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Pittsfield city council preliminarily approves Mayor Marchetti’s debut $215.9 million budget after cut to school budget

Pittsfield, Massachusetts city hall.
Josh Landes
/
WAMC
Pittsfield, Massachusetts city hall.

The Pittsfield, Massachusetts city council has given the initial green light to the new mayor’s first budget, but made a cut to the school department.

Thursday night’s budget hearing saw the 11-member body sign off on the overwhelming majority of Mayor Peter Marchetti’s more than $215 million budget, but cut $200,000 from the roughly $83 million school department budget. More than 20 jobs will be cut from the city’s schools under the plan.

“I stand ready as I did day one when I submitted the budget to the city council to accept the wishes of the city council, and I will abide by the wishes of the city council," Marchetti addressed the council. "But I think it's important to state as the mayor, I voted to for the budget, I brought the budget forward, and as we talk about all the reductions that we've all seen in made, I think it's true across the board.”

Councilors Alicia Costa, Jim Conant, and president Pete White voted against the cut. The Pittsfield city council will take a final vote on the budget at its June 11th meeting. The 2025 fiscal year starts on July 1st.

Josh Landes has been WAMC's Berkshire Bureau Chief since February 2018, following stints at WBGO Newark and WFMU East Orange. A passionate advocate for Western Massachusetts, Landes was raised in Pittsfield and attended Hampshire College in Amherst, receiving his bachelor's in Ethnomusicology and Radio Production. His free time is spent with his cat Harry, experimental electronic music, and exploring the woods.
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