Mayor submits $561 million FY26 budget; council refers appropriation orders to committee

Mayor John Renee Pritchett on Wednesday submitted the city of New Bedford’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, a $561,000,000 spending plan that he told the City Council “sustains services at levels our residents expect and deserve and avoids unduly burdening taxpayers.”

Pritchett framed the proposal against long-term fiscal pressures, including a persistent shortfall in state local aid and escalating pension and health-insurance costs that he said constrain the city’s ability to maintain services. He told the council that, after adjusting for inflation, New Bedford receives less non-school local aid now than it did in 2008 and that the gap amounts to roughly $14,000,000 in the current year and $187,000,000 cumulatively since that year.

The proposed total budget is $561,000,000, with a general fund of $500,400,000. The administration’s projection reduces net general-fund staffing by two full-time equivalents in FY26 (proposed 983 FTEs). Pritchett said employee health insurance is forecast to rise to $50,400,000 in FY26, about 10.1% of the general fund, and he warned that state-imposed retirement funding schedules…