By Alex Cox  ||  coxalexj@gmail.com

A report on the Regular Meeting of the Amherst Town Council on Monday, May 5 (viewed via Amherst Media archived livestream). 

Town Manager Present Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request

Town Manager Paul Bockelman presented the town’s Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2026 to the Town Council at its Monday meeting. The almost 300 page budget book includes robust financial indicators and trends for the town and the detailed budget recommendations for FY2026 (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026) for all major budget areas of the Town (schools, libraries, Town Services, and Capital). 

In the presentation to the Council, Bockelman was joined by Finance Director Melissa Zawadzki, Treasurer/Collector Jennifer LaFountain, Comptroller Holly Drake, and Clerk of the Council Athena O’Keeffe. Although the proposed budget includes over $5 million in increased spending for FY2026, the Town Finance team pointed to increased costs (including higher insurance premiums and retirement benefits) that pose unique fiscal challenges for the coming fiscal year. 

Based on financial indicators presented to the Council in 2024, the body created guidelines that recommended all major spending areas (town services, public libraries, elementary schools, and the regional schools) budget for a 4% increase in their FY2026 budget. These guidelines were amended on April 7 of 2025 to allow for a larger increase (4.81%) for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools and up to a 5% increase in the elementary schools budget. The amendment broke with tradition; the Town has consistently budgeted for equal percentage increases across the four major spending areas. Council also directed the Town finance team to be less conservative with their revenue projections, breaking with a best practice that the Town has been employing to ensure the budget never results in deficits.

In response to the amended guidelines, the Town Manager recommended a 4.81% increase for regional schools and a 4% increase in elementary school budgets (with an additional 1% added from Free Cash to cover costs related to opening the new Elementary School, for a total of a 5% increase). The Town and Library budgets adhered to the original guidelines of 4% increases, resulting in a 4.6% total increase in operating budget split unequally between the 4 spending areas. 

“It’s a budget that is balanced, but we are only able to achieve that balance by making some difficult decisions,” said Bockelman. The increased educational funding required “difficult tradeoffs,” Bockelman added, resulting in the freezing of 6.4 full-time-employee or equivalent (FTE) positions across Town Departments, including Police, Fire, Public Works, Recreation, and Community Responders for Equity, Safety & Service (CRESS). 

Drake spoke to the position freezes, noting that the frozen positions were all vacant and would not result in layoffs. “We were lucky enough that we had vacancies in some key places where we would have likely been looking anyway,” said Drake. Although Bockelman stated that the, “decision does not lessen our commitment to police, fire, DPW, recreation, and especially to our CRESS departments”, he admitted that the frozen positions are unlikely to be funded in coming years. 

CRESS, an outgrowth of the Town’s commitment to end structural racism and reject white supremacy, is targeted to freeze two FTE positions, which is more than each of the other departments targeted for cuts. Low staffing levels and limited hours of operations have challenged CRESS operations, leading some residents to call for increased support for the unarmed responders. Others, however, point to low response rates and limited effectiveness of the entity, leaving its future uncertain. 

“I believe in CRESS and I believe in its mission, but it needs a frank analysis of what it should be doing better and what level of staffing it deserves,” said Bockelman. The proposed FTE reductions represent 20% of CRESS’s positions. 

Despite the position freezes, the Town Manager expressed his belief that “the Town’s overall financial condition remains very strong.” Speaking on behalf of the Finance Team, Bockelman said that “we think this budget is realistic. It’s a no-nonsense budget. It balances our commitment to strong fiscal policies with the recognized needs and desires of the community.”

The budget that was proposed by the Town Manager’s office is the culmination of a process that began with the presentation of financial indicators in November of 2024. In accordance with the Town Charter (§5.4b), Bockelman and his staff are required to recommend a balanced budget by May 1 of every year. The Manager’s proposed budget is not binding; the Town Council serves as the appropriating authority and must adopt a budget by June 30 (§5.5c). 

The budget that the Town Council adopts can be the Manager’s proposed budget or an amended version. However, the Charter specifies limited ability of the Council to amend the recommended budget. The Charter states that, “In amending the budget, the Town Council may delete or decrease any programs or amounts except expenditures required by law. Except on the recommendation of the Town Manager, the Town Council shall not increase any item in, or the total of, the proposed budget, unless otherwise authorized by the general laws.”

The next steps in the budget process can be found on the Town’s webpage and include public hearings, discussions, forums, and votes. 

The next Town Council meeting will be on May 12 on Zoom at 6:30 and is a joint meeting with the Finance Committee. The meeting will serve as a Public Hearing on the FY2026 budget. 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.