AMHERST – The Town Council is scheduled to discuss creating a stabilization account for a potential reparations fund at Monday’s meeting.
An initial outlay of $210,000 is under consideration, according to information Amherst Town Manager Paul Bockelman provided the council.
In a memo dated June 9 that is now published on the municipal website, Bockelman, along with finance director Sean Mangano and Comptroller Sonia Aldrich wrote: “The Town Council is considering adopting a program for reparations that includes both a reparations fund and a community-wide process of reconciliation and repair for harms against Black people of African heritage.”
In this memo to the council they said, “If the Town Council approves a reparations program, we recommend the creation of a reparations stabilization fund, appropriation of a sum to the reparations fund, and adoption of a specified plan to provide ongoing funding to and appropriations from the stabilization fund.”
They said that should the town’s legislative body form a dedicated stabilization account for the purpose, then their recommendation is to allocate $210,000 from the Free Cash reserves, for the fiscal year that begins on July 1 – in order to “seed” a Reparations Account with money.
“The next step is to consider a funding policy that lays out a mechanism for contributions in FY23 and beyond,” Bockelman, Mangano and Aldrich wrote, referring to the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2022.
“One option is to base future contributions on ‘excess’ free cash levels (free cash that exceeds 5% of the budget). Excess free cash is generated from operating budget surpluses less any appropriations out of free cash during the year. Currently, the Town transfers excess free cash into a stabilization fund for reserves. The Town could choose to direct a percentage of this transfer into a reparations stabilization fund,” they wrote.
The Council’s June 21 meeting will convene at Amherst Town Hall, 4 Boltwood Avenue, at 6:30 p.m., according to the agenda.
This would be the body’s first in-person meeting in more than a year, since March 2020, when World Health Organization declared a global COVID-19 pandemic.
“Please note: this meeting of the Town Council will be held in-person at the location provided on this notice. Members of the public are welcome to attend this in-person meeting, however there is limited capacity in the Town Room and masks are required. An option for remote attendance and participation is being provided via the Zoom link above. However, the meeting will not be suspended or terminated if technological problems interrupt the virtual broadcast, unless otherwise required by law,” the agenda says.
Related:
- A price tag on trauma? Amherst weighs reparations for Black residents
- Amherst Council endorses reparations idea; refers matter to finance committee to explore funding stream
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