Marianne LaBarge City Councilor | Ward 6 | Northampton, MA

WARD 6

         CITY COUNCILOR

MARIANNE LABARGE
Text Box: IMPORTANT Information from City Councilor Marianne LaBarge Public Budget Listening Session LISTENING SESSIONS In preparation for the FY2025 Budget season, the City Council Committee on Finance is hosting ‘Listening Sessions.’ It has been said that a budget is not just a collection of numbers but an expression of a community’s values. State law requires a balanced budget, but communities hold distinctive values and therefore have unique priorities for spending residents’ limited tax dollars. The process for how the city budget is created is determined by Massachusetts General Law and Northampton’s City Charter.  The Mayor of Northampton creates the budget and presents it to the City Council for adoption within 45 days and before the end of the fiscal year on June 30.  This is a chance for residents to let City Councilors hear their priorities for spending [or not spending] on programs and services for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024. The ‘listening sessions’ are intended to allow participants to speak and be heard by the City Council. These listening sessions are separate from the budget meetings and hearings required by the City Charter during the formal budget submission process led by the Mayor. Please plan your comments for three minutes or less to ensure time for all to speak. Anyone unable to attend may submit comment by email to citycouncil@northamptonma.gov.