Residents Question Town Budget At Cuppa Joe

About 10 people attended the December 9 Cuppa Joe at the Bangs Center with Town Manager Paul Bockelman and Comptroller Sonia Aldrich. Council President Lynn Griesemer and Finance Committee Chair Andy Steinberg were also in attendance.

Several questions were raised about the outstanding capital projects, especially the Jones Library. Ken Rosenthal said that it was obvious that the cost was going to be much higher than the $35 million in the original proposal, and that it seemed prudent “when a project seems to be going off the rails” to recalibrate. Instead, he said, the library is going to spend at least $1.8 million on a detailed design for the expansion project when they could be devoting the time and money to a renovation project, such as the space study done by Anna Popp of the Massachusetts Library Association in about 2015.

Rosenthal noted that the council president has pledged that the town would not spend “a penny over $15.8 million” on the project, yet the total cost has increased by at least $15 million. To that, Council President Lynn Griesemer replied that she is “only one vote”.

Griesemer also noted that the renovation plans were drawn up several years ago and no doubt would cost more if done today, adding that the  project would still be big enough to have to comply with the Americans with Disability Act (passed in 1990).

Other people voiced concerns that the library is currently a functional building, but the central fire station is unsafe and the DPW building is  falling down. They also expressed concern that the draft of the budget guidelines indicate that no new initiatives will be undertaken until the four main capital projects are funded. This raised concerns for Julian Hynes and Amrita Rutter of Amherst Sunrise that the town will not continue to make progress on climate justice. Finance Committee Chair Andy Steinberg said that this statement in the draft (referring to the possibility of not being able to undertake any new actions on climate) was revised at the recent Finance Committee meeting, and Bockelman said that climate action goals will be “incorporated” into all town initiatives.

Jeff Lee also wanted to know if the amount of the debt exclusion override for the new elementary school scheduled for May, 2023 could be decreased by using some of the $10 million in the new capital stabilization fund. Aldrich replied that the fund was set up to grow and possibly fund one of the four capital projects. Bockelman added that the amount in the fund would not substantially alter the override amount. “Hopefully, the state will increase its reimbursement for school projects,” he said. Griesemer said that, if the town does not build a new school, maintenance on Fort River and Wildwood schools will be “eye popping”.

Several questions were raised about the adequacy of staffing at the Amherst Police Department, especially now that UMass is at full enrollment on campus and students can be disruptive to nearby neighborhoods. It was pointed out that there are only four officers on duty at a time, and that others are called in for overtime work at busy times on weekends. This leads to dissatisfaction among the APD, such that several officers have left for less stressful jobs, even at lower pay. Hynes and Rutter said they hope that the new CRESS program will lessen some of the need for police to respond to certain situations, and expressed hope that it will be fully funded in future years. Also,  they are concerned that the proposed budget guidelines mean that the town will not continue progress on its climate justice goals.

Bockelman replied that three new police officers were recently hired, but staffing remains tight. He is concerned that the change in UMass graduation to May 28 instead of being on May 20 when Hampshire and Amherst College graduations will take place, will further stretch the need for safety services. He noted that the CRESS program will not be responding to calls until after January 7, although responders have been doing outreach to various organizations and having some engagement with people in need of mental health services at the Jones  library when called. He assured people that the program is adequately funded at this time, and that the director is working on a budget for the coming year. 

A number of attendees wondered if Amherst is being adequately compensated by UMass and the two colleges for the services it renders to the institutions. Bockelman said he has met with the new president of Amherst College, but has not discussed increasing the college’s contributions to the town. He meets with officials from UMass weekly and hopes they can approach the state together to ask for more funds for the town. Amherst is reimbursed for fire, police, and EMS services on the university campus and the costs of educating children living on university-owned property, but still receives less than Hadley receives from the state for the services Hadley renders related to state-owned land there. Steinberg said he would like to see the reimbursement be determined by “impact” rather than “acreage”. Much of the Holyoke range is in Hadley, so it gets more money from the state in payment in lieu of taxes. 

Rosenthal suggested that non-owner-occupied rental houses be taxed by the income/expense method used for apartment buildings.  Rental houses are essentially businesses and should be taxed according to the amount of income they generate. Hynes noted that his family was outbid nine times when they were looking for a home to buy because private equity firms can afford to pay much more for houses than individual homeowners. Bockelman responded that this is a problem nationwide.