this person," Glockner said.
 
Lemme not only coordinates the street fair, which Glockner says brings thousands of people to downtown Pittsfield, but also is instrumental in running the office, answering phones, accounting, setting up the galleries for the First Friday Arts Walks, coordinates opening receptions, and assists with the 10X10 festival.
 
"For the day to day things, you have to be in the office," Glockner said.
 
Council Vice President John Krol spoke in favor of the position, saying the Office of Cultural Development is a key to the city's downtown revitalization efforts. 
 
"The creation of the Office of Cultural Development was really the first step for our downtown revitalization to take place," Krol said.
 
Mayor Linda Tyer added that the budget had already been cut by 3 percent. Tully's motion was defeated. 
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Director $52,910 $52,910
Administrative Assistant $20,480 $29,981
Tourism Administrator $13,240 $0
Building Maintenance $0 $0
Contractual Services $4,000 $5,000
Tourism Expenses $12,000 $12,000
Visitor Center Expenses $1,000 $500
Supplies $3,500 $3,500
Telephone $800 $800
Travel and Dues $1,500 $1,500
Equipment Building $0 $0

Day 2

POSTED: Thursday, June 16 at 12:14 a.m.
 
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — In April the school department sent out 154 pink slips to staff who hadn't received professional status.
 
The status of the fiscal 2017 budget was still unknown and the superintendent said he needed to give the district the most flexibility when it came to staff, just in case some more than 30 employees needed to be laid off — an option possible given the discussions.
 
On Thursday, when the budget came before the City Council for review, the second of five meetings the council has to review the entire spending plan, nearly 100 school staff crowded the council chambers and more than a dozen residents, sporting "save our schools" stickers spoke in favor of funding the School Committee's proposal.
 
"I am deeply concerned for those who are too young to advocate for themselves," said Phyllis HaKeem.
 
"No school can deal with these cuts," said Dawn Quinlan.
 
"When I think about the budget cuts that are presented at this time, I think of a piece of Swiss cheese, it is fragile and full of holes. You may say Swiss cheese is supposed to have holes and you are right. But our educational system should not," said Darlene Sweren.
 
The message was repeated as resident after resident took to the open microphone period pleading the case that the school system is the key to providing the education needed for the workforce of the future and combats crime by deterring the children from getting involved in the first place.
 

The City Council chambers were packed Thursday night for the school budget.
All of those 154 employees will return after the City Council on Wednesday approved the same budget the School Committee adopted, which calls for the reductions of nine positions all through attrition. The budget is $60,316,338, which is a 3.1 percent increase over the last year — a total increase of $1.8 million. 
 
The major driver of the budget was $1.68 million in settled contracts with six unions — administrations, teachers, custodial, cafeteria, clerical, and paraprofessional. An increase in special education placement of $440,000 because of students who used to be sent to Eagleton School are being sent elsewhere since the closure. And, returning community coordinators to the budget. 
 
Superintendent Jason McCandless first brought forth a budget calling for a $2.29 million increase. That was scaled back to a $2.1 million increase. But, Mayor Linda Tyer urged the budget to drop more — looking to split the difference between what was a 3.7 percent increase and a 2.5 percent increase. McCandless brought forth a budget with a 2.85 percent increase and the School Committee raised it to 3.1 percent to keep a new dean at Allendale Elementary School and retain money to run the summer school program, which was close to being cut.
 
The City Council picked through the lines over throughout most of the five-hour meeting but ultimately only two councilors wanted to reduce it at all — Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi and Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli. But, many other councilors expressed frustration with the position they are put in each year.
 
"The system is already rigged against me. People's lives are put into terror because they don't know if they have a job," Council President Peter Marchetti said.
 
The city's debt ceiling is fast approaching, as the councilors know, meaning if the $6 million in levy capacity is eaten up, without new growth the city will have nowhere to get money because the ability to tax will be gone.
 
If the mayor's proposed budget, which is already up by $6 million and councilors have already asked for more to be added to it, passes the city will have just $2.4 million remaining for all budgets. 
 
"Next year is not going to be easy sitting here. The decisions of these 154 pink slips will already be a reality because they will be built into the budget," Marchetti said.
 
Marchetti knows that but he's been receiving calls from teachers and residents accusing him of scheduling the meeting on the last day of school and during Third Thursday to keep people from attending, and calls from teachers urging him to restore the cuts or else they are out of a job.
 
"The system sucks," he said, pleading for city to spend the next year working together to end the "us versus them mentality" when it comes to school budgets.
 
Simonelli said the council is forced to be the good guys or the bad guys each year but have little ability to change anything. He said the School Committee negotiates the contracts, which are the major drivers of the budget, and the council has no say. Last year when he voted against the budget, he said he was characterized as "anti-education." 
 
"The School Committee sat with us when the auditor sat in front of us said a $2 million increase this year, $2 million next year, and $2 million the year after that and we're tapped out," Simonelli said.
 
Others, however, said the system is really breaking down in Boston — particularly with the state's support of the district through Chapter 70. The city is seeing an increase in that funding by some $300,000 but that is significantly less of an increase the city had been getting, according to Director of Business and Finance Kristen Behnke. 
 
"Chapter 70 is one of the larger, if not the largest revenue source in the city of Pittsfield," she said.
 
When that support doesn't go up as quickly as costs do, that forced more of a burden on the local taxes, she said. 
 
"We know a 1 percent increase is not keeping pace with the cost of doing business," Council Vice President John Krol said.
 
Krol said city schools provide the most diverse array of excellent educational programming from AP classes to arts to vocational programs. He said the state has fallen behind but the city should still support the schools because that is what will attract families and businesses. 
 
"This is a situation where people every day are choosing whether to live and invest in Pittsfield," Krol said.
 
At the end of the five hours, the City Council felt that the $1.8 million increase to the school budget was supportable.
 
iBerkshires has been detailing the budget hearings. To read more about each budget sector, school farther down in this story.

RSVP

The Retired Senior Volunteer Program will see an increase of $1,653, which represents 2.15 percent. The budget was approved as proposed.
 
Most of the increase is for the salaries of three staff members, accounting for a total of $2,699. Some of that is offset by a reduction of nearly $1,000 in copier lease and the receiving of a grant which will pay the phone bill. 
 
The councilors did question an increase in miscellaneous from $300 to $1,121. Director Cheryl Whalen said that was because "we moved our membership dues to associations into that category."
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Director of RSVP $34,793 $34,984
Volunteer Coordinator $15,381 $15,948
Administrative Assistant $16,910 $18,851
Misc. $300 $1,121
Postage $400 $400
Staff Training $457 $300
Advertising $0 $0
Telephone $350 $6
Supplies $1,900 $1,500
Staff Travel $1,000 $1,000
Volunteer Recognition $2,500 $2,500
Equipment and Copier Lease $2,947 $1,981

Berkshire Athenaeum

The Council passed the Berkshire Athenaeum budget will little discussion. That budget is up by $45,951, which is a hike of 4.6 percent. 
 
The council only questions a couple of items. Travel is increasing by $500, which was questioned by Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli.
 
"The travel we have is basically within the state of Massachusetts for various workshops," said outgoing Library Director Ron Latham. 
 
Simonelli also asked if there was a way to partner with the school system to provide the professional development offered at those workshops.
 
The budget will also allow for the library to open later on Monday during the academic year. The library had cut its hours a few years ago because of tight budgets and is now looking to open later on Mondays.
 
"Every time we close at 5 on Monday evening there are quite a few people asked to leave and they are not ready to leave," Latham said.
 
The budget was passed unanimously.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Senior Supervisors $193,165 $190,949
Supervisor Specialist $45,105 $47,323
Supervisor Specialist $116,590 $123,986
Library Assistant II $48,305 $51,324
Senior Technicians $97,344 $102,504
Senior Assistants $67,098 $76,210
Director of Athenaeum $78,337 $66,022
Library Custodians $61,573 $65,320
Library Assistant I $60,431 $67,950
Library Technicians $60,113 $63,642
Library Shelvers $58,733 $57,242
Equipment Maintenance $1,000 $1,000
Library Staff Development $1,000 $1,000
Supplies - General $12,000 $13,000
Supplies - Custodial $6,000 $6,500
Binding and Microfilm $2,200 $3,345
Newspapers and Periodicals $13,000 $13,000
Books and Audio Visual $75,000 $29,320
Travel $1,500 $1,500
Reimbursement ($45,453) $0
Unclassified - Library $2,000 $2,000
Library Networking Fees $43,125 $49,980
Theft Deterrent System $1,000 $1,500

School Department

The School Department's $1.85 million increase is mostly found in $1.68 million of signed contracts. There is also an increase is special education tuition to the tune of $440,000 and community coordinators returning to the local budget for a cost of $228,000. Additionally, Superintendent Jason McCandless said the school only recently found out it would not be receiving a kindergarten grant, which was expected in the proposed budget. Without that grant, administrators now have to find another $288,510 to pull out of the spending plan.
 
In crafting the budgets, school officials reported that it would need a $4 million increase to provide level services because of contractual increases. So the budget eliminates a total of nine positions, which McCandless said are being removed through attrition. Those positions include two career counselors, a special educational teacher, a paraprofessional, a vocational teacher, an educational technologist, a technology clerical position, a bus mechanic, and a caseworker. 
 
"Before we even brought this budget to you tonight we are looking at starting school with nine fewer people that we did this year," McCandless said.
 
The budget did not restore any of the positions lost in previous years. 
 
"This budget request that is before you restores zero of the positions that were cut in FY15 or FY16. We are not playing that game of cutting it one year and then trying to sneak it back in in another year," McCandless said.
 
The budget does add a dean of students for Allendale School, which McCandless said is to combat disruptive behavior, for a cost of $68,000 and retains the summer school program, which was on the chopping block, for a cost of $20,000. 
 
