“We can’t just stand here and ring our hands because we have a state funding crisis. We need to do what we can do.” – Town Councilor Ana Devlin Gauthier, 3/10/25 Town Council Mtg.
Two actions you can take today!
1. Email Councilor Devlin Gauthier (devlingauthiera@amherstma.gov) to thank her for her support (details below)
2. Email Council President Lynn Griesemer (griesemerl@amherstma.gov) to ask that a disussion and revision of the FY26 Budget Guidelines be placed on the agenda for the next Town Council meeting (more details below)
Meeting Summary (action items in bold): Full Recording available here.
- Lots of great public comments in support of school funding
- Town Council is finally acknowleding that there are major structural funding problems facing the schools – and that it is not just an issue of some sort of waste or mismanagement in Amherst
- Councilor Ana Devlin Gauthier is asking for more money for the schools, that the schools get a larger percentage increase than the other Town “sectors”, that the Town Council revise the FY26 budget guidelines to the Town Manager, and that there be more collaborative conversation with school leadership about long-term funding. Email Councilor Devlin Gauthier to say thanks (devlingauthiera@amherstma.gov
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- Councilor Devlin Gauthier asked Council President Lynn Griesemer to put the revision of the FY26 Financial Guidelines on the next Council Agenda – that agenda is made completely at the discretion of the Council President. Email Council President Lynn Griesemer to support Councilor Devlin Gauthier’s request to see the FY26 Budget Guidelines Revision on the agenda for the next meeting (griesemerl@amherstma.gov)
- School Capital Requests: There was a discussion of the $500,000 surplus that was held back from roads and sidewalk repair in November so that the schools would have time to make a request. There was a question from Councilor Jennifer Taub about whether or not this money is still available somewhere and the answer was…confusing. The Town had been planning to use $2 million in ARPA (federal) money for renovations at the Bangs Center, but Town Officials were afraid that the Trump administration would try to claw back this money before they could use it, so they paid Town health insurance bills with the ARPA money. They then used Free Cash to pay for Bangs Renovations. The health insurance line of the budget will have a $2 million surplus at the end of the year because of the addition of the ARPA money and so that surplus will become part of Free Cash. Is your head spinning yet? So, it sounds like right now, there isn’t actually $500,000 sitting somewhere, but that the schools can still make requests. The Elementary Schools would request money via JCPC for FY26 and Town Manager for FY25. The Regional Schools would make requests via their capital budget for FY26 and to the Town Manager for FY25. The Town Manager also said that due to staffing at the schools and some turnover, it’s possible that the schools are not in the position to actually use any capital money right now but that discussions are ongoing between the Town and School Finance Directors. It sounds like we may hear more about this in coming weeks.
- Discussion of State funding – Town Council leadership will meet with Senator Comerford and Representative Domb on Thursday and will be discussing school funding. Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke suggested they request that Senator Comerford and Representative Domb participate in some type of meeting with Amherst residents to discuss state funding
- Annual Surplus Generation – Town Manager Paul Bockelman, in talking about the financing plan for the Fire Station, said that the Town is projected to have the cash on hand for that project over the next few years (he then revised a bit and said “well not just a few years”). It is my understanding that the plan has been to pay for the Fire Station completely in cash becasue if the town tried to borrow for all four buildings simultaneously, they would run up against their borrowing limit. Every year most of the surplus generated at the end of the year ends up in the Capital Stabilization Fund that is saving for these projects. But, every year the Town predicts they WILL NOT have a surplus the following year when they make the budgets – so for me this raises the question of how they have projections that lead the Town Manager to believe the Capital Stabilization fund will keep growing while also believing we won’t have a surplus.The balance of this fund as of November 2024 was $11,652,232 and the projected cost for the Fire Station is $30 million.
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Rules for Town Council Public Comments (see all the rules here):
-Length of Public Comment Periods: Once a Public Comment period has reached 120 minutes, the Council shall end the Public Comment period and move to other agenda items, unless extended by a majority vote of the Council. The Council may vote to return to Public Comment later in the meeting.
-Recognition: No one may speak at a Council meeting without first being recognized by the presiding officer.
1. A register of persons wishing to comment may be available from the Clerk of the Council prior to the start of the meeting.
2. The presiding officer shall recognize individuals on that register first, with preference given to residents.
3. Individuals not on the register may be recognized if time allows.
4. Each person commenting shall identify themselves by name and residency upon recognition by the presiding officer.
5. Any written comments during a meeting shall be submitted only to the Clerk of the Council, who will forward them to the Council.