Easthampton approves $48.5 million budget for FY23

June 22, 2022 | Trent Levakis and Max Bowen
tlevakis@thereminder.com

Members of the Easthampton Education Association protest outside of a City Council meeting, objecting to the budget proposed by Mayor Nicole LaChapelle which includes $560,000 less for the schools.
Reminder Publishing photo by Max Bowen

EASTHAMPTON – After a contentious budgeting season in the city of Easthampton, the City Council approved the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) budget at $48.5 million, an almost $3 million increase from the last year.

The final run through and approval of the proposed budget comes after a resolution was met between the School Committee and Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, who first presented a proposed school budget of $17.89 million. Her proposal was over $500,000 less than the school department’s request of $18.45 million and looked to increase the budget by 4.63 percent as opposed to the 7.91 percent increase the committee had requested.

Following weeks of contentious comments, the agreement was signed with the goal of alleviating the budget issues, despite some last-minute obstacles.

The non-binding “good faith” statement establishing a collaboration and further understanding and communication between city government and the school department was supposed to be discussed at the School Committee’s meeting on June 14, however, LaChapelle made allegations of two potential violations of the Open Meeting Law. The first was that the committee’s agenda made no specific mention of the agreement, only that the budget would be discussed. The second was that email conversations between public officials about the agreement constituted a quorum, and she planned to follow up with state officials.

“To think that many people are typing [on social media] that the mayor is trying to block or retaliate – I am the mayor of 16,211 people. I have no doubt that the budget I proposed is more than adequate and there is additional money coming from the state,” said LaChapelle at the June 14 meeting. “It is not my responsibility nor any other department’s to give up extra money to fit a request of one department.”

Members of the School Committee expressed confusion as to this allegation. Chairperson Cynthia Kwiecinski felt that listing the budget on the agenda covered all related matters, including the agreement.

“It is part of our budget to talk about this agreement because the agreement has to do with our budget,” said Kwiecinski.

In the end, the committee moved the discussion to an emergency meeting on June 14, two hours before the City Council’s meeting to approve the budget. At this meeting there was a consensus, with the School Committee voting unanimously to sign the agreement.

“I’m really excited to start working together. I think this is an important statement of partnership between the mayor’s office and the School Committee – it’s historic,” Kwiecinski said.

The agreement states that the school department will operate the district with level services. It also states that the City Council will work with the school department to appropriate funds necessary to maintain a level-service budget and will not consider the presence of reserves to be a disqualifying factor when discussing appropriation requests.

The agreement also lays out intentions for the School Committee and City Council to form a joint committee of their respective finance committees, which will meet quarterly with the goal of furthering understanding and communication between the two boards.

“I think this is a really great opportunity,” LaChapelle said. “In echoing Cindy’s comments, I think it shows that we can all have each other’s backs.”

Superintendent of Schools Allison LeClair didn’t feel the final version was the clearest it could be, but that “that ship had sailed.”

“It’s not perfect and we could do this forever,” said LeClair. “I’m confident with the spirit behind this letter.”

The City Council unanimously approved a resolution in support of the agreement during their meeting at which they hosted a public hearing on the FY23 budget before going to a final vote to approve it. The City Council also approved LaChapelle’s request to create and establish a school stabilization fund account that she said will specifically address gaps in level-service budgets.

Councilor Dan Rist commended Council President Homar Gomez and Councilor Thomas Peake for their efforts in helping resolve the issue with an agreement that would be approved by the involved parties. Rist said the two demonstrated leadership for the community through a complicated process.

“I think its perfect. It didn’t make everyone happy, that’s why it’s perfect. I think it will support the schools,” Gomez said.

Councilor At-Large Brad Riley said when he pulled papers to run for office, he had promised to protect the community. Over the last six months, he said those that reached out all expressed support for the schools.

“Easthampton demanded a level service budget for the schools,” said Riley. “We made it happen, worked to deliver a victory for transparency, for accountability, and most importantly, for the schools. I am so proud of you and I am so proud to represent you.”

The city will also issue a request for proposals for an external auditor to perform an independent review of the school district with a goal of better understanding the financial health of the city, the resources available to the school department and alignment with the best practices, according to the agreement. In addition, the agreement also states the School Committee will work with the administration to develop a financial forecast for the district.

Donovan Lee, a resident of District 4, spoke against a good-faith agreement. Lee said that the letter wasn’t a win for the schools and cited the external audit, which no other department has to undergo.

“It’s just concessions on the school’s part just so the school can get level-funded service,” he said.

Outside the meeting, several parents and faculty members held signs protesting the budget. Shawn Sheehan, president of the Easthampton Education Association (EEA), said that the city deserved to have schools that are fully staffed. The EEA represents teachers, professional staff and education support professionals working in the Easthampton School District. He and other members of the EEA had been to several meetings of the council and finance committees to encourage all parties to come up with a compromise. When asked about the agreement, he said he hopes it will help.

“I’m going to hold them accountable,” he said. “And so are all the people here.”

Councilor At-Large Lindsey M. Rothschild said the entire city shared a vision, which brought them to this point, though she regretted those teachers and students who ended the school year feeling anxious about the future. Councilor At-Large Owen Zaret said he had doubts and may have voted against this section of the budget, but felt the agreement offered a path forward.

“I will happily vote for any appropriation that comes from the schools,” said Zaret. “I have all the confidence that we will arrive at level service for the schools.”

Before the education budget was finally approved at $17.9 million, Peake said it was a big year for the schools.

“This will be the first year everyone is going to be at a school building that was built in my lifetime,” Peake said.

He added that challenges around busing have raised expenses to the education budget as well as inflation and gas prices.

The biggest changes within budget for FY23 compared to last year come in general government (19.5 percent increase), public safety (19.9 percent increase) and Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding.

For the $2.3 million general government budget, Rist said a great deal of the increase was coming from information technology upgrades and the increase of software maintenance for the city that cost about $200,000.

The public safety portion of the budget made up $6.8 million of the budget and their increases were related to supplement appropriations throughout the year that will come in. When opened to public comment on the public safety portion of the budget, resident Shelby Lee expressed concerns with the increased budget for police while other municipalities lacked proper funding.

“I want to express sadness seeing this body underfund and under support many of its municipal assets while continuing budgeting and incentives for the Police Department. They get whatever they ask for when they ask for it,” Lee said. “It seems impossible to be able to overlook the amount of money and support they get from the city. It is so dispiriting seeing this body time and again invest in policing over supporting the community.”

When the council got to Section 6 of the budget, which covered the Emily Williston Memorial Library and Parks and Recreation, Zaret reminded all present that the library was in a difficult financial position and would need more help in the future.

“In future fiscal years we need to be thinking of ways to support them, one way or another,” he said.

In CPA funding the budget sits at $785,000 for FY23, a 39.56 percent increase from last year. Rist credited the increase to high revenues for the account and spoke about the great work CPA dollars go towards to create a better Easthampton for everyone.

“If you walk on the boardwalk or ride the rail trail, that’s the CPA. I am very proud of the work we’ve done,” Rist said.

Share this: