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City holds FY27 budget public hearing and continues deliberations to June 8; residents raise concerns over special‑education costs and a proposed $900,000 fire‑
Summary
Portsmouth held a public hearing on its FY27 budget, heard public concerns about uneven salary increases, special-education spending and a proposed $900,000 fireboat, and voted to continue the hearing to June 8 for additional staff report‑backs.
The Portsmouth City Council opened the public hearing on the FY27 budget (July 1, 2026–June 30, 2027) on May 18 and agreed to keep the hearing open and resume deliberations at the June 8 meeting to allow staff to supply additional information requested by the council and public.
Public commenters raised multiple concerns. Esther Kennedy urged councilors to review salary-percentage increases across departments and recommended prioritizing paraprofessionals and teachers over additional middle-management hires in the school system: "we should not be hiring any more management at the school," she said, arguing funds would be better spent on classroom staff and specially designed instruction to keep students in-district.
Resident Eric Anderson questioned several budget drivers and suggested deferring a $900,000 fireboat in light of other fiscal pressures. "A $900,000 boat is... a considerable amount of money," he said, noting operational, maintenance and training costs and the need to clarify Portsmouth's geographic responsibilities for water rescue.
Councilors and staff provided context: Superintendent Dr. Mclofflin explained two new school positions are intended to replace a halftime coordinator and to build in-house capacity to reduce costly out-of-district placements; the superintendent said special-education costs continue to be a major driver for the school budget. Councilors emphasized that personnel hiring sometimes occurs before a final appropriation to avoid losing candidates, but that the council retains ultimate budget authority.
Action: the council voted to continue the FY27 public hearing until the June 8 meeting and scheduled additional report-backs for May 28 and the June 8 meeting packet. Staff committed to provide requested line-item clarifications and cost estimates for capital items (including operating cost projections for the proposed fireboat) in advance of the next hearing.
