Middletown council adopts FY2026 budget with modest levy increase, approves library and school additions

The Town of Middletown Town Council adopted the fiscal year 2026 consolidated budget on May 28, approving amendments that reduce the originally proposed levy increase and that add targeted funding for the schools and library.

The council voted to amend the administrator’s proposed budget in several ways: hiring and staffing changes at the public library, an increase in the school appropriation to cover transportation and shared-service costs plus a one-time use of school fund balance, additional civic appropriations (including conditional funding for the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission), set-asides for the Atlantic Beach District TIF and the Middletown Prevention Coalition, and an accounting maneuver using fund balance to smooth a near-term debt-service impact tied to the town’s school/library construction reimbursements.

Why it matters: The council’s actions change how much property taxpayers will pay next year and allocate funds to several community programs. The budget as proposed earlier included a $2,006,255 levy increase; after council amendments the increase was reduced (the staff presentation showed the levy increase moving from about $2,006,255 down to roughly $1,704,000). The council approved figures that the town finance staff said translate to about a 42-cent per $1,000 increase for a resident’s assessed value (described in the presentation as a 4.85% change on the resident real-estate tax rate), with comparable percentage increases for nonresidential and commercial rates.

Most important actions and details

- Levy and tax-rate impact: Finance staff presented an original proposed levy increase of $2,006,255 (reported in presentations during the hearing). After the council’s motions the staff showed a reduced net levy increase of approximately $1,704,000 (a change described in the meeting as lowering the levy by roughly $306,912 via use of fund balance for this fiscal year). The council’s amended package produced per‑parcel impacts the finance slides summarized as about a 42¢ per $1,000 increase for resident real estate (4.85%), about a 55¢ increase per $1,000 for nonresident real estate (4.88%), and about a 63¢ increase per $1,000 for commercial property (4.85%). These figures were presented by town finance staff during the hearing and affirmed as the results after the council’s motions.

- School department adjustments: The council approved an increase of $700,000…