"Drop outs are really made in the 9th grade. Our summer school students serves an average of 200 students who start grade 10 caught up," McCandless said.
 
The budget did see savings of some $460,000 in utility costs. However, that was mostly offset by the increase in special education placements. That has increased dramatically with the closing of Eagleton School, where many of the students were being sent. 
 
There was also discussion about an attendance coordinator, which is being retained in the budget. McCandless says there is a staff member dedicated to working with families keeping children out of school too much. The staff member goes to the door with the Sheriff's Department and forces the child to go to school. The role allows the school to avoid bringing up charges on parents who don't send their children to school, which only adds fines on top of fines to many vunnerable families, McCandless said. That person also serves as a coordinator with the homeless students.
 

Superintendent Jason McCandless presented the budget to the City Council.
Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli, however, said the programs being questioned isn't a "cut." The department is being funded at a higher level that last year.
 
"Everyone is talking about cuts but nobody is using the word reduction," Simonelli said. "We're looking at a reduction of a budget that is already up $1.8 million. We're not cutting."
 
Simonelli motioned to cut the proposal by $200,000 but he failed to get much support. Only Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi supported the effort. Those two had questioned numerous lines in the budget from salaries to curriculum committees to professional development to bus maintenance. 
 
"I'm sure we have a lot of room in one of the schools," Morandi said.
 
McCandless said the budget has been "nickeled and dimed" for over 20 years and there is very few nickels and dimes left. He also refuted an ongoing claim - one even Morandi made - that the district is paying high salaries to administrators while cutting teachers. He said the district's per pupil spending - including health insurance and other portions of spending which fall on the city side - for administration is the lowest in the county. The city spends $317 per pupil on the central office which is nearly $80 below the next closest in Williamstown and more than $1,000 below Farmington River, the highest.
 
"It seems like we never cut on top. We never cut the chiefs, it is always the young Indians," Morandi said.
 
Nonetheless, the majority of the council opted not to "nickel and dime" the budget. Councilor At Large Kathleen Amuso had been motioning to cut nearly every budget on the first day of hearings and said she planned to do the same with the school. But during the week she realized that cutting budgets a little bit here and a little bit there wasn't going to save the city.
 
"Those reductions are not what we need to do to make this budget be what we can afford," Amuso said. "We need to work differently."
 
Ward 5 Councilor Donna Todd Rivers told those in the audience to mow the lawn for seniors or drop a bag of groceries off on their steps because "this budget is carried on their backs. They are cutting too."
 
She also encouraged those in attendance to become more active in city government and to shop locally to support the economy instead of saving a few dollars by buying online. 
 
"You come in, clap at the speeches, and then you leave. Where are you on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month?" Rivers said of the crowd.
 
Only Morandi and Simonelli voted against the budget.

Pittsfield Schools FY2017 Budget

 


Day 3

POSTED: Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 2:42 a.m.


Police Chief Michael Wynn's budget is getting the biggest percent increase in Mayor Linda Tyer's proposed budget.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Truth in budgeting was the theme of the third day of budget hearings — especially when it came to police and fire overtime.
 
The City Council on Monday approved the mayor's proposals for five budgets: Fire Department, Police Department, Emergency Management, Council on Aging, and Veterans Services.
 
The Police and Fire departments are both seeing an increase in overtime budgets which for years had been knowingly underfunded by the council. Just last week, the City Council approved close to $1 million in overtime transfers to the two departments after running significant deficits.
 
The goal is to bring those numbers up with the Fire Department seeing $150,000 increase in emergency manning and the Police Department a $300,000 increase in scheduled overtime. Further, Veterans Services also saw a minor increase in the face of a larger decline in program expenses. Veterans Services ran a $44,000 deficit in program expenses but Director James Clark says there is a 5 percent decrease in expenditures expected moving forward. In the end, that $1 million line — which is reimbursed by the state at 75 percent — remained the same to more accurately reflect the expenses.
 
The Police Department budget was particularly interesting when it came to overtime because there is also a large increase in staffing, meaning both more overtime and more officers. The reason is because the department is so understaffed right now, those additional officers may not hit the books for another year and shifts still need to be covered. That is on top of an already underfunded overtime line.
 
"We're chasing staffing now just to fill the cruisers," Police Chief Michael Wynn said.
 
The department is currently authorized to have 93 officers but in reality only 83 positions are hired. Of those 83, there are three on medical leave, five on long-term disabilities, three out from injuries on duty, and five others who plan to retire in the next year.
 
"Realistically we are looking at the low 70s, high 60s," Wynn said.
 
The are currently 11 candidates in the academy and a list of 12 others who have just begun the process. That will only bring the staffing levels up to the 93 approved. From there, an additional six is budgeted but it isn't known when they will be on the streets. The chief said the first batch of officers will help fill shifts that are currently being paid for in overtime and that the additional six, when brought on, will be used to created specialized units. Currently, officers with specialties are being used as patrolmen during their shift.
 
Eventually, the chief envisions the overtime expenses decreasing but it was already $740,000 underfunded this year and it is unknown exactly what impact the new hires will have on that figure. 
 
Fire Chief Robert Czerwinski's budget was also underfunded by $230,000 this year and he said the staffing levels there are at a bare minimum. He said it takes 18 firefighters to man all of the stations during a 24-hour period and with injuries on duty or sick leave, on any given day two of the 20 assigned to the group can be out. If there are firefighters using vacation time beyond those who are out, then someone else needs to be called in to cover the stations. 
 
"It's a crap shoot. It depends on who gets injured on duty, who is out on sick leave," Czerwinski said.
 
Czerwinski's Emergency Management budget was the only of the five the council reviewed Monday to see a reduction. That reduction is mostly comprised of Czerwinski sacrificing a stipend as the deputy director. 
 
iBerkshires has been detailing the budget process as it unfolds. Below you will find reviews of each day, and the discussion surrounding each of the budgets. 
Council on Aging

 

The Council on Aging budget is up by $1,162. The total budget is $293,152.
 
All of the operating expenses were level funded and the only increases came in the lines for personnel with pay raises for two custodians, the senior clerk typists, and an assistant. Percentagewise, the budget is only up by .4 percent.
 
Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli said he serves on the Council on Aging board but he had filed the appropriate paperwork to avoid any ethical violations and was free to vote on the budget. The budget passed with no discussion from the rest of the City Council.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Director $52,910 $52,910
Senior Clerk Typist $30,680 $30,897
SDC Assistant $22,935 $23,558
Soc Serv Tech/Custodian $31,440 $31,665
Soc Serv Tech/Custodian (PT) $25,280 $25,377
Program Assistant $32,125 $32,125
Activities Leaders (PT) $21,545 $21,545
Kitchen Coordinator $22,490 $22,490
Temp. Labor $4,000 $4,000
Equipment Maintenance $6,435 $6,435
Building Maintenance $13,500 $13,500
Printing $1,300 $1,300
Supplies $3,000 $3,000
Program Expense $24,350 $24,350

Veterans Services


Veterans Services Director James Clark said he was confident in the $1 million figure for program services.
The Veterans Services line is up by $1,423. That increase is $1,098 for the administrative assistant's salary and $325 for equipment maintenance. Overall the budget is at $1,088,408 but most of that will be reimbursed by the state government.
 
"We are actually down 5.7 percent from last year and I see that going forward," Director James Clark said.
 
The city is budgeting $1 million for program services which is level from last year. But, because last year that line was underfunded by $44,000, the 5.7 decrease in expenditures is accurate, according to Clark.
 
Clark says the are some 170 people accessing veterans services but many of them are finding work and not eligible for as much as they had been in the past.
 
"The way the formula works they can work and still be eligible for some supplemental income," Clark said.
 
Clark said 75 percent of the money expended is refunded by the state and he expects some $792,000 to come back to the city's general fund for expenses this year. A total of $802,000 is returning to the general fund from expenses incurred last year.
 
"It comes back on the cherry sheet and it comes back quarterly," Clark said.
 
The budget was approved with little other discussion.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Veterans' Agent $48,100 $48,100
Administrative Assistant $27,235 $28,333
Temporary Labor $0 $0
Equipment Maintenance $650 $975
Rental Expense $6,700 $6,700
Education and Training $0 $0
Flags $2,000 $2,000
Supplies $2,000 $2,000
Program Expense $1,000,000 $1,000,000
Award and Declarations $300 $300

Police

The majority of the two-hour session was spent on the Police Department which is seeing a $936,208 boost. Mayor Linda Tyer has made public safety her number one priority and the department is seeing the largest percentage increase of all departments with 10.5 percent more funding than last year. The budget is proposed by the mayor at $9,820,208.
 
The increase is mostly going to staffing with the additional of six officers - two current patrolmen will be promoted to sergeant and then six new patrolmen will be brought on. 
 
"We're chasing staffing now just to fill the cruisers," Police Chief Michael Wynn said.
 
The department is currently authorized to have 93 officers but in reality only 83 positions are hired. Of those 83, there are three on medical leave, five on long-term disabilities, three out on injured on duty, and five others who plan to retire in the next year.
 
"Realistically we are looking at the low 70s, high 60s," Wynn said.
 
The are currently 11 candidates in the academy and a list of 12 others have just begun the process. That will only bring the staffing levels up to the 93 approved. From there, an additional six is budgeted but it isn't know when they will be on the streets. The chief said the first batch of officers will help fill shifts that are currently being paid for in overtime and that the additional six, when brought on, will be used to created specialized units. Currently, officers with specialties are being used as patrolmen during their shift and the hope is to allow them to focus on their specialization and have patrolmen fill the shifts.
 
Wynn says ideally he would like his force to be at 120. He said the authorization for 93 officers is based on "old math" and no adequate to handle the number of calls and the number of people who live, work, or are just visiting the city. 
 
