Medford collector/treasurer requests small FY26 budget increase; cites new online transactions and pending tax-title law changes

Judy, the city collector/treasurer, told the Medford City Council Committee of the Whole on April 30 that the collector/treasurer's office is proposing a fiscal 2026 operating budget of $780,059, an increase of $22,565 from the current year.

Judy said the increase is “mostly in the fixed cost growth area” and reflects contractual raises, step increases and higher payroll-processing costs. She told the committee: “it's a charge of 25' per transaction,” referring to the city's online payment vendor and the additional volume now processed through the city's citizen-serve portal, which has added building-permit and licensing payments to property and excise collections.

The committee was briefed that the FY25 budget was $757,494 and that the FY26 proposal factors in routine personnel cost growth and a data-processing contract increase. The collector/treasurer also requested a modest increase in dues and conference funding so office staff can recertify at required classes.

Judy said the office is delaying initiating tax-title cases while awaiting changes at the state level: she said interest rules appear to be shifting and described the current uncertainty as a reason many municipalities are keeping accounts in collections rather than moving accounts into tax-title. She said, as discussed at the meeting, the change could affect interest calculations on delinquent accounts (transcript remark: a change from 16% to 8% was cited; leaving accounts in collections currently yields about 14%).

No formal votes were taken on the collector/treasurer budget at the April 30 session. Councilors present thanked the collector/treasurer for the presentation and asked no follow-up budget questions on the record.

The council's preliminary budget hearings will continue with additional department presentations on May 6, May 20 and May 21 before the mayor's formal FY26 submission at the end of May.