CHICOPEE — As budget cuts are being made to several services throughout the state, Chicopee is “thankful” that the cuts within the city are not big.
In early January, Gov. Maura Healey announced $375 million in mid-year budget cuts.
Mayor John Vieau said the city was informed by the local delegation that some earmarks in the budget may be cut.
“They aren’t big numbers, thankfully,” he shared.
Chicopee received $50,000 for rectangular rapid flashing beacons and road improvements, but it is anticipated that it may be cut to $25,000.
Another cut is with the Council on Aging van that passed for an earmark and received $40,000 but may be cut to $20,000.
The city received $25,000 for equipment for ChicopeeTV, but now expects that to be cut in half to $12,500.
At press time, Vieau said he did not think these cuts were certain yet, but they are on the chopping block.
He noted that the only potential cuts are earmarks getting cut by 50%.
“We have also been asked to continue to send in earmarks, so we’ve put in [a] $100,000 request for Fusus [a real-time crime center in the cloud] to help the private sector and nonprofits who have cameras have access connecting into Fusus with their connection boxes,” Vieau said.
Chicopee Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Marcus Ware said, “We are aware that the Healey-Driscoll administration has discussed several budget cuts surrounding education. Fortunately, we have seen no direct impact on our district’s budget with the current state administration and we hold a positive outlook. We are currently in a good position for the foreseeable future and hopeful to see no negative impact to our end or on any other school districts throughout the state.”
The earmark for the Boys and Girls Club of Chicopee’s new teen center was also reduced from $50,000 to $25,000. Sen. Adam Gomez (D-Springfield), state Rep. Shirley Arriaga (D-Chicopee) and state Sen. John Velis (D-Westfield) had visited the Boys and Girls Club as recently as Dec. 5, 2023, to celebrate $120,000 in state funding for the teen center and other programming, including the $50,000 earmark.