GREENFIELD — City councilors expressed frustration about not having a chance to review the mayor’s proposed budget before the Ways & Means Committee meeting on Wednesday evening, claiming discrepancies between the figures presented in City Hall and those in the budget books.
John Bottomley, Katherine Golub and Mike Terounzo in particular chimed in to stress the importance of further, clearer information before the proposed $61.6 million spending plan goes up for a vote.
“These numbers are not in the budget book and this is the first time we’re seeing them,” Golub told Finance Director Diana Schindler and Mayor Roxann Wedegartner in City Hall’s second-floor meeting room, adding that she and her colleagues could not make informed decisions with the information presented.
Golub said she already has dedicated several workdays to trying to decipher the proposed numbers.
Bottomley, attending the meeting remotely, became irritated when Schindler seemingly inadvertently spoke over him and he needed to “talk about the elephant in the room” — the proposed $1.5 million cut in education spending. He noted he was venting his frustration but the city councilors work full-time jobs and have the difficult task of ironing out a massive budget.
The proposed overall budget is $61.6 million. If adopted, this would be an increase of $3.7 million, or 6.47% over the current budget. The proposed education spending is $22.8 million, an increase of $573,625. But this includes a proposed $1.5 million cut to the School Committee’s recommended budget, reducing the department’s requested increase over the current fiscal year’s numbers from 10.35% to 3%.
The total $22.9 million operating budget for education, which includes allocations for Franklin County Technical School and Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, makes up a 3.57% increase over the current fiscal year. Wedegartner’s proposed cuts reduce Greenfield Superintendent Christine DeBarge’s proposed $21.25 million budget — which School Committee members voted last month to accept — by 6.7%. Wedegartner, who is also a member of the School Committee, abstained from the vote.
According to Schindler’s presentation, state revenue makes up 30.12% (or $20.6 million) of projected budget revenue for fiscal year 2024. State aid includes Chapter 70 school aid, charter tuition reimbursement, veterans benefits and payments in lieu of taxes for state-owned land. Local revenues also consist of tax receipts and money from parking meters and mandatory trash bag stickers, as well as the money in stabilization and free cash.
Schindler explained the city has contractual obligations to employees, including in the school district. She also noted that Greenfield must retain high-quality department heads in an extremely competitive employment market. She mentioned there is an increase in personnel costs for active employees and retirees, mostly for health insurance and other fringe costs. She added that state law requires cities and towns to have balanced budgets each year.
Echoing the sentiment of Bottomley and Golub, Terounzo said at the end of Wednesday’s meeting that this was a lot of information to “digest in one evening” and he and his colleagues often have to rewatch recordings of meetings to absorb all the figures. He pointed out that the proposed budget numbers were calculated by salaried employees and must now be scrutinized by city councilors who balance their civic duty with full-time jobs.
“We’re paid very lightly,” Terounzo said, “and we’re trying our best to do our due diligence.”
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or
413-930-4120.