Brockton City Council reviews FY2026 budget orders totaling $555.9 million, refers measures to finance committee

BROCKTON — At a special meeting June 16, the Brockton City Council received the mayor’s recommended fiscal year 2026 budget orders, including a general fund appropriation of $555,896,078, and referred the package and several enterprise fund appropriations to the council’s finance committee for consideration.

The mayor and the city’s chief financial officer presented the proposed general fund total of $555,896,078 and a line-by-line breakdown of departmental appropriations and funding sources, including state aid, tax levy, local receipts and reserves. Councilors repeatedly moved the orders and referred them to finance; none of the major funding orders were adopted at the special session.

Key figures presented in the meeting record include state aid of $315,863,378 and a tax levy of $186,166,635 toward the general fund total. The mayor’s submission also listed local receipts of $36,037,600; $1,157,000 in available funds; $1,500,000 from stabilization; $6,465,839 in free cash; and a $8,332,000 supplemental reserve item identified in the transcript as "Chapter 30 3 24 supplemental reserve." The transcript records the grand total for the general fund as $555,896,078.

The council also received and referred a series of enterprise fund appropriations to finance, including (as recorded in the meeting): a stormwater enterprise appropriation of $622,415 (total funding package $697,415 including $75,000 in indirect costs); a water enterprise appropriation of $22,665,313 (with total amounts raised recorded at $24,665,313, including user charges and retained earnings); a sewer enterprise appropriation of $21,585,410 (with indirect costs bringing a stated total to about $23,085,410); a refuse enterprise appropriation of $9,200,000 (total $10,200,000 with $1,000,000 indirect costs); parks and recreation enterprise appropriation of $2,629,250; and a parking authority appropriation of $1,191,204 (total $1,591,204 including $400,000 in indirect costs). Each appropriation was moved and referred to the finance committee for further review.

During the presentation the clerk and councilors read departmental line items aloud (for example, personnel, overtime, ordinary maintenance and goods) across multiple departments including public safety, public works, schools and treasury debt service. Several smaller, separate transfers — such as a $370,000 transfer listed from the treasurer’s debt service to treasurer Medicare tax, and a mayoral recommendation to transfer $305,000 to fund law department needs for the remainder of the fiscal year — appeared on the special meeting docket as communications accepted and placed on file or as orders to be heard at a regular meeting and were not acted on at length at the special session.

All of the major appropriation orders presented at the special meeting were referred to the finance committee; the council set no adoption votes or implementation timelines at the session. The council president closed the special meeting after an offer for councilor recognitions, noting the referrals and adjourning.