Opinion: Sunrise Amherst Finds Proposed Town Budget Errors Topping $2 Million  

Spending Increases Inequitable Across Departments

On Wednesday, May 1, the Town Manager released his proposed FY25 Budget for review and potential approval by the Amherst Town Council. Following the unveiling of next fiscal year’s budget (scheduled to take effect July 1), Sunrise Amherst did an in-depth review of the proposed operating and capital budgets, as well as an analysis of the current fiscal year budgets for comparison. 

Despite the fact that many of our members have four or more years of experience with the town budget process, the FY25 proposed budget still surprised us with its lack of consistency regarding percentage increases between departments and the complete lack of attention given to the FY25 Capital Improvement Program. With over 20 positions proposed to be cut in the Amherst Regional School System, the budget rejects the School Committee’s request for more school funding, yet shows a multitude of inconsistencies in funding increases across departments. In addition, there are major duplication errors between the FY24 and FY25 Capital Improvement Programs. 

Particularly concerning was that the same vehicles bought in FY24 are being re-proposed as FY25 purchases. Specifically, the FY24 Capital Improvement Program funded the  replacement of 9 different town vehicles, and yet these exact same requests appear again in the FY25 Capital Improvement Program. 

Below is a list of requests to replace equipment that appear in both the FY24 and FY25 Capital Plans. We have verified that all of these vehicles proposed being replaced in FY25 were already purchased and registered with the Town of Amherst last fiscal year. In addition, the descriptions for each proposed vehicle purchase are identical to last year’s . Another discrepancy  was that the recommended equipment purchases were different from the purchases put forward in the individual departments requests, showing that the departments know they have already bought these vehicles, and were requesting to make other necessary purchases. The recommended budget forgoes those requests in favor of making the purchases listed below two years in a row, replacing brand new equipment and vehicles accompanied by reasoning that is duplicated verbatim.

1. One School Maintenance Van for $60,000
2. One Ambulance for $450,000
3. One Pumper Truck to replace a 2001 model for $725,000
4. Three Police Cars for $225,000 ($75,000 per vehicle)
5. One Public Works Trash Truck for $200,000
6. One Public Works Dump Truck with Snow Removal Equipment for $260,000
7. One Recreation Van for $40,000
8. One Cherry Hill Top Dresser/Mower for $35,000
9. One ATV for $13,500

FY24 Capital Spending:

FY25 Proposed Capital Spending: 

To the best of our knowledge, it appears as if page 16 through 18 of the proposed FY25 Capital Improvement Plan were taken straight from the FY24 Capital Improvement Plan. This budgeting error totals $2,008,000 in funds proposed to purchase equipment that was already replaced as of FY24. This two million dollar mistake in the proposed Capital Improvement Program could meet the Amherst Regional School Committee’s request to raise school budget appropriation from 4 percent to 6 percent for the next five years. 

In addition to these mistakes, the proposed FY25 Capital Improvement Program shows where the Town of Amherst’s priorities lie. Capital funding for roads, sidewalks and facilities maintenance have all been reduced in favor of borrowing $900,000 to fund a police  radio system , while  neighboring towns keep their radios running for only $1,400. 

In addition, Sunrise Amherst found unnecessarily high replacement frequency across departments. 

For Example:

• One 2019 Ford Explorer police car with 88,000 miles was replaced for $75,000, despite being categorized as “good condition” prior to replacement.  A 2017 school bus with 27,000 miles is included in the most recent Capital Improvement Program for replacement, also listed as “good condition”

When we are replacing each vehicle at a cost that could easily fund one or more of the classroom teachers slated to be cut, Sunrise Amherst believes the town should create a more methodical, fiscally responsible policy addressing vehicle replacement plans. This would save taxpayer dollars while making town spending more impactful in all sectors, including education. 

The Amherst Town Council has recommended that all departments receive a 4 percent increase in their budgets. Despite this, the FY25 Operating Budget proposal  includes a 6.1% increase in the Amherst Police Department Why is the Amherst Police Department allowed to exceed the recommended increase of 4 percent while the Regional School District’s  request to exceed the recommended increase was denied? Moreover, the education budget increases were condemned as disruptive to fiscal balance in the recommended FY25 Operating Budget when they appeared through rises in teacher salaries (av. $70,000) but not in police (av. $112,000). Why are some departments allowed to disregard such guidelines while others are held to it even when it results in the reductions of over 20 positions, and a decline in educational quality in the Regional Schools decried by administrators, educators and students?

Amherst’s Town Council President described teachers contracts that resulted in a request for a 6 percent increase to the Regional Schools as “too rich”, while police received similar increases with little scrutiny.

In the proposed FY25 Operating Budget, page 10 the Budget Book states that: 

“The Regional School Committee voted on April 24th to request a $1,066,320 increase in its budget, an increase of 6%. This equates to $355,440 in additional funding for the Region above the $710,881 already allocated at 4%. This increase is beyond the capacity of the current budget and cannot be met without either (a) reducing other School, Town, and/or Library budgets; (b) utilizing one-time money (i.e. ARPA); or (c) seeking an operating budget FY25 BUDGET DOCUMENT 11 override of Proposition 2 ½. None of these options are palatable nor are any of the options in keeping with the Town Council’s Budget Policy Guidelines.” 

Sunrise Amherst disagrees. We believe that reducing other budgets such as the Capital Improvement Program, Library System, and Police Department are palatable changes to prevent the loss of educators and services in the Regional Schools. We reject the notion that some departments must comply with budget guidelines while others are given a free pass. Sunrise Amherst demands that the Town of Amherst  take more responsibility and  allow students in the Amherst Regional School District to access the education they deserve.

Sunrise Amherst is the local hub of the Sunrise Movement working towards the Green New Deal, racial justice and economic justice. 

The research, investigative journalism, and reporting done to produce this report was the product of over 20 hours of work from 5 interested Amherst Regional High School students who will be directly affected by budget cuts next year.