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Little Compton council reviews FY27 budget proposal, debates staff reductions and capital trade-offs
Summary
Town Administrator and Finance Director presented a draft FY27 budget just under $19 million that seeks to stay within a 4% property-tax increase cap by delaying hires, consolidating services with schools, and prioritizing IT and limited capital; councilors and the town clerk raised concerns about reductions to the clerk’s office and police staffing.
Town Administrator presented the town’s draft fiscal 2027 budget and described it as a balancing exercise after two years of using reserves to cover operating shortfalls. The recommendation aims to keep the property-tax increase within the 4% statutory limit while matching revenues and expenditures at just under $19 million and rebuilding reserve funds over time.
The administrator said personnel costs, pension obligations, debt service and health-insurance premiums are the principal upward pressures. He proposed a 3% across‑the‑board salary increase for positions not covered by collective bargaining agreements and assumed a 10% rise in health-insurance premiums for FY27. To contain costs, the recommendation includes delaying hiring one position each in the police department and the town clerk’s office, reducing a requested DPW position, leasing vehicles and equipment rather than purchasing, and consolidating IT and human-resources functions with the school system.
Finance Director John Gabriel outlined revenue assumptions underpinning the draft: a 4% allowable property-tax increase, a 98.2% tax-collection rate based on FY24 experience, prior-year tax collections and roughly $990,000 in state revenue that includes housing-aid and other reimbursements. Gabriel showed the town’s general-fund revenues near $18.7 million and explained that the school appropriation is the largest expenditure; he also described pension accounting shifts that move certain school pension costs onto the school budget.
Town Clerk Heather delivered a prepared statement opposing the proposed staff reductions, warning that cutting one position in the clerk’s office and reducing police staffing would undermine service to elders and residents who rely on the clerk’s office for routine and emergency assistance. "To lose such a connection to the town … is disheartening," she said, urging the council to consider service impacts, especially during election years when workload spikes.
Councilors pressed for additional detail and public access to draft numbers; staff said the version presented is a working draft that must be reviewed by the council and then submitted for the warrant and to the budget committee ahead of the March 1 deadline. Council members emphasized that additions to the budget will require corresponding cuts elsewhere in a tight fiscal picture.
Next steps: councilors agreed to hold one or more special meetings before March 1 to finalize which articles will go on the warrant and to give the public additional opportunity for review before the financial town meeting in May.