The department's focus is first on fighting the gangs, guns, and drugs, which Wynn said is all tied together. From there, personal injury motor vehicle crashes and domestic abuse are closely following. 
 
"Any one of those things should be tackled as a stand alone operational unit," Wynn said.
 
With the increased staffing, the chief hopes to create specialized units to tackle those issues and he focused primarily on Monday on the creation of a traffic unit. He says a traffic unit will also help combat drugs, gangs, and guns because some of those who are pulled over will be involved in those crimes.
 
"We don't want to address the staffing numbers first," Wynn said, making it clear that the department is currently struggling just to fill shifts. 
 
That's shown in the expenses for overtime, which was $740,000 in the red this year. The overtime line is also seeing an increase of $300,000, up to $900,000, which is more in line with that the department spent when it had more officers than it does now. In the end, the chief hopes with additional staffing to be brought on at some point in the year, overtime expenses can start to decrease.
 
"The plan is to use these additional bodies and rededicate traffic to traffic," Wynn said.
 
The City Council questioned the scheduling of detectives, saying with a change in scheduling overtime from the weekends could be reduced. However, Wynn said incidents requiring many detectives typically occur during the business hours and not the weekends. He said supervisors only call in detectives on the weekends if it is needed and the evidence processing or witness interviews can't wait until Monday.
 
"I'd love to see more resources, especially to support the concept of community policing in the west side," Council Vice President John Krol said.
 
Ward 1 Councilor Lisa Tully said she was surprised at the entry-level pay for an officer, saying it was very low. 
 
"The mayor and I are working with the personnel director to adjust the base, make some moves in the pay scale so it is more competitive," Wynn said.
 
The chief said in the past the department has been successful in attracting police officers despite the pay. He said officers from other cities and towns like to work for Pittsfield because of the call volume, chances for specialized training and assignments, and promotional opportunities. However, Wynn says the $37,000 entry-level pay isn't competitive with those other communities. 
 
Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli questioned the overtime spent on the downtown walking patrols. But, Wynn said those have stopped and hasn't come up in conversation since last year when it was a large contributor to the overtime expenditures. 
 
The care of prisoners line also increased from $5,000 to $10,000 because it had been cut last year when the Berkshire County Sherriff's Office had a county lockup program. But, that program had been cut. With the closure of that program, that also means pay for matrons who are brought in to supervise female prisoners had to be restored at a $15,000, up from the $1,000 budgeted last year.
 
Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell questioned a $3,000 increase in ammunition - going from $12,000 to $15,000. Connell said that if each bullet cost a quarter, that means city officials shot 48,000 bullets. Wynn said the rounds cost more than that for rifles and shotguns and that the officials have to shoot in training. He said the $12,000 budget wasn't enough last year.
 
"We were fortunate that we had ammo in surplus in previous years so we didn't run out," Wynn said. "We are required to shoot. We are required to shoot on all platforms."
 
Councilor At Large Melissa Mazzeo questioned the doubling of uniforms - from $30,000 to $60,000. Wynn said that is playing catch up because for two years he hadn't had enough money to outfit every officer with new uniforms. 
 
Mayor Linda Tyer said at the end of the year the leadership will do another assessment to see if even more staffing is needed.
 
"There are a lot of things that's will go into assessing if we want to continue to grow the number of officers," Tyer said.
 
The budget was unanimously approved.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Police Chief $115,000 $115,000
Police Captains $248,262 $251,062
Police Lieutenants $384,362 $398,965
Police Sergeants $724,849 $872,117
Safety Officer $65,703 $66,414
Detectives $451,356 $516,140
Patrol Officers $3,356,910 $3,720,166
Mechanic $48,100 $48,100
Drug Enforcement $140,315 $180,000
Dispatchers $523,680 $523,680
Animal Control Officer $58,460 $58,460
Special Response Team $12,000 $15,000
Custodian $31,490 $35,306
Sr. Clerk Typist/Conf. $115,718 $116,357
Senior Clerk Typist $68,926 $68,926
Animal Control Comm Clerk $2,000 $2,000
Matrons $1,000 $15,000
Temporary Labor $10,000 $15,000
Auxiliary Police $3,000 $3,000
Special Investigation OT $40,000 $40,000
Special Events OT $150,000 $150,000
Scheduled Overtime $600,000 $900,000
Dispatchers OT $81,783 $110,000
Crime Analyst $46,735 $49,390
Information/Technology Mgr. $51,291 $51,291
Police Science $1,125,126 $1,000,000
In Service $70,000 $70,000
Insurance Deductibles $15,000 $0
Animal Control Testing Fees $200 $200
Uniforms $30,000 $60,000
Maintenance/Support $165,000 $185,000
Police Education $20,000 $20,000
Shipping/Postage $800 $1,200
Printing $2,000 $3,000
Traffic Enforcement EQ $0 $0
K9 Care and Supplies $5,500 $5,500
Office Supplies $10,000 $10,000
Drug Enforcement Expenses $10,000 $15,000
Ammunition $12,000 $15,000
Special Investigation Expenses $3,000 $4,500
Care of Prisoners $5,000 $10,000
Custodial Supplies $10,000 $10,000
Equipment $30,000 $45,000
Fleet Maintenance $40,000 $45,000

Fire Department

The Fire Department's $7,126,162 budget was unanimously approved by the City Council. The budget is up by $294,223, the majority of which was for emergency manning. 
 
Chief Robert Czerwinski said that the emergency manning - overtime - was used significantly in the last year because of firefighters on long-term injury or injured on duty. The city has 20 firefighters on duty to man the stations but with some firefighters out, others had to be called in anytime there were fewer than 18 available on a given day. 
 
"It's a crap shooting. It depends on who gets injured on duty who is out on sick leave," Czerwinski said.
 
Funding for fire captains saw a large increase because three captains are currently out so lieutenants are appointed to those roles on a provisional basis. Those who are out still get paid while the lieutenants see an increase in pay for the time they are acting as captains.
 
Mayor Linda Tyer said unlike the Police Department, extra money is not be allocated to raise staffing levels. Instead, the focus of the administration is to upgrade equipment.
 
"The strategy around the Fire Department budget is to put the investments in the capital authorization for equipment," Tyer said.
 
The department's apparatuses have come under scrutiny as trucks were breaking down and needing difficult repairs. The chief tried to outsource vehicle maintenance but found out contractually the department's mechanic is responsible for the work. The mechanic's budget was cut significantly last year and is now being brought back up to $68,640. 
 
"We're dealing with trucks that are 25, 20-something years old," Czerwinski said.
 
The council asked about two areas the chief requested but the mayor didn't fund - technical rescue team and fire investigation unit. Czerwinski said the department once had a technical rescue team of firefighters trained in such things as rope rescues or dive teams but as the budget was cut over the years, the department can no longer support the training and overtime for that unit. Instead, the department has to wait for an out of town unit to help.
 
"We'd really like to get that up and get it as a separate line item to serve that purpose," Czerwinski said.
 
A similar story is told about the fire investigation unit, which he asked for. He said the department now depends on the state Fire Marshall's office for investigations and he'd like to be able to do them in-house.
 
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Fire Chief $99,340 $99,340
Deputy Fire Chiefs $357,500 $363,103
Fire Captains $756,472 $1,004,000
Fire Lieutenants $982,243 $980,000
Firefighters $3,527,764 $3,358,000
Head Clerk $33,365 $34,575
Master Mechanic $32,050 $68,470
Principal Clerk $30,065 $31,016
Office Manager $37,010 $38,358
Emergency Apparatus Staffing $30,000 $30,000
Emergency Manning $550,000 $700,000
Assuming Additional Response $24,200 $24,200
Uniforms $88,475 $109,000
Maintenance General $12,100 $12,100
Vehicle Maintenance $140,000 $140,000
Medical Maintenance $13,000 $13,000
Education and Training $15,000 $15,000
Arson Investigation $4,000 $4,000
Supplies $7,500 $8,000
Equipment $30,000 $30,000
Equipment Replacement $35,000 $35,000
CAD License/Maint/Admin Fees $26,855 $29,000

Emergency Management

The Emergency Management line is seeing a decrease of $2,160. The majority of which is Fire Chief Robert Czerwinski foregoing a $2,250 stipend for serving as the deputy director of emergency management. The budget is seeing a $90 increase for the Code Red system, which will send texts, phone calls, and or e-mails to residents alerting them to situations.
 
Only five departments have access to using the Code Red System: police, fire, highway, mayor's office, and health department. Czerwinski says the Fire Department doesn't use it much but the health department, police, and mayor's office use it more frequently. He said 50 to 70 percent of the cities and towns in Massachusetts use it, so it is better to be on the same system as them for collaboration and sharing of ideas in how and when to use it.
 
"We don't have that many fires where we have to close anything off or have a hazmat situation," Czerwinski said.
 
Still, for when it is needed the system is a "cost effective means" to do it.
 
Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell questioned that because he said he hadn't received a call in quite some time - including for a water main break or an issue with the water treatment center. 
 
Council Vice President John Krol suggested departments utilize the service more and if department heads are "50/50" on whether or not they should use it, they should.
 
"My suggestion is to be more liberal in overcommunicating with people. It's not going to hurt," Krol said.
 
The $25,900 budget was approved unanimously.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Deputy Director of Emergency Management $2,250 $2,250
Utilities $1,000 $0
Education and Training $500 $500
Code Red $30,000 $22,500
Supplies $100 $100
Emergency Operating Center $1,500 $2,800
Radio Amateur $150 $0
Radio Citizen $150 $0

Day 4

Posted: June 23, 2016 at 2:42 a.m.


Airport Manager Robert Snuck and Airport Commission Chairman Chris Pedersen had the most scrutinized budget.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Things got more intense on the fourth day of budget hearings with a number of split votes, testy back for fourth between councilors and department heads, and expressions of frustration as the meeting closed.
 
