Methuen City Council completes second reading of FY2026 budget; two technical-school assessments rejected

The Methuen City Council completed the second reading of the FY2026 Methuen municipal budget on Wednesday, June 25 at the Great Hall, approving departmental line-item totals and the water and sewer enterprise fund after a line-by-line roll call.

The vote finalized personal-service and other-expense totals across city departments, including a $110,657,252 appropriation for Methuen Public Schools, $15,275,201 for the police department, $14,277,517 for the fire department and a public-safety total of $29,552,718. The water and sewer enterprise fund was recorded at $18,887,582; the transcript records the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District assessment at $4,300,000. The council adopted departmental totals largely by unanimous roll call.

The budget matters because the votes lock in department spending levels that affect city operations and the school budget heading into the new fiscal year; the council’s second reading also recorded several contested motions that could affect how the city’s education assessments and IT spending are handled going forward.

Most departmental items were approved without extended debate. Councilors moved and seconded line-item totals for the council, the mayor’s office, legal services, the city clerk, administration and finance offices, accounting, assessing, public works, human services, elder services, veterans benefits, the Nevins Memorial Library and other routine accounts; the transcript records repeated roll-call approvals described as “unanimous.” The city’s employee-benefit totals were approved after a roll call (employee benefits total recorded…