AMHERST — Current staffing and programming for the town, schools and libraries would be preserved, with significant money also being put toward road and sidewalk improvements, in a $93.46 million budget plan for fiscal 2024 presented to the Amherst Town Council Monday.
“It is a balanced budget with expenditures not exceeding revenue projections,” Town Manager Paul Bockelman said. “This is a no-nonsense, disciplined budget that accelerates the initiatives begun in prior years.”
Bockelman called the spending plan a good, smart budget that responds to inflationary pressures while also meeting the council’s 3% budget increase guidelines and being aligned with council goals, in that it furthers climate change and racial equity objectives.
The budget includes a $7.9 million capital improvement plan derived from 10.5% of the $64 million levy limit under the state’s Proposition 2½ law, plus Community Preservation Act funds and state aid and other revenue sources. Total budget spending is up $3.04 million, or 3.4% over this year’s $90.42 million budget.
Even with a strong economy, Bockelman said most requests from departments to expand their operations were not funded, as an aim was to maintain the town’s AA+ bond rating while keeping intact what residents have come to expect, including new services developed over the past year, such as the Community Responders for Equity, Safety & Service and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion departments.
“Many of these initiatives grow out of extensive community engagement and would not be possible without the community’s support,” Bockelman wrote in a memo. “Amherst has always chosen to lead rather than follow, and this budget reflects those values.”
Broken down, the budget includes $26.94 million for municipal operations, $25.93 million for the elementary schools, and a $2.21 million contribution for the Jones Library. Also in the spending plan is the $17.77 million assessment for the Amherst-Pelham regional schools, which has already been approved by the Town Council.
The council also will be presented a separate $26.02 million elementary school budget — $84,000 above the council’s 3% budget guideline — that’s recommended by the Amherst School Committee.
The $2.49 million dedicated for road and sidewalk improvements, which includes anticipated Chapter 90 funding from the state, may be the most ever put toward this infrastructure, Finance Director Sean Mangano said. “We believe this is the largest one-year investment in roads and sidewalks,” he said.
Capital spending also features $40,000 for tree planting and $230,000 for better maintenance of the grass playing fields throughout town.
For climate action goals, $775,000 will go toward the purchase or lease of two electric school buses, $225,000 will buy three hybrid police cruisers, $200,000 will go for energy efficiency projects, and $22,000 will be in the sustainability operating budget, some of which will be applied as the town’s payment to the regional ValleyBike Share system.
On community health and safety, CRESS will get an infusion of $20,000 for overtime and communications expenses, while $725,000 will buy the Fire Department a pumper truck and $450,000 will buy a new ambulance.
On racial equity and social justice, the DEI department stays intact, with $6,000 extra for training and community engagement. The town is committing $1.8 million through its CPA account to affordable projects, including the Way Finders Inc. plan to bring 70 apartments to East Amherst village center and Valley Community Development’s 30 homes on Ball Lane.
While the higher elementary school spending is on the table for the council to consider, Bockelman said he understands the pressures and is unveiling, in his memo, a plan to deal with concerns about school budgets.
Bockelman is also aiming to keep the tax base stable through creation of an economic development task force that would partner with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst College and Hampshire College. Mangano said the idea is to look for opportunities to take some of the pressure off residential taxpayers.
Over the past 10 years, the town’s tax base has grown by $360 million, meaning that property taxes to support municipal services have grown by $7.6 million beyond the normal 2.5% annual increase allowed. The mixed-use developments completed and under development in downtown reflect this.
“We’ve had a really good run of economic development in town,” Mangano said.
The budget also includes four enterprise funds: the $5.21 million water fund, the $5.29 million sewer fund, the $637,158 solid waste fund and the $738,085 transportation fund.
The Town Council’s process of reviewing Bockelman’s budget begins with the Finance Committee holding a virtual public hearing on May 15.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