Ultimately, nothing changed in the mayor's proposed budget after the review of 11 budgets and approval of new water and sewer rates.
 
A team of three councilors — Kevin Morandi, Christopher Connell, and Anthony Simonelli with Connell taking the lead — found themselves on the losing end of votes to reduce about half of the proposed budgets. To date, after four days of budget hearings the City Council has asked the mayor to increase the budget by about $61,213.
 
The most testy issue on Wednesday was the Airport Commission's budget. Council President Peter Marchetti allowed much leeway in that discussion to veer away from the budget and into other aspects, including allowing Connell to make a motion to reduce the entire budget without specifying a line item, which is asked of in the City Charter.
 
Connell was one of three councilors to previously ask for a study group to focus on the operations at the airport. While the work isn't done, the Ward 4 representative said he has been hitting roadblocks with getting answers such as the possibility for increased fees. He motioned to reduce the entire budget by $30,000 in hopes to force the Airport Commission to raise landing and fuel fees.
 
The city spent about $80,000 this year on airport operations and Connell says it should be at least a break-even operation, if not turning in some revenue for the city. Connell called for the cut to push more aggressive revenue raising measures.
 
"We're still not there [the airport study group] as to making suggestions but it was made abundantly clear by somebody at the airport commission that we cannot control the fees," Connell said.
 
However, the hitch to that proposal is that the money from those fees are not in the budget. The Airport Commission doesn't have its own enterprise account and all of those fees go into the general fund as local receipts. Even if the commission raised fees, that money would not be able to be used in the operating budget. 
 
Thus, Airport Commission Chairman Chris Pedersen says the cuts needed to make up the $30,000 would mean a level of maintenance below standards required by the Federal Aviation Administration. Falling out of compliance with those grant assurances could be considered breaking a contract with the federal agency for previous grants, such as the one to expand the runway that was completed just a few years ago, and the city could be forced to repay the money.
 
"At this point we are at a very minimal budget to get done what we need to get done," Pedersen said.
 
Connell and Pedersen had some pointed words with each other, arguing over the number of planes landing and taking off, leading Marchetti to step in and refocus the discussion on the budget before the council.
 
Morandi, Simonelli and Councilor Donna Todd Rivers, who is also on the study committee, agreed with Connell. But, that was it.
 
Councilor Melissa Mazzeo was absent so the 6-4 vote halted the cut. He then tried a smaller number, $17,000, and got outvoted with the same three other councilors on his side. And ultimately, the four councilors were outvoted on the budget as proposed, leaving it in tact.
 
Connell, Morandi, and Simonelli were later outvoted on a motion to reduce the Department of Public Services budget for fuel by $50,000. Two motions made by Connell to reduce the water treatment's contractual and then professional services budgets were defeated in a split vote with only River, Simonelli, and Morandi in favor of the councilor's reduction. Connell then tried to cut out $50,000 in the sewer enterprise account which is eyed to replace a pickup truck. That too only found supporters in Rivers, Morandi, Connell, and Simonelli. 
 
As that point, Connell just tossed paperwork in front of him aside in frustration. 
 
The three councilors did most of the talking during the four-hour session, questioning the department heads. The rest of the city councilors listened to the explanations given, and adding their support at various parts for the budgets and adding further information about why each expense is needed. 
 
iBerkshires has been following the budget proceeding and have detailed each day's work. Further below, each of the department budgets questioned on Wednesday is detailed with the discussion the council had.

 

City Clerk

The city clerk's budget of $326,522 is proposed to decrease by $18,786. 
 
The budget eliminates stipends for the Licensing Board, which Mayor Linda Tyer said was a cost containment effort. During the open microphone period, Licensing Board member Richard Stockwell opposed the elimination of the stipend, saying the board's work is worthy of the pay. Further, Stockwell said such a change would need an ordinance change — which the council also approved on Wednesday.
 
"In the year 2015 and 2016, we issued 728 licenses in Pittsfield. We brought in $239,292 to the general fund. My stipend, last week, went into my checking account was $43.21," Stockwell said.

Licensing Board member Richard Stockwell asked the council not to cut stipends for board members to no avail.

Stockwell said the stipends date back to at least 1974 and maybe further. The board is responsible for oversight of liquor licenses and in just the last 18 months, three bars had to come before the board because of incidents.

Two of them have since installed security systems and the other is out of business. These measures were taken by the Licensing Board because of shooting incidents taking place in them. 

 
"We will make a decision whether it was a violation, we will discuss and debate any type of situation we want to put this bar in," Stockwell said, saying the board is judge and jury in regards to those businesses. 
 
Tyer said the decision to cut the stipend was "cost containment" and that other boards are still able to attract qualified members to handle important city business without a stipend.
 
"There are other boards that have equal responsibility such as the Community Development Board that do not receive a stipend," Tyer said.
 
City Clerk Jody Phillips said the board will now be entirely volunteer.
 
Councilors Kevin Morandi and Christopher Connell said they felt a reduction of $2,950 was small change when there could be larger consolidations made, questioning the wisdom of making such a small change that could lead to a large impact on the board. 
 
"We're looking at $3,000. I know it is a start on reducing but I have to agree with Councilor Connell that we should be looking at much larger departments for consolidation," Morandi said.
 
Tyer said consolidation of departments is on her list of things to look at but being in office only six months so far, the undertaking was too big to make any proposals before this budget was presented.
 
The stipend for the Board of Registrars was also cut in the proposed budget from $2,400 to nothing. Another $7,798 was reduced in the line for election officers, presumably because there is no city election this year thus reducing the city's cost to staff the polling locations. Election programming, election custodians, and election rentals also decreased by an aggregate of $1,800 and supplies were cut by $9,500. 
 
The budget does show increases for the annual census, education and training, and equipment maintenance as well as salary increases for six staff members in the department. 
 
Councilor at Large Kathleen Amuso asked Phillips to consider combining more polling locations in the future.
 
"I think space is the issue. I'd be willing to look at that if space is available," Phillips said.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
City Clerk $65,625 $67,264
Assistant City Clerk $39,090 $40,668
Head Clerk $34,885 $36,099
Assistant Clerk Registrar $36,180 $36,483
Election Officers $34,314 $26,516
Secretary Board $32,550 $33,862
Senior Clerk Typist $26,590 $26,980
Registrars Board $2,400 $0
Licensing Board $2,950 $0
Election Custodians $3,600 $2,600
Equipment Maintenance $5,424 $6,300
Election Programming $9,000 $5,600
Election Rentals $1,200 $900
Education and Training $1,000 $1,500
Legal Ads $500 $500
City Code Updates $10,000 $10,000
Records Preservation $2,000 $2,000
Supplies $23,000 $13,500
Census $15,000 $15,750

 

City Solicitor

The city solicitor's budget is down by $10,887, bringing the total to $217,813.
 
The city doesn't actually have a solicitor in place for 2017 but it will likely be Donovan and O'Connor, the only firm to submit a proposal in time during the request for proposal process. Mayor Linda Tyer had already contracted with the firm on a temporary basis to do an assessment as to whether it is better to hire a staff member, as the city had last year, or contract with a firm.
 
Tyer said the RFP period has ended as well as a help wanted ad for a staff member. Four firms took out packages but only two returned with bids, one of them being an hour late. Because the bid wasn't on time, legally the city can't consider it. Meanwhile, Tyer said the city advertised for a staff position and 284 people viewed the advertisement placed in a number of online sources. But nobody had applied.
 
The mayor will now be negotiating with Donovan and O'Connor to see if they can come to terms. Otherwise, the city would have to release another RFP.
 
"For stability and budget planning I will be looking for a contract that is more than a year," Tyer said.
 
The city has $102,000 budgeted for legal services for the coming year — $8,500 a month according to the temporary contract in place now. The city also pays $3,500 a month for labor attorney Fred Dupere. 
 
Thus, the legal services line has increased from $60,000 to $162,000 to accommodate the contract with Donovan and O'Connor while the line for the city solicitor staff member has been reduced from $77,472 to $1 and the assistant city solicitor dropped from $32,218 to $1 (the minimal funds are placeholders). Those positions plus the $60,000 added up to $172,690 last year and this year the total services added up to the $162,000 — thus accounting for most of the $10,000 cut from the budget. The executive legal secretary line is also dropping by $199 and all other lines are level funded.
 
"I think the amount we set aside for the fees will be sufficient," Tyer said.
 
The budget was approved unanimously.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
City Solicitor $77,472 $1
Assistant City Solicitor $35,218 $1
Executive Legal Secretary $39,210 $39,011
Tax Title Litigation $1,500 $1,500
Supplies $1,000 $1,000
Law Library $11,500 $11,500
Legal Fees and Court Costs $60,000 $162,000
Legal Settlements $0 $0
Equipment Maintenance $2,800 $2,800

 

$1,200


Personnel


Michael Taylor expects that with a push to hire more employees in public safety, there will be more of a need for physicals and other medical examinations. 
The first proposed cut of the fourth day came from the Personnel Department's budget, though the reduction did not received enough votes to pass. The budget remains at $229,797 as proposed by the mayor, which is $47,563 less than last year.
 
Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell proposed reducing the line for city physical by $5,000 but only Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli supported it. The city physician line is $60,000, up from $40,500 this year, and is for a contract with Berkshire Occupational Health to perform such medial exams and physicals and drug screenings on prospective employees. 
 
Director of Personnel Michael Taylor said with 12 new police officers starting the hiring process, six more possible during the year, a 12 retirements already expected, he expects to spend more this year on those exams. He said the city already spent $50,000 this year — above the $40,500 that was budgeted — and that was without a spree of new hires coming on board. He proposed raising the budget to the $50,000 to be more accurate with expenses and then added $10,000 to cover the additional cost of the new employees expected to come on board.
 
