Medford council approves revised FY2026 budget; free-cash and retained-earnings appropriations cleared

The Medford City Council on June 10 approved the revised fiscal year 2026 budget and passed free-cash and retained-earnings appropriations for capital priorities.

The council approved the revised general fund total of $205,304,412.76 (as corrected in the meeting) and a revised water and sewer enterprise total of $29,277,779. Councilors and city staff discussed line-item revisions and corrections that accompanied the revised submission. Chief of Staff and Finance Director described adjustments in departmental personnel and ordinary expenses and noted a scrivener’s correction to the city total language.

On free cash and retained earnings, the council approved the mayor’s requests to: replenish the capital stabilization fund to $5,000,000 (using $1,469,519.19 of free cash); approve $271,000 for school network switches and wireless access points; $216,000 for school mini-split replacements; $100,000 for nexus studies (inclusionary zoning, linkage fees and transportation demand management); and $80,000 for supplementary tree planting. From the water and sewer retained earnings, the council approved replenishing the water/sewer capital stabilization fund to $2,000,000 ($100,000), $2,050,000 for replacement of a water backhoe and improvements at the Doonan Street booster station, $80,000 for Oak Grove Cemetery water service design and $50,000 for the Rosina Street small sewer extension.

Councilors emphasized the need for a summer capital plan that prioritizes projects, and sought a timeline for how the remaining free cash balance would be applied to the city’s large backlog of infrastructure needs. The mayor’s team and finance director said they would present a detailed capital-plan timeline and proposals over the summer.

Outcome: Council approved the FY2026 revised budget and the associated free cash and retained-earnings appropriations as presented in the meeting.