By Alex Cox  ||  coxalexj@gmail.com

A report on the meeting of the Amherst Regular Town Council Meeting and the Special Town Council and Finance Committee Public Forum on Appropriations outside the Annual Budget on Monday, April 7. 

Town Council Recommends Increasing School Budgets

The Town Council voted to recommend a 4.81% increase to Amherst’s FY2026 budget for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools and up to a 5% increase in the elementary schools budgets for FY2026 at its Monday meeting (10-3). This vote recommends, but does not require, the Town Manager to include the increases in their May 1 Town budget proposal. 

The recommendation comes after the Regional School Committee passed a FY2026 operating budget at its March 31 meeting that increased by 5.13% ($1,809,961) over FY2025 and utilizes the statutory assessment method to define how much funding each of the four towns must contribute to fund it. If ratified by three of the four towns, this would require Amherst’s contribution to increase by 4.81% ($905,670) over the previous year, even if the Council had voted to reject it.

 The Town Council had previously rejected a proposal to amend the Regional Agreement assessment method for allocating the same total funding, which would have increased Amherst’s contribution by 6.5% over FY2025 ($1,224,492) while requiring lower contributions from Pelham, Leverett, and Shutesbury. That proposal would have required all four towns to approve it. 

The Amherst School Committee recently voted for a 6% increase in its budget request for FY2026 for the elementary schools. Unlike the regional district budget, the Town has sole discretion to define the funding for the elementary schools budget and is not compelled to fund the amount requested by the Amherst SC.

These budget increases vastly outpace the 4% increase that all four major Town budget areas (the library, regional schools, elementary schools, and town services) were advised to budget for. For the regional schools, the proposed budget exceeds the advice by $152,000. The elementary school proposed budget exceeds guidelines by $540,000. The library submitted a request that did not exceed the guidelines.

The increased budget requests from the schools come at a time when high costs are affecting all Town budget areas. Town Manager Paul Bockelman and Finance Director Melissa Zawadzki spoke to the FY2026 budget challenges in a presentation to the Town Council. For town services, a 4% increase still would result in a budget that was roughly $350,000 short of level services, an amount roughly equivalent to 6.5 full-time employees (FTEs)). Major drivers of the increased cost of providing level services include rapidly increasing insurance prices, retirement plan costs, and pay increases related to collective bargaining. To meet the Regional School funding request, the Town would need to trim an additional $152,000 from its budget, which would require a total reduction of around $502,000 (roughly 9.5 FTEs). For the elementary school request, the Town would need to furnish an additional $540,000 (10 FTE). 

Altogether, to meet the increased funding for schools, the Town would need to reduce level town services by over $1.4 million, equivalent to roughly 19.5 town staff positions. 

“We can’t spend money more than once,” said Bockelman. “If it goes to one budget, it can’t go to another.” Although Bockelman had previously indicated that the 4.81% increase for the regional schools was something that the Town could “work to get to”, he recognized that this increase in allocation would have to come at the expense of another budget item. In a memo to the Town Council, Bockelman wrote that, “a 4.81% increase for the Regional School District would require reductions in other parts of the budget…. to ensure an overall balanced budget for the Town. This additional budgetary pressure on the other three areas will inevitably lead to reductions in staff and services.”

Despite the likely cuts to town services, the Town Manager again reaffirmed that a 4.81% increase for the regional school budget was within his comfort level. However, when Councilor Patricia De Angelis (District 2) asked if Bockelman was comfortable with a 5% increase for the elementary schools, he responded that “I don’t know how we [the Town] get there.” No councilor directly asked the Town Manager about a 6% increase in elementary schools contribution, nor did any councilor make a motion to support such an increase.

Several councilors, including Heather Hala Lord (District 3), and Ellisha Walker (at-large), suggested that the Town might use its reserves (from free cash or capital stabilization funds) to close the gap between departmental requests and projected budget increases under the guidelines. However, Bockelman and Zawadzki advised against such a practice. “To balance your budget using one-time money… I think that’s very bad fiscal policy,” said Bockelman. Further, Zawadzki stressed that capital stabilization funds, although not technically under obligation, were set aside to support major capital projects. “We made a plan for ourselves,” said Zawadzki, “and we need to not abandon that for this moment.” “We can’t pretend like those buildings aren’t important,” added De Angelis. “We have human beings working there.”

