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Comptroller previews tight preliminary budget; public works outlines roughly $19 million in street and utility projects
Summary
City comptroller Sherry Ray presented a preliminary general-fund budget showing constrained but balanced revenues, transfers to capital and higher pension funding; engineering manager Steve Bang outlined about $19 million in planned street, water‑main and resurfacing projects for the coming fiscal year.
Sherry Ray, Quincy’s city comptroller, presented a preliminary look at the general fund and said the numbers remain tight but generally balanced while some figures remain under review.
Ray said the proposed budget plans to transfer about $6.3 million — roughly 50% of the home‑rule sales tax — to the capital projects fund to support infrastructure work, and that the city is funding pensions above the actuarial recommended percentage (moving the funded contribution toward 10.34%). She said expected revenues for the year are about $54.8 million and that the administration expects a beginning general‑fund balance near $6 million.
“Every year we attempt to prepare and present a balanced budget,” Ray said. She told the council the largest single category of general‑fund spending is salaries and benefits (about 60% of the general fund) and noted planned increases for wages and pensions tied to recent union settlements and actuarial guidance.
Ray said the budget currently includes continued subsidies for curbside brush collection and the city’s low‑cost garbage program. She also noted a policy accounting change that reclassifies certain items from capital outlay to supplies, which altered comparative totals.
Engineering manager Steve Bang presented a fiscal‑year 2026 infrastructure update and listed major projects the city expects to carry forward or start, with rough estimates:
- Broadway water‑main replacement (12th–30th Street) — roughly $8.5 million (12th–24th awarded; 24th–30th out for bid). - South 18th Street utility improvements (Harrison–State) — about $800,000 (resurfacing to follow). - North 30th Street (Maine–Chestnut) resurfacing and water main — $2 million (about 50% complete). - 2025 lead service line replacements — $3 million. - Prairie Crossing pavement patching and sidewalk (approved this meeting) — $1.1 million. - A list of carryover resurfacing projects from last fall totaling about $1.6 million.
Bang said the city’s last pavement condition rating (from 2022) shows about 23% of streets in good condition, 70% adequate and 7% poor; he noted the city has improved about 2% to good since the prior report. He also outlined plans for additional ward allocations (approximately $250,000 per ward as a proposed figure) and described funding sources including MFT, federal grants, TIF and the capital fund.
Ray said the public budget document will be available March 31 and that a public hearing is scheduled for April 7; budget hearings and a final adoption are planned for later in April.
No votes were taken on the budget presentation or the infrastructure update; both were informational reports to the council.
