Concord adopts FY2026 budget after Finance Committee directs manager to find deeper cuts to lower proposed tax increase

The City of Concord adopted its fiscal year 2026 budget and related capital resolutions on June 5 after the Finance Committee voted to direct the city manager to seek back‑of‑budget reductions intended to lower the manager’s proposed tax‑rate increase by one percentage point.

The Finance Committee's instruction to the city manager followed nearly five hours of deliberation and public comment about dozens of departmental and capital items. The committee and then the City Council approved the manager’s overall budget package and the capital plan, including bond authorizations and changes to water and sewer charges; the manager said he would implement the committee’s direction and return revised documents for the final appropriation steps.

The committee disputed how best to reduce a manager proposal that initially would have raised Concord’s tax rate by 3.96 percent. Members debated dozens of line items — from delaying a new police social‑worker hire to trimming training and recruiting programs to drawing on reserve funds for parks projects — and also added a modest revenue change to the forecast. In the end the committee…