The City Council on Feb. 20 referred to its Finance Committee, of which I am vice chair, a request by the School Committee for a midyear appropriation of $600,000 to the Northampton Public Schools. The money would be appropriated from the Fiscal Stability Stabilization Fund for the rest of this fiscal year, which ends June 30

I was one of six councilors who voted for the referral, At-large Councilor Marissa Elkins was opposed, Quaverly Rothenberg of Ward 3 abstained, and at-large Councilor Garrick Perry was absent.

That vote came after I was one of five councilors who opposed a motion to suspend the rules that would have allowed a vote on the midyear appropriation at the Feb. 20 meeting. Jeremy Dubs of Ward 4, Rachel Maiore of Ward 7 and Rothenberg voted to suspend the rules.

I supported delaying the vote to learn more about how the money would be used to hire staff and whether those positions would be continued in the budget for fiscal year 2026, which begins July 1.

The Finance Committee plans to meet with Superintendent Portia Bonner, likely on Wednesday, March 5.

The City Council to date has approved a $41,160,457 operating budget for Northampton Public Schools in the current fiscal year. That is $3,394,710 more than last year’s budget, an increase of 8.98 percent.

Healthy Incentives Program resolution

The City Council on Feb. 20 voted 8-0, with at-large Councilor Garrick Perry absent, to approve a resolution calling on the governor and Legislature to include $10 million in a supplemental budget to fully fund the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) for the rest of fiscal year 2025, which ends June 30.

The resolution also requests $25 million to fully fund HIP in the state budget for fiscal year 2026, which begins July 1, and support for a bill that would make HIP a permanent program.

It allows recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to get limited reimbursements when they buy locally grown fruits and vegetables.

Because of a budget cut, the state Department of Transitional Assistance on Dec. 1 decreased monthly HIP benefits by at least 50 percent to $20 per household from what had been a monthly benefit of between $40 and $80 based on household size.

The resolution states that “in 2024 nearly 200,000 households in the Commonwealth and 10 percent of households in Hampshire County benefited from HIP through an increase in their access to healthy local farm foods, and nearly 300 Massachusetts farmers increased their income through HIP sales … the Northampton City Council recognizes its duty to advocate on behalf of our constituents grappling with food and nutritional insecurity who rely on these critical state-funded programs.”

The full resolution is available here:

https://northamptonma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/24737?fileID=200812

Stan