Letter: Why Does Amherst Balance Its Budgets on the Backs of Our Kids?
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The estimated cost of the Jones Library is at the moment around $46 million. Last week, the elementary school budget was estimated at $29.5 million. This may be a gross oversimplification, but the town council did not blink at guaranteeing funding for the library. Why are they flinching at spending for schools?
Buildings get built as a one-time project even though we have to borrow for them because the town council is comfortable with taking on the liability of debt for construction costs but not the liability of salaries for school services that don’t have a mortgage term. The Bangs, the Jones, the fire station… but conspicuously, they won’t take out a loan to fix the ARMS roof.
But when we talk about school staff the Town Manager and crew are quick to point out the rising costs of insurance and benefits. One could ask if the librarians, firefighters, police officers, and municipal employees are also insured and if so, then why are they not being asked to cut staff and programs in order to offset their rising costs.
All of this is not to say Austerity for All!! I just point it out because it is glaring how consistently and uniquely the need to save money is aimed at the schools. I think that the parents who have mobilized in support of the schools have done a great job of showing support for other town functions (though I seem to have curiously missed the Jones Trustees or APD’s statement of support for strong school funding. Why are the other town departments able to retain (or expand) services while schools must tighten their belt year after year. Why is it only the schools? To say what I actually feel— the town is throwing a banquet, paid for, and entertained by, the town’s kids singing for their supper, and it’s becoming an annual tradition. The Town Manager is acting like a parent who wants to remodel the house and put on an expansion by using his 17-yr-old’s college fund. Cool project bro but you still gotta pay tuition.
So, the TL:DR – we are asking the school committee and the town council to reject the proposed budget and join us in the fight against Amherst’s mismanagement of moneys.
Alex Lopez
Alex Lopez is a resident of Amherst
The school budget can be funded and falling ceilings at the Middle School repaired if the Town Council would switch gears and decide to repair the Jones library instead of demolish and expand it. The Jones Library can be repaired …. contrary to media reports otherwise. The Amherst Town Council authorized $15m as its share for the $46m library expansion plan. Immediate library building repairs include a leaky roof atrium (the slate and metal roofs do not need to be replaced) and the fire and hvac systems updated. Deferred maintenance items include repointing stonework and painting. Do these library repairs add up to $15m?… I don’t think so.
An expanded library is not a town necessity but functioning and safe schools are.
It is also not clear that the municipal side of the budget actually needs more money – that sector has had $1.4-1.5 million in unused funds every year for the past five years. Yes, some of this is likely due to unfilled positions, but we really don’t know how much becasue unlike other town budgets (just take a look at Northampton, for example), our budgets contain very few actual details. At a time when we are being asked to accept that there simply isn’t any more money for the schools, and that we must stick to this idea of equal percentage increases across sectors (something that no other town does, FYI), at the very least we should have more transparency into the financial situation in Amherst. Our budgets have become less transparent over the years, and read more like annual reports of accomplishments than they do actual budget documents. Financial tansparency benefits all of us, no matter our perspective on how the money should be spent.
You don’t think that the “unused funds” are being stored up in reserves to protect against the cost of the Jones Library debacle depleting resources for the actual need of other, more pressing, and long needed, building/capital projects…do you?
The “unused funds” are ending up in the end of year surplus, which largely is then being rolled into the Capital Stabilization Fund. It is the stated intention of the Town Council and Town Manager to pay for the Fire Station in all cash and the Town Manager is building up savings for that purpose. At the 3/10 Town Council meeting, the Town Manager stated that his projections show that they will have enough money for the Fire Station in a few years. Currently, the way that money gets into that fund is via end of year surpluses being added and interest earned on reserves/free cash. So, somehow the Town Manager projects that the Town will aquire another $19 million dollars (the fund currently has $11 million and the Fire Station estimate is $30 million), while simultaneously telling the public that there won’t be a large surplus and that it’s not possible to revise estimates and leave more money in the operating budget for services, including the schools. Between the 10.5% of our taxes that are going to capital every year AND the large surplus that rolls into capital at the end of each year – Amherst is currently spending approximately 10% of our entire budget on capital – and this is squeezing operating budgets.
Council member, Ana Devlin-Gauthier, District 5 gave a wonderful speech in during the March 18, 2025 Finance Comittee meeting.
Prior to her presenting her list of financial concerns, the town manager, Paul Bockelman spoke. He, who is more often vague than not, implored the council to try to stay “non-combative” and “be cooperative”. He went on to say, “the council needs to set the example of how to conduct ourselves”.
He must know that that is not how democracy works, even town meetings got contentious, and perhaps should be reconsidered, so we can go back to meeting each other and not existing soley in the zoom-o-sphere.
Ms. Devlin-Gauthier begins at 1:12:15 during the March 18th finance committee meeting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FFR_HVYd7s
She indirectly replies to Bockelman, “….we are not in a peaceful existence here, and I think we are kidding ourselves to say that we are.” – referring to body infighting, constituent disagreements, and public forums.
And more points she smartly raises….
“That pact has already been broken”- referring to giving “even” increases.
“Others’ state, we don’t want to cut (municipal) positions…yeah neither do the schools! “- referring to employee positions.
“Why do we need to sacrifice our students and teachers fully, year over year, to prove the state of our school has a problem?! We should try to fix what we can.”
“…what were you gonna do when it hit 3%?”- to paul Bockleman
Chair Schoen, interrupts when Budget Coordinating Group is brought up,
“Fiscal stewardship is not town council.. Long range planning is under the purview of Budget Coordinating Group” per the Amherst Home Rule Charter Section 5.2 not the town council – referring back to town manager’s implication.
She suggests, “HOW MIGHT WE”, “how might we, balance these needs?”
“Clutching our territories, clutching what we are using, and clutching what we knew from the years past” -referring to the mindset needs to go…
Kathy Schoen’s jab when Devlin-Gauthier was finished speaking, ” …I did schedule this as a discussion, I didn’t think I had scheduled this as a debate, with one person doing point and the other person doing counterpoint… umm… in any case we had a full discussion.”
Amherst does not have a “revenue problem” (Bob Hegner ) Amherst has a spending problem (town library and multiple other project over the years) and/or a clutching problem – too tightly to the 10.5 % reserves.