"That 10K bump is to be proactive to make sure I have the funds available," Taylor said.
 
Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli said the Police Department is only expecting a net increase of six officers, so the increase seems much. But, Taylor said there are many exams for a new hire including the dozen police officers who are being screened now to fill vacant position that existing employees don't have to take. The $50,000 spent last year was only replacing employees that had left whereas this year the budget covers that as well as the push to hire more in the public safety field.
 
"To me this is pretty simple math," Council Vice President John Krol said, saying that with more new hires, more testing, and thus more money needed to pay for it.
 
Council President Peter Marchetti agreed saying, "clearly there wouldn't be enough money in this line item as it is."
 
Ward 3 Councilor Nicholas Caccamo asked if there was a process for reviewing the jobs when somebody retires, and if there is consideration for eliminating the position. Taylor said an retiree typically notifies the office a year in advance and the job description is reviewed by himself, the mayor, and the department head. 
 
There are a total of 2,133 employees in the city, 500 or so on the city side and 600 or so on the school side the office manages. 
 
Despite the increase for the city physician, the budget is still down by $47,563. The majority of that is the elimination of a personnel specialist at a cost of $35,420 and in postage, which is decreasing by slightly less than $15,000. 
 
"We've eliminating our mail machine, which required a lease on the mail machine and supplies, and we are going to entirely move those services to Zip 'N Sort," Taylor said.
 
The budget does show an increase in educational opportunities of $1,500 and training for $1,500. Taylor said those increases are made to encourage city staff to take advantage of additional professional development opportunities available.
 
The proposed budget was approved with only Simonelli and Connell voting against it.
 
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Director of Personnel $64,025 $64,022
Personnel Technician $35,265 $35,675
Personnel Specialist $35,420 $0
Training $3,000 $4,500
Educational Opportunity $3,000 $4,500
City Physician $40,500 $60,000
Online Application Program $4,800 $5,600
Advertising $2,500 $2,500
Postage $85,850 $50,000
Supplies $3,000 $3,000

 

Building Inspectors

The building inspector's budget was approved easily with an increase of $15,943 over last year. The entire budget is at $388,758.
 
Building Commissioner Gerald Garner said the inspections brought in $532,521 in revenue to the general fund last year with staff averaging 15.6 inspections a day. He expects the number of inspections to decrease somewhat in the next year to be more in line with previous years but he hopes to do more inspections of multi-family rental units that staff hadn't had time for this year.
 
"This is pretty much a self-funding operation," said Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell, but questioned the use of temporary labor. 
 
Connell said there is still $2,000 left in that budget line from this year and wondered why the level needed to be sustained. Gardner, however, said he had been concerned with budget this year and had an inspector who had been working for the city come into his department at a higher pay scale than allocated for in the budget. Further, there was money that should have been spent on supplies pulled from the account. He said he was conservative with spending that money for most of the year just to keep operations running and that the remaining $2,000 will be spent by the end of the fiscal year. 
 
The supplies line is increasing by $3,800 this year, which Gardner explained is because new code changes are coming out, as they do every three years, requiring the department to have updated reference material.
 
Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli asked if the office supplies were being bought in bulk because every department has a line.
 
"Obviously it would be cheaper if we were buying all of the paperclips for the city of Pittsfield," Simonelli said.
 
Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said the office supplies for all city departments are bought in bulk and then charges to each individual department.
 
The budget was unanimously approved.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Senior Wire Inspector $49,075 $50,851
Building Commissioner $64,025 $64,022
Head Clerk $30,975 $32,103
Senior Clerk $25,935 $26,877
Building Inspectors $136,750 $143,888
Plumbing and Gas Inspector $45,555 $47,217
Temporary Labor $7,500 $7,500
Insurance Deductible $500 $0
Uniforms $1,500 $1,500
Telephone $3,500 $3,500
Supplies $7,500 $11,300

 

Airport

The Airport Commission's budget was the mostly hotly debated aspect of city spending on Wednesday night. 
 
The $203,296 budget is increasing by $3,952. Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell has been pushing for months for deeper review of the operations believing that the airport should be self-funding. Instead, the city is offsetting the operational costs by more than $80,000. 
 
Connell suggested taking $30,000 out of the budget to force the airport to raise landing and fuel fees because in part of a research group he's felt resistance from airport leadership to do so. The Airport Commission sets the fees and Connell believes there is room for those to increase to reduce the amount the city supplements the operations. He said at night there is nobody there to collect the fees.
 
"We seem to be basically on the honor system in collecting these fees and there hasn't been any movement. It seems like the city is funding the private enterprise of the fixed-based operator," Connell said.
 
He added that beyond that annual allocation, the city incurs debt for capital projects there and pays for those in a separate area of the budget. 
 
The research committee also got entangled in sorting out the leases at the Westwood Business Center in which $17,000 goes to the Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corporation while only $3,000 goes back to the city.
 
"Bottom line for me is that we are not turning a profit. It is costing more to operate that airport than we are taking in," Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi said.
 
However, the hitch to that proposal is that the money from those fees are not in the budget. The Airport Commission doesn't have its own enterprise account and all of those fees go into the general fund as local receipts. Even if the commission raised fees, that money would not be able to be used in the operating budget. Councilor at Large Peter White said while he'd like to see the findings of the research committee, he couldn't support the reduction because of the process.
 
Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said there is really no where to take the money from in the budget. 
 
Airport Commission Chairman Chris Pedersen says such a cut from the budget, which is mostly for maintenance, would render the organization out of compliance with the Federal Aviation Administration's grant assurances. When the city embarked on capital projects over the years, the FAA reimbursed the city 90 to 95 percent. But, that comes with the agreement to maintain the investment, he said. The FAA requires the grass to be cut to a certain level, snow be plowed when it gets past an inch, and have stringent rules on rocks and other aspects of the park.
 
For example, if the grass is too high and attracts geese and a plane hits one, it is the city's liability for not complying with FAA standards. 
 
"At this point we are at a very minimal budget to get done what we need to get done," Pedersen said.
 
If the city falls out of compliance with FAA's standards in the grant agreements, they "could very well come back and ask for all that money back," Pedersen said.
 
Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli said that situation is "frustrating."
 
"It doesn't seem like the city has any control over this. We are constantly spending money to upgrade the airport because the FAA says we have to," Simonelli said.
 
He added that he doesn't know anybody who uses the airport which triggered a retort from Pedersen saying, "you may not use it but I've never been to the library but some people do use it," Petersen said.
 
Pedersen says the airport is a part of transportation just as roads are maintained by the city to support transportation. He said a recent report showed the airport generates $34.5 million in economic activity from planes landing, eating at local restaurants, shopping at local stores, attending events, and then that money going to employees who spend on local activities. 
 
Further he said the Airport Commission is expecting to vote on an increase in fees Thursday and that they hadn't been raised in some years because the airport was under construction.
 
He also fired back at Connell's assertion that planes are taking advantage of the fact that there isn't anyone there at night to collect the landing fees.
 
"We do not have a huge number of planes flying in at 2 in the morning where the $50 landing fee would justify somebody being there," Petersen said.
 
Ward 5 Councilor Donna Todd Rivers questioned what the fixed-base operator, Lyon Aviation, does for the city. Airport Manager Robert Snuck said the company maintained the property it leases and that was an agreement signed a long time ago.
 
"They are agreements that we have to honor or you have to see if you can take those agreements to court," Snuck said.
 
Mayor Linda Tyer said now is not the time for a drastic cut. She said once the study group finishes its research and makes recommendation, then some of those changes can be implemented to increase revenues.
 
"The sooner that the study group can get some recommendations to me, the sooner I can work with the Airport Commission to begin implementing the recommendations if it is right for our city," Tyer said.
 
Council Vice President John Krol agreed saying that it is premature to cut the budget without making changes, adding that the council doesn't ask other departments to turn a profit.
 
Snuck said the airport has increased revenues already by 50 percent.
 
"Our income is up because our traffic is up because we have the longer runway," Snuck said.
 
Connell's motion failed in a close 6-4 vote with Rivers, Simonelli, Morandi supporting him. The same four also voted to decrease the budget by $17,000 but again was outvoted. The budget passed in a 6-4 vote as proposed by the mayor.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Airport Manager $58,204 $58,204
Airport Inspector $45,370 $45,370
Commission Clerk $1,560 $1,872
Janitorial Services $11,100 $12,000
Utilities $55,000 $56,800
Telephone $1,560 $1,500
Maintenance $14,500 $15,000
Snow Removal $8,000 $8,500
Supplies $2,550 $2,550
Equipment $1,500 $1,500

Public Services

The Public Services budget also withstood an attempt from Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell to cut it. The budget was approved at the proposed $3,957,916, which is $353,507 more than last year.
 
The councilors questioned a $100,000 allocation for a new budget line for contractual services. Commissioner of Public Services David Turocy said he created that line as one to both comply with new EPA stormwater standards as well as save Chapter 90 road money for paving projects.
 
The money is being spent to contract out street sweeping, line painting, and similar items. Then the city will use the state's Chapter 90 funds and city staff to do more pavement work on the street. Further, new EPA regulations calls for the streets to be swept twice a year, catch basins to be less than 50 percent full at all items, and drains to be regularly cleaned out. Those more stringent regulations are too much for city staff to handle in house, Turocy said.
 
"It sounds like based on your recommendation and comments that the residents will get good services with that money and we'll see cleaner streets," Ward 3 Councilor Nicholas Caccamo said.
 
The streetscape maintenance line is also increasing by $10,000 from $25,000 last year to $35,000. That money is for upkeep of the planters, flowerings, and other North Street features as part of the massive streetscape project. With the work extending further down North Street, there is more supplies needed, Turocy said.
 
