Newly elected Easthampton Mayor, Karen Cadieux, has recently proposed a new city budget for the 2015 fiscal year.

The fiscal year, which spans from July 1st, 2014 to June 30th, 2015, is the period of time an organization or business counts and records expenses.   Cadieux’s proposed budget is $37,305,540, a 2.6% increase from 2014.

Cadieux plans to increase the public safety budget, which consists of fire and police departments, by 5.72%. David Mottor, Easthampton’s Fire Chief, said that these changes will “have the same impact as every budget since 2004.” This means that only 3 of the 4 shifts will be “fully staffed to the same level they were in 1986.” Chief Mottor also said that this causes the loss of a deputy chiefs position and one firefighter, meaning certain inspections will be surpassed and department trainings will be reduced. However, Mottor says “the good thing about this year’s budget is there will be no further cuts at least to start the year.”

Easthampton Police department’s Chief McMahon says, “We’ve actually been in this budget crunch for the last nine years.” He says on paper it appears that their department is getting an increase in money allotted to it, but that the impact is not tangible. “We have to be much more cautious with the number of beats we can fill… we have less discretionary money to spend on reinforcement programs and things like that,” Chief McMahon says. Since 1979 the police department has decreased by three personnel and the crimes have gone up in complexity. McMahon says, “It is something we are kind of used too- do we like it? Absolutely not.”

Cadieux also plans to increase the Department of Public Work’s budget by 2.68% and the Human Services budget by 6.32%.

Easthampton’s public schools will be receiving an additional $404,420 to their budget, the largest increase they have seen in seven years. That increase, however, remains $918,484 less than needed to cover all expenses. “We have a gap between a level services budget and the budget we are going to get from the Mayor,” says Superintendent of Schools Nancy Follansbee. “It means laying off staff positions,” she adds. Follansbee says that the budget over time impacts the programs they are able to provide to the students. “At the same time,” says Follansbee, “I think we still find innovative ways to provide a quality education to our students.” Follansbee adds, “All departments are suffering effects of the economy… I know our current mayor has made every effort to try to do as much as she can.”

Cadieux will decrease the budget for the Easthampton Community Center by $4,000 along with the budget for donations to the Northampton Community Center by another$500.

According to an article published in the Daily Hampshire Gazette on April 17th, 2014, this money comes from a combination of state aid (23%), water and sewage funds (10%), local taxes (57%), and local receipts (8%). Cadieux is also depending on $175,000 free cash, a non-recurring money source for the city compiled of the remaining funds from the previous fiscal year. Mayor Cadieux says, “Under any circumstance, the use of free cash requires an appropriation approved by the city council on recommendation of the mayor, town council or town meeting, but only after it is certified by [Director of Accounts].”

Compared to other local cities and towns, Easthampton’s budget remains low. A contributing factor to this is Easthampton’s tax rate, or percentage of the property value you own and owe to the city. Easthampton’s tax rate is 14.86%. In comparison, Southampton is 15.39%, Westhampton is 17.67%, Holyoke is 19.04%, and Amherst is 20.97%.

In addition to low tax rates, Easthampton remains affected by Proposition 2 ½, a Massachusetts Statute put into effect in 1982. This statute states that there may not be more than a 2.5% annual increase to the total taxes a municipality is permitted to require and collect. In order to pass this 2.5% limit, a municipality must vote in favor of an override to increase those taxes. Both these factors help explain why Easthampton’s budget remains less than that necessary to cover all expenses.

“The tightness of the budget is familiar to all cities and towns in Massachusetts and most states,” says Mayor Cadieux. She does not anticipate any problems when presenting this budget to the City Council.