Tiverton council sets FY26 budget direction: schools +3.5%, municipal +3.4%; staff to draft ordinance for public hearing

The Tiverton Town Council on May 12 directed staff to prepare a unified FY26 budget ordinance that reflects a school local-appropriation increase of 3.5% and a municipal (town) increase of 3.4%. The council asked the town solicitor, town administrator and treasurer to draft the ordinance text, compute the formal levy and publish the required public-hearing notices.

Council discussion at length reviewed department budgets, including public safety (police and fire), town administration and public works. The council debated whether to draw an additional $1,708,500 from the general fund to reduce the levy impact. Following remarks from the treasurer and administrator, councilors settled on preliminary parameters that, in the meeting's calculations, produce a combined levy change of about 3.43% (school +3.5%, town +3.4%). Council members noted the figures are preliminary: the administration and treasurer must finalize revenue projections and the formal ordinance before publication.

Councilors repeatedly said they wanted to provide a workable budget for the incoming school superintendent while also minimizing the tax impact for residents. Some members emphasized concerns about one-time fixes in prior years and asked for clearer separation of operating vs. capital requests in the school submission.

The council's directive is a preparatory step: state law requires publication of the proposed ordinance and a public hearing before final adoption. The solicitor will prepare the ordinance language and the treasurer will compute the formal levy numbers for publication and public notice. The council planned to reconvene for a preliminary vote and to set the public hearing date, then adopt the final budget after the hearing.