Garage maintenance has also increased by $20,000 which Turocy said is more reflective of past costs. The money is for repairs to city vehicles and the department spent more than $250,000 last year. He upped the budgeted $200,000 by $220,000 to combat that overspending.
 
Connell's proposed reduction was in gas and diesel fuel. That had already been cut from last year by $100,000 from $500,000 to $400,000. But, with a mild winter keeping the plows at bay and low fuel costs, the department didn't spend nearly that much. 
 
"I'm comfortable reducing it by $100,000 but I am not comfortable doing anything more than that," Turocy said.
 
Connell said the prices are still low and that another $50,000 is achievable. He motioned to cut that line further by $50,000.
 
"Gas prices are down, diesel fuel, it has all gone down," Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi said.
 
The motioned failed thought with only Morandi, Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli, and Connell in favor and the rest opposed. The same three voted against the entire budget.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Comm of Public Service $1 $87,339
Inspector of Weights and Measures $40,070 $46,477
Superintendent $59,215 $55,970
Street Compliance Inspector $53,360 $54,169
Chief Street Foreman $50,786 $0
Highway Maintenance Craftsman $231,061 $227,228
Fleet Manager $49,560 $51,548
Working Foreman $50,786 $51,290
Motor Equipment Repairman $211,961 $215,183
Signal Maintainer $44,668 $44,668
Senior Clerk Typist $30,379 $30,901
Seasonal Labor $30,000 $30,000
Scheduled Overtime $85,000 $85,000
Snow/Ice Overtime $100,000 $100,00
Equipment Operators $216,635 $213,471
Contractual Services $0 $100,000
Utilities $50,000 $80,000
Street Lighting $450,000 $480,000
Maintenance $115,000 $115,000
Garage Maintenance $200,000 $220,000
Garage Lease $57,672 $57,672
Repairs - Streets $288,500 $350,000
Streetscape Maintenance $25,000 $35,000
Contract Street Sweeping $0 $0
Sand $550,000 $700,000
Garage Supplies $20,000 $20,000
Gasoline and Diesel Oil $500,000 $400,000
Tree Operations $60,000 $70,000
Highway and Traffic Supplies $35,000 $35,000

 

Public Utilities

The Department of Public Utilities administration budget was approved with little discussion. The $3,286,829 budget reflects an increase from last year of $107,535.
 
Solid waste collection is up by $12,198; solid waste disposal is up by $94,000; and solid waste recycle is up by $6,300. All three of those are contracted and the department is in the second year of a three-year lease with Covanta to do it.
 
Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said Pittsfield is only one of two municipalities in Berkshire County with public trash pick up and the contract is negotiated by staff and exempt from the public bidding process.
 
The three staff members are receiving salary increases totaling $3,037. 
 
Offsetting the increases somewhat is the elimination of hazardous material collection. That $8,000 expenditure gave Councilor At Large Peter White pause for concern as he hopes residents know where they can go to dispose of such items now that they will have to pay for it.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Commissioner of Public Utilities $89,530 $89,865
Office Manager $38,890 $40,254
Administrative Assistant $33,370 $34,708
Solid Waste Collection $1,208,104 $1,220,302
Solid Waste Disposal $972,000 $1,066,000
Solid Waste Recycle $716,400 $722,700
Household Hazardous Waste Collection $8,000 $0
Landfill Monitoring $106,000 $106,000
Office Supplies $7,000 $7,000

Engineering

The Engineering Department budget is showing an increase of $4,466 from last year. The total budget is $154,416.
 
The increase is comprised of $1,966 in salary increases and $2,500 in supplies.
 
Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell questioned a $10,900 line for professional services. According to Commissioner of Public Utilities Bruce Collingwood that line is to contract engineers to manage major projects. He says his staff handles the day to day work and many smaller projects but when it comes to major renovations to the water treatment plant, for example, a team of engineers specializing in that field is brought in for that work.
 
"My city staff supports the consultant we hire," Collingwood said.
 
Connell says with two professional engineers on staff, those projects should be handled in house. But Collingwood says those projects require specific specialties. While he and another staff members are professional engineers, they aren't specialized in the projects consultants are brought in to handle. Further, the large projects take so much time that the three staff members in the engineer department wouldn't be able to keep up with the day to day requests from all city departments.
 
"They really do work with a very large number of departments in the city," Collingwood said. "The volume is very high."
 
Connell rejected the notion that it would be a time burden and said Collingwood himself should have enough time since he is no longer in charge of the Public Services Department. For a while Collingwood headed both operations until David Turocy was hired to head the Public Services Department.
 
 "The difference between this year and last year, a lot of your work, your responsibilities have been cut in half," Connell said, adding that if Collingwood's team can't do it than "maybe you have the wrong players."
 
Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli questioned the increase in the supplies line. Collingwood said the $500 budgeted amount from last year was an arbitrary cut by the City Council and isn't enough to support the copier rental and service contract as well as replacing toners and ink cartages.
 
Nearly every city department has a line in the budget for copies, something Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood doesn't like. He said the vendor charges per copy and each machine has a copier and bill the individual departments.
 
"This bugs me quite frankly. The structure irritates me but at this point I don't see any other way to deal with it," Kerwood said.
 
The budget was approved unchanged.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
City Engineer $72,190 $72,462
Jr. Civil Engineer $39,440 $40,006
Sr. Clerk Typist $27,920 $29,048
Professional Services $10,900 $10,900
Supplies $500 $3,000

Sewer Enterprise

The Sewer Enterprise Account was approved with little discussion. The total budget is $457,891, which is down by $1,152. 

 
The changes to this budget from the year before is mostly centered on personnel. The working foreman salary is down by $4,813 while the four water and sewer maintenance persons are up by $2,431. A new line for contractual allowances was added at a cost of $1,500 while a $10,000 reduction was made to maintenance and a $10,000 addition made to contractual services.
 
Again Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell questioned the need for contractual services. The contractual services is for various work to the collection system, heribices to remove roots, line cleanings, and servicing lift stations. 
 
Ward 5 Councilor Donna Todd Rivers asked for more details on what those costs are.
 
"If you want to know who is being paid out of these line items, come see me," Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood responded, saying that all of the items paid from that are in the city's system.
 
The budget was approved.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
 Working Forman $49,304 $44,221
Wtr./Swr. Maintenance Persons $149,739 $152,170
Overtime $50,000 $50,000
Contractual Allowances $0 $1,500
Utilities $30,000 $30,000
Maintenance $50,000 $40,000
Stormwater Services $25,000 $25,000
Contractual Services $85,000 $95,000
Mains and Manhole Supplies $20,000 $20,000

Waste Water

The wastewater budget was approved at $5,102,183 which is an increase of $481,221 that will be paid with an increase in residential sewer fees of 6.7 percent.
 
The major driver of that budget is debt services, which accounts for a total of $168,864. Another $47,387 is for salary increases for the 26 staff members and overtime. 
 
But what struck Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell was a $50,00 expenditure in equipment. Commissioner of Public Utilities Bruce Collingwood said that $50,000 was being used to replace a pickup truck. Connell says there are already too many vehicles and attempted to cut that line by $50,000.
 
"I don't think we should be buying any vehicles until we do an adequate inventory of vehicles citywide," Connell said.
 
His motioned failed in a 6-4 vote with Councilors Kevin Morandi, Donna Todd Rivers, and Anthony Simonelli supporting Connell. 
 
The entire budget was approved by the same vote total.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Sewer Superintendent $59,212 $61,604
Work Foreman Water Machine Repairmen $46,933 $48,819
Sr. Civil Engineer $29,892 $30,340
Chemist $53,369 $55,523
GIS Coordinator $29,892 $30,340
Water Machine Repairmen $151,905 $151,070
Lab Technicians $76,503 $71,465
Chief TPO Shift $52,057 $54,170
Head TPO Shift $193,843 $194,791
TPO Shift $329,999 $361,918
Head TPO Float Shift $81,894 $87,338
Senior Clerk Typist $30,379 $31,587
Seasonal Labor $38,400 $38,400
Overtime $95,000 $95,000
Contractual Allowances $0 $6,000
Utilities $550,000 $500,000
Chemical Process $230,000 $220,000
Maintenance $280,000 $260,000
Sludge Handling $375,000 $375,000
Contractual Services $110,000 $110,000
Professional Services $180,000 $180,000
Supplies $50,000 $45,000
Capital Improvements $50,000 $0
Acquisition of Equipment $50,000 $50,000
Maturing Debt $627,809 $728,981
Interest on Debt $384,403 $442,095
Debt Issuance Costs $15,000 $25,000
Allocation to the General Fund $453,772 $847,742

Water Treatment

The Water Treatment enterprise account was approved at the proposed $4,489,123. That is an increase of $94,160, which will be made up with a 2 percent increase to residential water rates.
 
As with the engineering budget, Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell took aim at the professional services line. This is used for work on larger projects the department can't manage in house. The money is used to avoid borrowing money for repairs, according to Commissioner of Public Utilities Bruce Collingwood. Such an example is a water line break on West Housatonic Street. By having that money available, the Water Department was able to make the repairs without having to borrow money.
 
Collingwood did however add that he used it to transfer money into other lines in the budget, which wasn't to Connell's liking.
 
"I have a plan as to what I want to do with it but I make sure my operating line items are properly supported," Collingwood said.
 
Connell says that between that line and the contractual services line there is $380,000 that is not allocated to specific projects. He motioned to reduce the professional services line by $100,000 but failed to get the votes and then motioned to reduce the professional services line by $50,000 but also failed to get the votes.
 
"It sounds like it is being used as a slush fund for discrepancies," Connell said.
 
Connell said if such a reduction was made to the budget a project to repair the Upper Second Reservoir dam would have to be put on hold, which the city is under order to repair by the Office of Dam Safety.
 
