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Lowell police present $37.7 million 2026 budget; chiefs warn of staffing gaps and rising camera and fleet costs
Summary
Police leaders told a Lowell budget listening session that personnel accounts for nearly all of a roughly $37.7 million 2026 police budget, identified a current shortfall in sworn positions, and flagged rising costs from body‑worn cameras, data storage and vehicle purchases.
Lowell police leaders and city finance staff on April 7 outlined the department’s spending and operational pressures as the city presented a public safety budget preview.
Superintendent of Police Greg Hudon said the department relies on a mix of sworn officers and civilian support to operate: “we have approximately 230 sworn officers. We might be at 223 or 222 as of today. … and we're budgeted for 251,” he said, describing a persistent recruiting and retention gap that contributes to overtime and operational strain.
City finance staff told attendees the police department’s total expenditures for 2026 were about $37.7 million, with roughly $36 million in salaries. The CFO said the majority of the department’s financing comes from the tax levy and that local receipts and special revenue help offset costs: “about $826,000 of it comes from the marijuana excise tax, $260,000 from the liquor license fees, $10,000 from the firearms permits,” he said, and also named towing reimbursements among smaller revenue streams.
Both police and finance officials discussed a growing line-item: body‑worn cameras and the downstream costs they create. The CFO described camera hardware, data storage, maintenance and public-records responses as a “hidden cost,” and Hudon said the department recently negotiated a five-year contract with Axon that bundles cameras and tasers. Hudon said the department trimmed the contract by removing roughly “25 or 30 cameras” for command staff to reduce licensing and storage expenses.
Grant funding supplements some programming and personnel costs. Budget staff Maryanne Manzy said the department received federal, state and private grants totaling about $1.8 million in 2024 that pay for initiatives including opioid-response follow-up, a co‑response clinician program partnered with the health department, traffic-mobilization grants and youth-focused community safety initiatives.
Officials also detailed fleet and vehicle costs. Hudon said frontline cruisers run 24/7, are rotated on a schedule and require significant maintenance; outfitting a modern cruiser with lights, communications and equipment now runs “upwards of $80,000 to $100,000,” he said. A resident’s question prompted officials to say the city budgets roughly “on the orders of magnitude over $300,000” for fuel and motor-oil for municipal fleets.
On accounting for private details (off‑duty work paid by events or contractors), finance staff explained the city uses an agency fund: the revenue is collected there, with 10% typically recorded as a general fund receipt and the remainder used to pay officers who perform the details.
What happens next: officials invited the public to review the digital budget book on the city website and said the budget discussion and related council votes (grant acceptances, capital planning) will continue through the spring.
