Tiverton council adopts preliminary FY26 budget ordinance, sets June 9 public hearing

The Tiverton Town Council adopted a preliminary fiscal year 2026 expenditure budget for municipal departments and the Tiverton School Department and set a public hearing for June 9.

Councilors said the preliminary ordinance was approved as presented and that the hearing date was added as an amendment. The council passed the motion by voice vote with no opposition recorded.

The vote moves a package that covers town operations and the school department to the public hearing phase; final adoption will be subject to additional advertising and state public-notice requirements. The council was repeatedly reminded that the town charter requires a 14-day advertisement and state municipal finance rules require an additional 10-day public notice before a final hearing, and that Juneteenth (observed June 19) affects scheduling.

Why it matters: the budget covers the town and school spending for FY26 and must balance projected revenues and reserves. Town finance staff told the council the town currently projects a revenue shortfall of $775,000 for the fiscal year and that contingency and reserved funds are expected to absorb much of the gap if spending holds to projections.

Council discussion and key details

Councilors discussed a small number of line-item changes and service arrangements before approving the preliminary ordinance. Topics raised included: the seasonal summer-help line for public works (proposed to be covered by two vacant DPW positions already in the budget), whether IT services should be consolidated townwide including schools, and how field-rehabilitation work for ballfields is billed.

Councilor Dimondiras asked to remove the separate summer-help line and use two open DPW positions to cover the work. The council’s public-works staffing plan was discussed in the context of seasonal hires and existing contract arrangements; councilors said at least one seasonal worker was already lined up.

On IT, councilors and town staff discussed that several departments (police, fire, town hall and the school department) currently pay an outside vendor for IT support. An unidentified town staff member said a townwide approach could include scheduled “town hall day,” “police department day,” assigned school time and emergency on-call support, but would likely require an RFP and might be more expensive than current arrangements.

Field rehab work and Little League contributions drew clarifying comments. A public-works representative said the town typically pays a contractor (named in the discussion as GCW) from the town’s field-rehab line; the town does not routinely bill Little League for materials unless a shared-project agreement is arranged in advance.

Finances, reserves and revenue outlook

A town staff member, Denise (role noted in the meeting transcript as a town staffer), told the council: “We are going to be short $775,000 in revenue. Yes.” Councilors discussed that the town’s general-fund balance was roughly 4.5–5 percent of annual operations after proposed adjustments and that the council’s charter minimum is 3 percent. Several councilors said they want a higher minimum reserve requirement and noted roughly $1 million in reserved funds for paving and municipal capital projects.

Councilor Perry expressed frustration over the school budget, saying the council had increased school funding and “I am not. And I am frustrated with that, that you people can't see that,” and warned the town could face further requests for capital support from the school department. Other councilors urged transparency from the school committee and requested more detailed, line-by-line review of school spending in future discussions.

School spending and governance concerns

Several councilors criticized how the school committee and administration handled the district’s finances, drawing specific attention to the closure of Fort Barton Elementary and special-education arrangements that were expected to reduce costs but did not. Councilor Perry said the district ran a deficit this year of about $750,000 (as discussed during the meeting) and warned more requests for town funds would likely follow. Councilors said they expect the new superintendent arriving in September to help stabilize the school budget but pledged that if the district’s financial trends do not improve, they will revisit funding in the next budget cycle.

Procedure and next steps

The council chair asked for a motion to adopt the preliminary budget ordinance for FY26 “as presented to you this evening.” A motion and second were recorded and the council set the public hearing date for June 9. Town legal counsel and staff reminded the council that any changes after the public hearing could trigger another advertisement cycle under the charter and state law; the earliest final passage, if changes were needed, would likely be June 30 using the advertising timelines discussed.

Ending

With the preliminary ordinance adopted and a June 9 hearing scheduled, councilors said they would reconvene after the public hearing to consider any further adjustments. Several councilors emphasized the need for continued oversight of school spending, potential consolidation of IT services, and the maintenance of a prudent general-fund reserve to cover projected revenue uncertainty.