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Portsmouth council reviews $79.2 million FY2027 budget, shifts $25,000 to contingency and sets service stickers
Summary
At a June 10 public hearing, the Portsmouth Town Council reviewed its provisional $79,166,565 FY2027 budget, approved adjustments moving $25,000 from the Prudence Island School Foundation to contingency, confirmed a $569 curbside sticker fee and a $325 transfer-station sticker, and scheduled a final reading of the budget ordinance.
The Portsmouth Town Council held a public hearing on June 10 to review its provisionally approved fiscal year 2027 budget, which the chair said lists total revenues of $79,166,565, a 2.69% increase over 2026. The chair told attendees the general-assembly budget was still pending the governor’s signature, so the town was not expecting additional state revenue before final adoption.
The council described several adjustments made since the preliminary packet. Chair noted the council moved $25,000 out of the Prudence Island School Foundation and into the town contingency fund; officials said the foundation’s remaining $25,571 would remain available only if formally requested. The chair also reported enterprise-fee changes: the curbside pickup sticker was set at $569 (established at Monday’s meeting) and the transfer-station sticker price in the packet was shown as $325, up from $290, intended to address an $86,000 multi-year deficit and to create a $20-per-sticker capital fund.
On department lines, the chair walked the council and public through highlights: the town council operating line fell to $16,698 (an 8.24% decrease) after reallocating small discretionary items; the town administrator’s budget rose to $398,493 (up 5.94%); the town clerk’s total was $559,677 (up 3.35%) largely for benefits and longevity pay; and finance and HR saw increases driven by benefits and OPEB costs. The police budget rose modestly to $8,530,224; public works grew to $3,571,375, and snow-removal costs rose to $161,205 to cover overtime. The school department’s FY2027 budget was reported as $49,733,662, a 3.11% increase with local appropriation up 2.9 due mainly to health-care benefit costs.
A capital-improvement program of $847,941 was outlined to cover projects including Glenn Manor repairs, IT replacements, police equipment and recreation field upgrades; the council also added a public-safety CIP status showing about $600,000 being set aside annually for equipment and fuel. The chair said a school bond for a middle-school roof and an eighth-grade wing, estimated at roughly $1 million for the roof, will go to voters in November; if approved, interest payments would begin in FY2028.
During public comment, resident Larry Fis Morris of Portsmouth said he and Portsmouth Concerned Citizens support the budget, calling the tax change modest for established homeowners and thanking council leadership. "This here being a reevaluation ... generally speaking looks like it's around 1%," Morris said, praising the council for maintaining relatively low homeowner tax increases over two years.
The chair closed the hearing by noting a final reading of the budget ordinance will occur at a future meeting. With no further questions, a motion to adjourn was moved and seconded and the council voted in favor.
