Council approves $20,000 transfer to cover legal costs; mayor announces $3.5M earmark and free-cash certification

The Easthampton City Council voted on March 4 to transfer $20,000 from the mayoral clerical salary line to the city attorney’s professional-services account to cover ongoing legal fees.

"The idea is to put this $20,000 in with the hope that that would cover most of the rest of the fiscal year," Chair Tom Peak said, explaining the council had previously reduced the legal budget to zero during prior budget deliberations and has since incurred expenses. The meeting record noted the city has already incurred $22,518 in legal fees and has not yet received invoices for February through June.

The motion to transfer $20,000 was moved, seconded and passed; the transcript records the outcome as "motion passes" but does not provide a roll-call tally in the minutes.

In mayoral communications, the mayor said Easthampton secured an earmark of $3.5 million for City Space and that free cash was certified "last week" with a figure read in the meeting transcript as "$3 million at 37,029." The mayor said those funds represent new growth from the last fiscal year and that specific appropriations will be proposed in coming weeks, with amounts to address health-care, police, fire and schools subject to further council action.

What it means: The $20,000 transfer covers legal costs the city has already begun to incur; the mayor’s announcement signals a significant federal earmark and a free-cash certification that will generate forthcoming appropriation proposals. Meeting discussion did not include final appropriation votes for free-cash distributions.

The council also discussed scheduling and other committee business; no additional budget votes occurred at the March 4 meeting.