GREENFIELD — City Council unanimously approved a $70.18 million budget for fiscal year 2027 on Wednesday night.
The budget, representing a roughly 3% increase over FY26, saw one floor amendment during Wednesday’s meeting. Following previous discussion by Ways and Means Committee members, the full council voted to reduce the police expenses line by $6,000.
Police Chief Todd Dodge told the committee last month that the $6,000 would cover building maintenance, which committee members suggested should be taken over by the Central Maintenance Department. With agreement from Dodge and the Central Maintenance Department, the council voted to reduce the mayor’s proposed $70,024,736 budget to $70,018,736.
In the budget book, Mayor Ginny Desorgher said this was a challenging budget year, as the city faces increasing health insurance and pension costs, paired with a reduction of $297,000 in state aid.
“Taken together, major cost drivers such as health insurance, School Choice assessments,
charter school assessments, costs of goods and services, and contractual salary increases
are growing at a faster pace than the city’s ability to generate new revenue,” she said.
Line items that saw particularly high percentage increases for FY27 include assessing, which is getting a 110% increase; dispatch, which has expenses increasing by 186.5%; and unemployment insurance, which is set to increase by 67%.
Meanwhile, line items set to see larger cuts, percentage-wise, include election expenses, which is being decreased by 44%, and the Council on Aging and Recreation Department, which will both see reductions of 12%. Animal control services will see a 100% reduction in staffing as these duties are being outsourced to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.
The only line item to see a longer discussion during the council meeting was Recreation Department staffing. In FY27, the department will lose its youth coordinator position and the associated Rec Room after-school program.
Rec Room
The Rec Room has garnered significant public support from parents who have consistently shown up at City Council, Recreation Commission, and Ways and Means Committee meetings to speak during public comment, including Wednesday night.
“This is a place where they get to experience a bit more freedom and maturity and independence, and it’s been facilitated by the really amazing Rec Department we have here in town,” said Andrew Petitdemange, a parent of a sixth grader who attended the after-school program. “It also has impacts on the broader local economy, because if parents don’t have this additional place for young people to be while they’re working, it can impact family budgets.”
In response to public comment and questions on her budget, Desorgher said that with limited funding, she had to choose her priorities for this year, and her main concerns were public safety and supporting Greenfield’s aging population.
“It’s a well-known fact that our senior population is growing rapidly. In the year 2000, our senior population was about 17%. It’s now 24% and will increase to 30% of the population by 2030,” Desorgher said. “Conversely, the number of children aged 0 to 18 has decreased from 20% in 2000 to 15% in 2020. … The poverty rate in those over 65 is 17%. That’s the highest of any age group in the city. The seniors may not be here lobbying you, but they do need your help.”
Desorgher said if the city could afford it, she would love to add staff to the emergency services, information technology, public works and senior services departments, as well as at the Greenfield Public Library. This year’s budget includes cutting positions and reducing staff hours in the police, fire, dispatch, IT, energy, licensing, economic development and recreation departments, as well as the Council on Aging.
“We have needs in most departments, and they would function more efficiently and effectively with more staff overall, but we have a very high tax rate relative to household income,” Desorgher said. “That’s why my focus on reducing the cost for Greenfield households is also a priority.”
For FY26, Greenfield’s tax rate was certified by the state Department of Revenue at $18.64 per $1,000 valuation, resulting in an average tax bill of $6,063 for a single-family home.
With the $70.18 million budget, the city is projecting a tax rate of $20.14 per $1,000 valuation.
City councilors said that they wished the youth coordinator position could be funded, but they cannot increase the budget presented to them by the mayor, only reduce it.
“We can’t add money to budgets; we can only cut as a City Council,” President Lora Wondolowski said. “Which makes it really hard. Our hands are tied here.”
“I’m not going to make an amendment; I have no power to make an amendment currently, but I think I echo a lot of people in the city,” Precinct 1 Councilor Katherine Golub said. “And I’m really sad that as of this budget, there is no after-school for middle schoolers in our town.”
Precinct 6 Councilor Patricia Williams said the program could be funded using two part-time positions paid out of the Recreation Department’s revolving fund, and she hopes a solution can be worked out to ensure the program continues.
“We’re still in that perfect storm,” Precinct 4 Councilor John Bottomley said. “It’s very important to keep [in mind] the big numbers of increased retirement, increased health care, lack of federal funding — these are all adding to this big crisis, but I believe in our department heads. We’ll find a way to save this program because it’s important and Director [Christy] Moore has done really good work.”
