<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4IwSXh_1H1tTgvP00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4IwSXh_1H1tTgvP00" width="800" height="550" ><figcaption>Robert Boulrice, chair of the Northampton Fiscal Assessment Community Task Force, speaks during a public forum on Oct. 27.</figcaption></figure>As Northampton faces tough budget choices in the coming years, a community task force is working this fall to bring more residents into the decision-making process and give them a voice in setting the city’s financial priorities.Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra recently established the Northampton Fiscal Assessment Community Task Force, or FACT Force, to help the city better align its financial capacity with its spending priorities. The 13-member task force, which has been meeting several times a month and has held three public feedback sessions, is expected to deliver fiscal recommendations later this fall.With Northampton facing a nearly $3.4 million budget gap and an expected override vote next March, Sciarra said she wants to have an honest financial conversation with residents so that they can make informed decisions when it comes time to vote.“We have a pretty clear understanding of what we believe needs to happen,” Sciarra said. “But let’s have a community conversation that involves bringing in people from the community.”In the current fiscal year, Northampton is working with a general fund budget of $136 million, and another $16.3 million in enterprise fund budgets.To the extent that budgets represent a community’s values, Northampton has key services that it wants to protect. School spending has increased by 40% over the past five budget years, officials said. In addition, the city has seen a large increase in 911 calls, particularly involving fire rescue, so the city has added fire rescue personnel to maintain good response times, Sciarra said.But Sciarra said she is also focused on affordability.“I know there’s a lot of discussion about all the things that we want,” Sciarra said, “but it’s really important to remember that here in Northampton, like all across the Commonwealth, property values have increased so much, and that has impacted people’s tax bills. So you know, affordability is a huge concern.”Relying on fiscal stability plans for more than a decade, Northampton has done what it can to stretch out the periods between Proposition 2½ overrides, Sciarra said. The most recent override, for $2.5 million, passed in 2020, and Northampton has been pulling funds out of its stabilization fund for the past few years to delay the next override request. But time, and the stabilization funds, are running out, she said.Sciarra said she got the idea of forming a task force from South Hadley Town Administrator Lisa Wong, who had undertaken a similar effort in her town.Like most communities, Northampton faces multiple cost drivers that are straining its budget, including employee health insurance, special education, energy, and school transportation. Those expenses, plus cost strains caused by tariffs and inflation, are forcing budget increases that outpace the revenue-raising limits created by Proposition 2½.“I feel like this is a process that many of us are going through, and it’s really challenging to have these conversations in your community,” Sciarra said. “So I guess I feel a sense of solidarity with all the other communities that have had override votes or are looking at override votes.”The FACT force, formed over the summer, consists of City Council President Rachel Maiore, City Councillor Garrick Perry, school officials and students, and seven community members.The task force has been examining various aspects of the city’s financial picture, including revenues, expenditures, reserves, levels of service, and economic trends and constraints affecting the city’s bottom line and residents’ ability to fund services.“I’m really impressed with the group and the level of engagement,” said Finance Director Charlene Nardi. “There are always questions. There are people bringing ideas to the task force for discussion purposes, and not everybody is, you know, coming from the same place. So the ability of this group to have dialogue in a way that they can exchange the ideas, talk about the ideas, and maintain a level of trust and respect within the group is amazing.”The task force is expected to finalize its nonbinding recommendations and create a presentation this month. Findings will be presented to the mayor and City Council by early December. The mayor would then bring an order to put an override on the ballot to the council for its consideration and vote.The mayor said she plans to hold a series of public hearings in the runup to the anticipated override, and she hopes that some task force members will participate in those discussions.</div></body>

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As Northampton faces tough budget choices in the coming years, a community task force is working this fall to bring more residents into the decision-making process and give them a voice in setting the city’s financial priorities. Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra recently established the Northampton Fiscal Assessment Community Task Force,...

FACT Force addresses Northampton budget challenges

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As Northampton faces tough budget choices in the coming years, a community task force is working this fall to bring more residents into the decision-making

FACT Force addresses Northampton budget challenges

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