The budget was approved as proposed.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Water Superintendent $57,772 $60,100
Working Foreman $49,304 $51,290
Sr. Civil Engineer $29,892 $30,340
Wtr./Swr. Maintenance Person $154,104 $154,312
GIS Coordinator $29,892 $30,340
Water Mach. Repairman $76,652 $77,762
Chief TPO Non-Shift $0 $50,170
Head TPO Non-Shift $51,548 $0
TPO Non-Shift $187,108 $207,345
Meter Reader $34,161 $34,666
Senior Clerk Typist $35,057 $36,292
Season Labor $38,400 $38,400
Overtime $95,000 $95,000
Contractual Allowances $0 $4,500
Utilities $370,000 $350,000
Taxes $140,000 $146,000
Maintenance $290,000 $300,000
Contractual Services $200,000 $200,000
Professional Services $180,000 $180,000
Supplies $40,000 $40,000
Chemicals $290,000 $290,000
Capital Improvements $50,000 $0
Acquisition of Equipment $75,000 $75,000
Maturing Debt $670,867 $732,433
Interest on Debt $380,368 $336,362
Debt Issuance Cost $15,000 $15,000
Allocation to General Fund $854,865 $949,811

Day 5

Posted June 24, 2016 at 1:51 a.m.


The Council cut the most out of two budgets overseen by Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood on the final day of hearings.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — After reviewing the mayor's proposed spending plan over the course of 22 hours, the City Council settled on an amount just $4,713 more than the mayor had proposed.
 
The City Council gave a preliminary nod to a 151,298,664 city budget, which reflects a $6,075,123 increase over the last year, after reviewing the final four budgets during another five and a half hour session.
 
Those four final budgets revealed the most changes as the Community Development office returned with the $123,000 restoration of the human service line item as agreed to on the first day and the council then reduce $56,500 from three other lines.
 
Thursday's session also included approval of the capital budget, which we will detail in a separate story, as well as the use of $2 million in free cash to offset the tax rate.
 
In the first day of five, the City Council cut $61,787 from a handful of budgets but at the same time restored the $123,000 cut to the human services, rending a net gain of $61,213. Through the following three session nothing had changed in the proposed budget. 
 
In the final day, cuts were made to the Finance and Administration and Unclassified budgets to the tune of $56,500. All of the changes combined yield a total increase to the budget of $4,713.
 
The restoration of the Community Development budget, however, came with some confusion. The council had asked for a $27,787 reduction to the community development specialists lines but Mayor Linda Tyer had returned with a budget with that still remaining. The mayor said the city solicitor ruled that the council could not lower the salary of a union employee so it had to stay.
 
"We are not able, and neither are you, to reduce the compensation of a union employee," Tyer said. "If you reduce that line item, we will still have to fund it and pay it."
 
But, Councilor At Large Kathleen Amuso said he intent in the reduction was to turn one of the three in that job into a part-time job. With retirements pending, she felt that was doable. 
 
The department has three staff members in that title and half of that  - 1.5 FTE  - is paid for through the Community Development Block Grant. The other half is by the city. The number cut, $27,787, wasn't reflective of turning a position into part-time. That number also included a step increase for an employee. 
 
Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood suggested the council motions to reduce a position and that he would return with the dollar figure reflective of doing so. But that vote failed to receive enough support.
 
In the end, the council agreed to approve the budget as they had amended on the first day, which included the full $27,787 reduction, and can amend it at the final approval next Tuesday pending review of that legal opinion. 
 
Even though the council was pretty unanimous in supporting the human services budget, when dozens of community groups took to the open microphone asking for the restoration, some councilors back tracked on Thursday and attempted to half or even restore the mayor's proposed cut entirely. 
 
Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi said that since the entire budget hadn't yielded any cuts since the restoration vote was made, a vote was in favor of, he couldn't support it any more. He motioned to cut the human services line back down by the $123,000 just restored. But, to no avail.
 
"We can't keep spending and waiting until next year and the year after that," Morandi said.
 
Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli said tried to cut it by $65,000 but also to no avail. In the end, the human service line remained at $138,000.
 
Later, Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell found language in a health insurance mitigation fund which capped the allotment at $250,000 a year, a cap Kerwood hadn't noticed in the agreement with the former administration and the union. That led to a reduction of $29,000. Councilor At Large Melissa Mazzeo was also successful in cutting Kerwood's contingency budget by $25,000. And $2,500 was cut from Kerwood's legal ads and subscriptions line.
 
iBerkshires has been following the process throughout and below is a review of each day, and each budget line. The final budget will go before the City Council on Tuesday for final approval.

Finance and Administration

The Finance and Administration budget of was reduced by $2,500 to a total of $1,425,245 after little debate.
 
The reduction came from the legal ads and subscription section. Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said he could "make it work" with the reduction, which was made by Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell based on the historical spending. That line had been at $20,000 last year and was dropped by $2,500 already in the mayor's proposed plan. The city is now planning to spend $15,000 on it.
 
The council also questioned a new line for tax collection services. Kerwood said that was done to bring all of the tax bill mailing into one area instead of through three different departments. He said part of the $2,500 reduction in legal ads and subscriptions was due to those efforts as well as reduction in postage from the Personnel Department.
 
"We are consolidating all of the processes involved in sending out the tax bills," Kerwood said.
 
The council also questioned the current spending on equipment, which is a copier lease, and revaluations. But left those lines untouched.
 
The total budget is increased over the prior year  by $22,491. That includes a reduction in personnel expenses for a number of positions totally $2,640 and offset by increases for the new tax collection line, and $30,131 more for the revaluation.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
IT Manager $66,670 $67,663
City Accountant $50,661 $59,659
Administrative Assistant $31,290 $31,755
Assessors $188,515 $185,340
Treasurer $85,510 $81,389
Tax Collector $64,249 $64,246
Info Systems Specialists $113,160 $109,756
Assistant Treasurer $39,085 $40,512
Assistant Tax Collector $40,070 $41,683
Purchasing Agent $64,249 $64,249
Deputy Purchasing Agent $37,585 $33,661
Head Clerk $30,215 $31,316
Account Clerk-Assessor $31,290 $31,755
Buyer $32,975 $27,804
Payroll Specialist $39,660 $40,905
Junior Accountant $41,070 $42,554
Benefits Analyst $39,660 $40,905
Principal Clerk Cashiers $51,820 $55,276
Senior Account Clerks $84,895 $87,688
Network Administrator $58,625 $59,498
Tax Collection Services $0 $60,000
Equipment Maintenance $20,000 $20,000
Revaluation $120,000 $150,131
Legal Ads and Subscription $20,000 $17,500 *Reduced to $15,000
Supplies $40,000 $40,000

 

Workers Compensation

The Workers Compensation Line remained level funded at $750,000. 
 
"It is a crap shoot. You don't know what is going to happen during the course of the year," Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said.
 
The budget is unknown from year to year because it so dependent on what happens with the city's workers. Kerwood said with such uncertain budgets the goal is to provide consistency knowing that some years the city will come out on top and others will fall behind. The hope is that there is enough money for those years the city falls behind to minimize how far so that there is room in other budgets to make up the difference.
 
The money that is not spent goes into free cash or used to cover deficits in others lines. If there is deficit, the city needs to shuffle money around to cover it.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Compensation Payments $335,000 $335,000
Medical Payments $225,000 $225,000
Injured on Duty - Police and Fire $190,000 $190,000

Unclassified

The Unclassified Budget took the largest hit in the final day of budget sessions. In total the budget was reduced by the City Council by $54,000.
 
The total budget is $46,282,346, which is an increase of $1,912,971 over last year. The reductions from the mayor's proposal to get to that number came from the contingency fund and the health insurance mitigation fund.
 
Councilor At Large Melissa Mazzeo proposed cutting the contingency by $25,000. That line was funded at $275,000 last year and was proposed to increase to $300,000. Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said the line serves a number of purposes from insurance payouts to fight lawsuits to purchasing a new mail folding machine and to even pay for whatever happens with collective bargaining sessions that are ongoing.
 
"We're in negotiations with four units, five units, at the moment. We have decided to take the money that has been potentially use for the settlement and put it into contingency," Kerwood said.
 
The health insurance mitigation fund was created last year when former Mayor Daniel Bianchi negotiated a move from the GIS to Blue Cross Blue Shied for health insurance. The agreement requires the city to put aside 25 percent of all of the savings recouped in the year and cut checks to the few employees who saw increases instead of decreases in premiums. The checks brought the employee's payments back to what he was paying in the GIS. Any money not spent in the year remains in the account and after three years, the money is split among those employees.
 
"The total mitigation amount is greater than what was sent out, what was returned to the employees. That money, by agreement, has to stay in the mitigation fund for three years and then be dispersed back out," Kerwood said.
 
That fund was proposed to increase from $250,000 set aside last year to $329,049, which includes the 25 percent allocation for this year and the money left over from last year. However, Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell did the math and said the account was being overfunded. That led to a recess to figure out what the city was contractually obligated to do.
 
Kerwood returned after the break to say that there is a clause that restricts the payment the city has to set aside to $250,000 when constructing the budget and this year the savings eclipsed that mark. That led to the reduction of $29,000 which brought this year's allocation down to the maximum.
 
One of the largest drivers of the budget is in health insurance. Ward 3 Councilor Nicholas Caccamo suggested moving forward the city negotiate with the unions to come up with a better deal. He suggested offering that the city pays five percent more of the cost for employees on a more inexpensive plan and reducing the city's contribution by 5 percent to those who choose the more expensive plan.
 
"When we start this process, roughly 10 to 13 percent of our operating budget is already spent," Caccamo said.
 
