Middleborough manager presents balanced FY26 budget; retirement and debt drive increases

Town Manager James McGrail presented the Town of Middleborough’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget during a joint meeting with the Finance Committee on Feb. 3, saying the town will present a balanced spending plan totaling about $113,308,000.

McGrail said the budget reflects conservative revenue estimates and limited new spending beyond previously discussed items, with the principal cost increases coming from a roughly 10% increase in the town’s retirement appropriation and higher debt service tied to Bristol Plymouth Regional Technical School. “A 10% increase in our retirement budget is about $1,100,000,” McGrail said, adding, “that pretty much eats up our entire Proposition 2½ increase.”

Why it matters: the retirement jump and new debt payments mean most operating departments saw only modest year‑over‑year growth; without those two items the combined general government and school budgets increase by less than 3% from FY25, McGrail said. The presentation laid out revenue assumptions, reserve plans and targeted investments in public safety and capital projects.

Key revenue and reserve assumptions McGrail described conservative assumptions for new growth (budgeted at $1 million) and local receipts, including a cautious outlook on meals, hotel and cannabis taxes. He said local receipts are budgeted to rise by…