Many councilors agreed with the town finance team and spoke out against the idea of using capital reserves to fund increases in operating budgets. “We cannot abandon long-range fiscal plans,” said Councilor George Ryan (District 3). “While tempting, it would be a terrible mistake.” 

Despite this, Councilors Walker and Lord continued to express support for using reserves to fund rising operations costs. “If we’re not using them, how are they (reserves) supporting the budget,” inquired Councilor Walker. “We just brought in a new superintendent. Can we give her time to make a plan? We just brought in a new CRESS director. Can we give her some time to make a plan?” “We’re not asking you to do this year after year,” added Councilor Lord. 

Taking a middle ground position, some councilors, including Council President Lynn Griesemer (District 2), expressed willingness to use reserves to fund a 1% increase of the elementary school budget to cover one-time costs related to consolidating elementary schools but not to fund ongoing operations. “When I look at the situation today, it’s unprecedented,” commented Griesemer. However, she cautioned against over-taxation of reserve funds, noting future uncertainty in state and federal aid. “I think we’ll find out what a real rainy day is in 4-5 months,” she added.

Many councilors mentioned the need for fiscal prudence in light of these budget challenges and strains. “We’ve known it’s been coming. We need to find ways to reduce our expenses in ways that hurt our taxpayers the least,” said Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke (at-large). 

To that end, Councilors Hanneke and Gauthier encouraged councilors to consider amending the FY2026 budget guidelines, as proposed at the previous council meeting. However, Councilor Hanneke’s amendments, which would have increased the Regional School by 4.81% and elementary school budgets by 5% (while lowering capital spending by half a percent) were defeated (6-7) and the revisions as proposed by Councilor Devlin Gauthier were referred to finance committee (7-6). Finance committee will not be able to report back to Council in time for the body to take action before the Town Manager’s budget must be sent to the printer, effectively killing the motion by Devlin Gauthier. 

However, Councilor Pamela Rooney (District 4) introduced a motion to recommend that the Town Manager enact a “regional  school increase of 4.81% and an elementary school increase of up to 5%” which passed (10-3). The spontaneous motion by Councilor Rooney did not specify a reduction in capital spending, nor did it indicate which alternative budget line these contributions were to come from. 

Other Business

At the remainder of the meeting, the Town Council voted to approve a Mixed-Use Zoning Overlay on University Drive (11-1, 1 absent). Town Council also approved an order appropriating funds for a consultant to aid the Charter Review Committee (12-0, 1 absent) and approved Appropriations for projects receiving Community Preservation Act funding (12-0, 1 absent). Council also passed a motion requesting information relating to cost savings from merging Fort River and Wildwood elementary schools (12-0, 1 absent) and referred the Regional School Budget Request to the Finance Committee (12-0, 1 absent). 

The next Town Council meeting will be April 28 in Town Hall at 6:30 pm and will include a public hearing on the Regional School budget. Councilor Hegner has asked that the April 28 meeting include a discussion on financing for the library project (if a contract has not yet been signed) and Councilor Hanneke has asked that the Council discuss a repair alternative to the Jones Library renovation and expansion project if a contract has not been signed. Further, Council Devlin Gauthier’s proposal on a fiscal planning task force will be discussed after she and co-sponsor Sarahbess Kenney (chair of the Regional School Committee) agreed to remove it from the agenda for the April 7 meeting. 

Town Council meetings are also accessible via Zoom, livestream, and Amherst Media broadcast. Meeting details, agendas, and access are posted on the Town Council webpage. If you’re interested in knowing more about upcoming Council meetings, you can subscribe to text and email updates from the Town. If you want the Current’s coverage of the next Town Council meeting delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe using the field below. 

Alex Cox (he/him) is a current graduate student at UMass- Amherst studying Regional Planning (MRP) and Public Policy and Administration (MPPA). He currently serves on the Amherst Affordable Housing Trust Fund and as the Graduate Director of the Student Union Art Gallery. He has been a member of the Amherst Current editorial board since 2024.