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State rep outlines budget outlook as Gardner council refers FY2026 appropriation orders to committee
Summary
State Rep. Jonathan Zlotnick briefed the Gardner City Council on the FY2026 state budget and its implications for Gardner; the council referred a package of FY2026 appropriation orders to the Committee of the Whole for informal budget review.
State Rep. Jonathan Zlotnick told the Gardner City Council on May 19 that the Commonwealth is in “a pretty good financial footing” and reviewed provisions of the House-passed FY2026 budget that affect the city.
The council immediately acted on local budget documents: Councillor Jernilowicz moved and Councillor Mack seconded to refer a package of FY2026 appropriation orders (items 11,540–11,549) to the Committee of the Whole for an informal budget meeting and subcommittee review; the motion carried on a voice vote.
Zlotnick, who described this as the 13th budget he has worked on as a legislator, highlighted the state stabilization (rainy day) fund and broad elements of the House budget. He said the state stabilization fund “sits at a healthy, just over $8,000,000,000” and noted the House passed its budget without new taxes. He told the council that roughly 45% of Gardner’s municipal revenue comes from direct state aid and that the state’s Chapter 70 school funding and other education programs are large drivers of local school budgets.
Zlotnick gave Gardner-specific figures from the House budget: “just over $32,000,000 in financial aid for the public school system” and an estimated $5.2–$5.3 million in the city’s share of general governmental aid. He also described statewide increases for special-education circuit-breaker and charter school reimbursements and reminded residents of the senior circuit breaker tax credit, describing it as underutilized and requiring an application to receive benefits.
Following the presentation, councilors moved the formal city budget orders to committee. The appropriation items read into the record included orders to appropriate: $50,590 from parking meter receipts (11,540); $512,699.17 from sewer surplus retained earnings (11,541); $232,406.71 from water surplus retained earnings (11,542); $94,310 from landfill surplus retained earnings (11,543); $2,649,200 from cable commission reserves (11,544); $12,000,211.26 from various enterprise funds (11,545); $36,715,187 for the school department budget (11,546); $29,332,133 for city departments expense budget (11,547); and $14,587,314 for salary and labor (11,548). Those orders were referred together with item 11,549 (revolving funds authorized under M.G.L. c.44, §53E½) for FY2026.
Councilors who spoke during debate emphasized the link between state decisions and Gardner’s budget process and encouraged residents to consult city staff and their state representative for details on how the House and Senate budgets may affect municipal revenues.
The council’s referral sends the detailed appropriation language to committee for further review and scheduling of informal budget meetings; no final appropriations were adopted at the May 19 meeting.
