Mayor presents FY26 $985.7 million budget, cites reserves and school investments

The mayor of Springfield presented a proposed fiscal year 2026 budget of $985,700,000 and said the plan will be forwarded to the City Council for hearings. The mayor said the FY26 budget is balanced for the 11th consecutive year without using city stabilization funds and that reserves stand at nearly $72,000,000.

The budget, the mayor said, reflects a 6.1% overall increase with most of that growth on the school side; he told the gathering that school funding rose by roughly $67 million (about 6.8%), and described a modest city operating increase from FY25. He credited department heads and the finance division — specifically naming Kathy Munnell, CFO; Lindsay Hackett; Chris Fraser; and Chief of Staff Billy Baker — for meeting a 3% cut target during budget planning and said the administration previously cut 15 positions without interrupting services.

The mayor emphasized that the budget preserves core services and avoids layoffs despite national and federal uncertainty. “We face nothing of the sort here because of our prudent fiscal management,” he said, adding that the city has the highest bond ratings in its history and that pension contributions increased by about 9% this year.

Public safety, the mayor said, remains the top priority. He highlighted police staffing gains — saying 45 new recruits have graduated from the academy and that the department will reach roughly 514 sworn officers and about 603 total personnel — and listed ongoing initiatives including body-worn cameras, updated Taser systems, a real-time crime analysis system, and Project Hope, the mental-health co-response effort. The mayor also said the city’s Narcan program has saved about 600 lives since it began roughly six years ago.

On education and capital investment, the mayor said the district’s graduation rate has risen to nearly 86% while the dropout rate is a little over 3%. He said the city is investing in new and rehabilitated school buildings — “nearly $1 billion in new or rehab schools,” he said — and cited recent and upcoming projects that include Brightwood, Lincoln, Helena, White Street and Kensington Avenue schools.

Economic development and housing items cited as part of the budget priorities included ongoing work around Union Station, CRRC and MGM developments, redevelopment of Eastfield Mall, and several housing projects including the former Gemini site and workforce housing at the Knox (Firestone) building and other former city properties. The mayor said the city has secured a $15,000,000 pedestrian-safety grant that funded nearly 30 enhanced crosswalk areas.

The mayor noted ongoing work on opioid settlement funds with nonprofits and the city solicitor and said the city continues a separate lawsuit against opioid manufacturers. He warned that FY27 could present greater fiscal challenges if federal and state funding levels fall, and said he has discussed potential legal avenues with Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell if federal terminations reduce available funds.

Kathy Butler, introduced as the city’s CAFO, reiterated that departments met the administration’s requested reductions and urged department heads to testify at City Council hearings about which services would be affected by further cuts. The mayor closed by asking the City Council to conduct hearings and complete due diligence before voting on the proposed budget.

Next steps: the mayor’s proposed FY26 budget will be transmitted to the City Council for public hearings and deliberation; no council votes were recorded at this meeting.