City Council Ad Hoc Budget Committee of the Whole Meeting
Ad Hoc Budget Committee recommended the Mayor's FY25 operating budget order (2024-001) with adjustments including a $30,000 increase for Amesbury Public Schools and a recommended General Fund total of $79,414,528; the committee also set the proposed tax levy to be raised at $77,089,308 (with $2,355,220 from other revenues).
The Ad Hoc Budget Committee of the Whole met to review Mayor Gove’s proposed FY25 operating budget (Order 2024-001). Committee members raised objections to several line items — notably the Amesbury Public Schools allocation, certain DPW and library lines, and the Reserves line — and debated adjustments, funding sources, and the mayor’s discretion over line-item transfers. The committee considered memos and letters regarding school heating and budget discrepancies and discussed levy capacity and the potential taxpayer impact of changes.
After debate and several recorded votes, the committee approved a $30,000 increase to the Amesbury Public Schools line (bringing the school total to $37,975,439) and recommended that amount to the full City Council. The committee also recommended DPW other expenses and the full DPW budget, recommended the library personal services, other expenses, and full library line items (with one recusal), and rejected a proposal to shift $30,000 from Reserves into the school budget. The committee approved recommended subtotals for non-objected and amended items, voted to recommend a final General Fund total of $79,414,528 as amended, amended the amount to be raised by taxation to $77,089,308 (with $2,355,220 raised from other revenue), and recommended the Water and Sewer enterprise budgets and a total appropriation of $86,628,257 to the full City Council. Public comment was limited to submitted letters and a memo read into the record regarding school heating discrepancies; no separate public hearing on projects or permits occurred.