He said with ever 5 percent shifted, the city sees a $1 million savings while the employees see a $450 increase. Caccamo suggested the state needs to do more to help cities and towns with this cost, and even hinted at a single-payer system, to help ease the burden.
 
"We could free up any of this money, we could move away from these discussions of 10, 15, 20 here. We here is $20 million on the table," Caccamo said.
 
He added, "this is something that will break us and eat away at the levy ceiling quicker than anything,"
 

 

Overall the spending on staff for the office decreased by $30,000 with the reduction coming from overtime. But that is a drop in the budget compared to the $1.3 million for health insurance and nearly $1 million for debt payments.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
40U Hearings Officer $2,500 $2,500
40U Clerk $1,500 $1,500
Crossing Guards $25,000 $25,000
Scheduled Overtime $130,000 $100,000
Insurance Medicare Coverage $1,010,000 $1,156,751
Insurance Health $20,150,000 $21,500,000
Health Ins. Mitigation Account $250,000 $329,049 *Reduced to $300,049
Insurance General $1,034,000 $1,034,000
Insurance Group Life $82,500 $85,000
Insurance Unemployment $220,000 $220,000
Retirement Contribution $11,091,402 $11,612,235
Benefits Conversion $400,000 $400,000
Animal Shelter Management Fee $52,360 $52,360
Telephone and Internet $125,000 $125,000
Computer Upgrade and Repair $70,000 $70,000
Computer License and Support $220,000 $230,000
City Audit $95,000 $95,000
Contractual Services $118,540 $110,000
Tyler Street Business Group $10,000 $0
Medicaid Services $40,000 $40,000
Seminars/Travel/Dues $25,000 $25,000
Bank Service Charges $15,000 $15,000
Contingency $275,000 $300,000 *Reduced to $275,000
Capital Expenditures $230,000 $300,000
Long-term Debt Principal $7,216,120 $7,714,469
Long-term Debt Interest $2,409,090 $2,153,264
Short-term Debt Interest $250,000 $337,771
Debt Issuance Costs $130,000 $100,000
Allocation from Water ($854,865) ($949,811)
Allocation from Sewer ($453,772) (847,742

 


Community Development

Day 5

The Community Development Budget returned to the council with not only the human services line item restored, but a line the council had voted to cut.
 
In the first day of hearing the City Council voted to send the budget back to the mayor seeking a total of $641,258. The mayor returned with a budget of $669,045. The additional $27,787 was a cut the City Council had made to the community development specialist line item.
 
"You just can't reduce the compensation from a union position," Mayor Linda Tyer said of the reason those funds were back.
 
Tyer said she consulted the city solicitor who said the cut was illegal. Councilor At Large Kathleen Amuso, who was upset that she hadn't been told about that opinion, said the intent was to cut one of the three positions in the department from full-time to half time. The three full-time staff jobs are split in funding between the federal Community Development Block Grant and the city was told that since some of the work one staff member was doing didn't conform with the grant program, it had to be moved to the city budget.
 
"There are four people retiring so we have the opportunity to restructure with half time people," Amuso said.
 
Amuso made the motion to then cut it out of the budget. But, she did so by reducing the increase to the city's cost for that line. She didn't know that that $27,787 also reflected a slight increase for step raises for a second position. After some confusions and requests to receive a copy of that legal opinion, the City Council ultimately dismissed the funds Tyer had put into the line in hopes to review that legal opinion. If on Tuesday the council believes the position can't be reduced, or needs to be reduced by a different amount, the council can make amendments then.
 
Council Vice President John Krol and Councilor At Large Peter White opposed the reduction saying the job is too important to be reduced.
 
"While it seems like a small cut, it is cutting our nose despite our face," Krol said.
 
Krol said the position in question is for someone who is a "point person" in helping businesses who need to know about zoning, available assistance, helps find office space or available real estate, and working with the Pittsfield Economic Development Corporation. 
 
It is a very vital position," said Director of Community Development Janis Akerstrom. "This is the only economic development position the city has to support businesses in the community."
 
She added that PERC is going through a planning process and until that is done, it isn't know how to reorganize the department because the position is "tied into" PERC. 
 
The human service restoration also faced heavy debate, for the second time during the budget process. The mayor restored the line per the council's request but some councilors reopened the debate over its place in the entire spending plan. Tyer had sought to cut out that expense because it was outside of what she called the "core areas" government is responsible.
 
"This is an area we will have to look at again in FY18," Tyer said.
 
The city allocates funding to 17 different service agencies through both this line item and $154,000 in CDBG funding. Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli said the cut of the city's portion was too drastic and caught a lot of the agencies off guard. He motioned to cut the restored budget by $65,000 to support the agencies over the next year as they prepared for further reductions in the next budget.
 
"Organizations are going to have to do more fundraising on their own," Simonelli said.
 
Councilor At Large Peter White opposed the move saying, "eliminating this in this way will have devastating effects on everything we are trying to accomplish.. I can't support cutting it just because the rest of the budget didn't go the way some thought it might."
 
Cutting the budget because of the way the rest of the sessions is what Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi had argued. Morandi said since there were no other reductions, circling back to this one was worth the effort. He later motioned to cut it back out, as the mayor had first recommended.
 
"I supported sending this back. I feel I am left with no choice because we did not make reductions for the first four budget hearings we had," Morandi said.
 
Both of those motions failed.
 
Simonelli later targeted the Tyler Street Business Group, questioning a $10,000 increase for them. Akerstrom said the money is going to help the organization sponsor gatherings, buy banners, promote Tyler Street, and assist with the Transformational Development Program the state is support to redevelop the Morningside neighborhood.
 
Eventually, the Council stuck to its guns approving the budget they had wanted after the first meeting.
The Office of Community Development's budget was the most hotly debated section Monday with dozens of residents speaking during the public hearing calling for the reinstatement of a $123,000 cut to the human services line. More on that debate will be available in a followup story. 
 
Day 1
 
The City Council sent the budget back to the mayor asking for that money to be reinstated but that was after the council agreed to cut $27,787 out the proposal. Councilor at Large Kathleen Amuso called for the $27,787 cut to the community development specialist position, bringing it back in line with this year's budgeted amount.
 
According to Director of Community Development Janis Akerstrom, there are three positions in the department mostly funded by Community Development Block Grant funds. But, she determined some of the jobs the employees were doing didn't fit the guidelines of the federal program. The $27,787 was added to the budget to pay those staff members for the work outside of the program.
 
Amuso's reduction passed in a close 6-5 vote, as was the case with many of the proposed cuts. Amuso was joined by Councilors Donna Todd Rivers, Kevin Morandi, Christopher Connell, Anthony Simonelli, and Lisa Tully.
 
"I don't see any savings by reducing the amount of personnel we have doing some of the most important work," Councilor at Large Peter White said in opposition to the cut.
 
The Council also questioned an increase in lake management. According to Akerstrom, that line was reduced last year to $20,000 because there was a capital project to do a larger treatment but that was never done.
 
"Last year it was dropped $10,000 and instead there was a capital acquisition for around $72,000 in order to do a systematic rehabilitation of the lakes," Akerstom said.
 

Community Development Director Janis Akerstrom's budget was sent back to the mayor to restore the human services line.
That treatment was expected to reduce the cost of the annual chemical treatments the department does to control invasive species and weeds but since it was never done, and money never spent, the budget needs to be brought back up.
 
"There was no need to do the systemic treatment because the weed growth wasn't as dramatic as predicted," Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said.
 
Kerwood said the additional $15,000 that was cut last year is still being paid for but through the unclassified budget because it wasn't budgeted. 
 
The council asked the mayor to restore the budget for human services to the $138,000 requested by the department. Some 17 nonprofit service organizations including the YMCA, Elizabeth Freeman Center, and the Marilyn Hamilton Literacy and Sports program are funded through annual grants from the city. 
 
"These agencies are the support services behind some of the issues we have with substance abuse and everything else. Many of these organizations really go hand in hand," Connell said."They need it. We need it. Pittsfield needs it."
 
The mayor said her discussion to cut it from last year's $140,000 to just $15,000 was a difficult decision but one that was made when focusing in on what the city needs to provide its citizens. She said there is other funding available for the nonprofits to seek and that the city's funding should be focused on public education, public service, and public safety instead.
 
"There were priorities we had to put up against one another," Tyer said.
 
This budget also includes support for Downtown Pittsfield Inc. that was also cut by the mayor. However, Downtown Pittsfield Inc. President Jesse Cook-Dubin addressed the council to say the organization does not oppose the reduction of $10,750,
 
"We are partners with you. And we're very much aware of the city's unprecedented financial crisis," Cook-Dubin said, saying he worked with the mayor ahead of time on the reduction.
 
Overall the budget was proposed at $546,054 by the mayor. But if the mayor returns with the $123,000 added to human services to bring that back to $138,000 as well as making the $27,787 cut, the budget would stand at $641,28, which is $15,593 more than this year.
 
Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval
Director $40,852 $40,851
Parks Open Space Planner $64,250 $64,001
City Planner $61,150 $61,150
Conservation Agent $49,070 $50,851
Planning Administrator $4,000 $4,000
Executive Secretary $40,456 $40,905
Community Development Specialist $47,579 $75,366 *Reduced to $47,579
Administrative Assistant $6,997 $7,192
Playground Leaders $18,879 $18,879
ZBA Clerk $801 $0
Season Labor $17,195 $17,195
Recreation Coordinator $40,456 $40,905
Permitting Coordinator $0 $0
Human Services $140,000 $15,000 *Expected to Increase to $138,000
Land Use and Zoning $0 $2,000
Lake Management $20,000 $35,000
Conservation Management $0 $0
Supplies $8,000 $8,000
Recreation Programs $7,000 $7,500
Downtown Inc. $43,000 $32,250
Tyler Street Business Group $1,000 $10,000
Planning Studies $15,000 $15,000
 

 

 

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