City Council Hears Initial Budget Proposals 

Photo Credit. WSSR TV 

By Kendra Williams 

City and school officials presented their proposed 2026 fiscal year budgets to the City Council on Tuesday, March 4, outlining priorities and considerations. 

City Manager Steve Buck detailed the proposed municipal budget, which has undergone $415,000 in reductions since its development began in November. The proposal includes no new staffing requests or position eliminations.  

Municipal operations have increased, largely due to employee benefit costs including an increase in health insurance and a match requirement for the new Family Medical Leave Act that began this year. On a positive note, increased revenue sharing is helping to offset some costs. 

The city budget proposal calls for $21,189,498 to be raised by taxation for an increase of 7.98%. 

School Superintendent Matt Nelson followed with an overview of the 2026 fiscal year school budget, which was formally approved by the School Committee the previous evening. The budget seeks to maintain current programs and services while navigating financial constraints.  

Like the city, the budget process began in November. Subsequently there’s been an approximate $500,000 reduction in expenses. 

As reported last week, the employee health insurance bid came in much higher than originally anticipated. Since then, the increase, while still high, has been lowered through negotiations with the insurance carrier. 

The school budget proposal calls for $19,662,996 to be raised by taxation for an increase of 11.4%. 

This budget meeting was the first of several that will be held by the City Council in the coming weeks. On March 11, there will be an in-depth review of the city budget proposal. On March 18, there will be an in-depth review of the school budget proposal with a public hearing to follow that same night. 

The goal is for the City Council to approve the full budget by the beginning of April. Unlike the city budget, the finalized school budget, by law, will go to voters at a June referendum. 

For additional details, a recording of this meeting is available here. 
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