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City planning keeps projects moving despite small staff; two data positions moved into IT
Summary
The Burlington Office of City Planning described ongoing long-range plans and noted two data-team positions have been moved back to Innovation/IT; the department plans consulting contracts for technical analyses and expects modest budget reductions in FY26.
The Burlington Office of City Planning told the Board of Finance it will continue major planning projects in FY26 despite a small staff and modest budget reductions. Director Charles Dillard said the office is nearly fully engaged on the North End plan, historic preservation plan and an open space protection plan.
Dillard noted the office is small — three planning positions with one vacancy during the presentation — and that a part-time temporary planner position is proposed to be cut in FY26 to achieve savings. He said the department will rely on professional consulting services for technical work such as historic preservation analyses and certain modeling tasks.
Why it matters: The planning office shepherds multi-year initiatives and zoning amendments that shape development, housing and transportation choices. Contracting technical work is common for small municipal planning offices but changes how expertise is delivered to residents and developers.
Data-team movement and consulting Dillard and CAO Catherine Shaw clarified that two data-team positions previously described as moving from planning to finance administration are returning to the Innovation & IT team (IMT), and the department will not lose access to those functions. “Those positions are just moving back to IMT where they used to sit before,” Shaw said.
The planning office is budgeting professional consulting services for major projects, including the new North End plan (about $250,000, with approximately $200,000 covered from other sources) and the historic preservation plan (about $200,000 with anticipated $28,000 CLG reimbursement). Dillard said the office relies on CCRPC and other regional partners for support and will continue to seek grants for technical work.
Staffing and schedule Dillard said the principal planner role is now filled by promotion and that the senior planner position was vacant at the time of the presentation; the department is actively recruiting and hopes to fill roles by July 1 if possible. The department plans to complete PlanBTV updates and other long-range work in FY26 or FY27, depending on consultant schedules and grant timing.
Ending note Councilors asked for more detail about consultant selection criteria, the temporary-planner cut and how the department will deliver community engagement with fewer in-house hours. Dillard said the department will provide additional spreadsheets and documentation on consultant budgets and the professional services scope.
