GREENFIELD — In spite of an extra $101,000 in the city’s proposed budget, City Council won’t be able to use it to increase Greenfield public school funding, according to the city’s attorney.
The City Council is expected to vote later this month on an amended budget from Mayor William Martin, which will have $101,000 less for police. The amendment came after the mayor proposed more than what is needed to fund additional school resource officers in April. According to a legal opinion from the city’s attorney, the council will not be able to use the extra money to increase school funding, which was suggested previously.
Finance Director Elizabeth Braccia said that a legal opinion “stated that because it was a clerical error and never really needed for the original budget, the amended budget is now what is before the council.”
The legal opinion noted that since the money was incorrectly put into the budget, the council cannot re-allocate it and should vote to accept the amendment.
According to council President Karen “Rudy” Renaud, the decision to vote in favor of the changed budget would follow the “spirit” of the city’s charter, which gives the mayor the ability to set the finances for the city.
“It would behoove us to keep with the charter and pass the amendment,” Renaud said.
Martin made the error when adding funding for two full-time school resource officers in the police budget. A total of $114,000 should have been requested, which would cover the cost for the two officers. Instead, $215,000 was put into the budget.
The officers are being added in response to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School shooting in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17 people. Other districts have looked to add school resource officers in the wake of the shooting as well, including the Gill-Montague Regional School district.
Braccia suggested previously that the extra money may be able to be moved to the school department’s budget, which received considerably less money than requested. Martin’s budget gave the public schools $18.175 million, which was $828,956 less than the School Committee requested, and was just a 0.95 percent increase in funding from last year.
School Superintendent Jordana Harper also said that she would look to add the $101,000 to the schools budget during a City Council meeting last month.
Braccia said, though, that the council has two other options if its members want to increase funding for Greenfield schools.
According to another legal opinion from the city’s attorney, the council could take money from other departments and move that same amount to the school budget.
The council could also put more money into the school department’s budget without taking funds from other departments. But this decision would raise the estimated tax levy, Braccia said, and that levy cannot exceed a 2.5 percent increase, or Proposition 2½.
Both options only allow money moved to the school department totaling School Committee’s initial budget proposal, which was $19,003,956 for Greenfield public schools.
With the current budget, the estimated rate is $22.65 per $10,000. If the entire School Committee’s recommendation is added, then the tax rate would jump to $23.22 per $10,000.
You can reach Dan Desrochers at:
ddesrochers@recorder.com
413-772-0261, ext. 257