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Mayor presents $191.4 million FY2027 operating budget; multiple appropriations and revolving‑fund items referred to committee
Summary
Mayor Samantha Squailia and the city finance team presented the proposed FY2027 operating budget — General Fund $191,371,167 and enterprise funds for water, wastewater and airport — and a series of appropriation orders and revolving‑fund authorizations, all referred to the Council as a Whole Committee for review.
Mayor Samantha Squailia presented the Mayor’s proposed Fiscal Year 2027 operating budget to the Council as a Whole Committee on May 21, outlining a $191,371,167 General Fund proposal and enterprise fund plans for water, wastewater and the airport. City finance staff accompanied the presentation: Auditor Jacquelyn M. Cronin, Chief Assessor Chris Paquette and Acting Chief of Staff Myles Phillips‑Wilcox.
The agenda included ORDER 064‑26, which lists the Mayor’s operating budget totals: General Fund $191,371,167; Water Enterprise $9,997,019; Wastewater Enterprise $18,316,809; and Airport Fund $1,137,919. The committee packet also introduced several appropriation orders to adjust the FY2027 tax levy and to allocate specific revenue sources to departmental accounts.
Key appropriation orders referred to the committee include: ORDER 065‑26 ($700,000 from overlay surplus to reduce the FY2027 tax levy); ORDER 066‑26 ($250,000 from the Stabilization Fund to reduce the tax levy); ORDER 067‑26 ($178,566 from parking meter/garage receipts allocated between Treasurer personal services and expenses); ORDER 068‑26 ($15,000 from PEG access and cable-related receipts to Information Technology PEG expenses); and ORDER 069‑26 ($45,000 from cemetery lot sales to cemetery personal services). The agenda also lists larger reductions to the tax levy via available funds (ORDER 070‑26, $3,776,232) and ARPA funds (ORDER 071‑26, $410,000).
Enterprise fund proposals include ORDER 072‑26 (Water Enterprise, $9,997,019) with a line‑item breakdown for personal services, expenses, indirect costs, debt service and capital; ORDER 073‑26 (Wastewater Enterprise, $18,316,809) with specified allocations and a $734,844 charge to retained earnings; and ORDER 074‑26 (Airport Fund, $1,137,919) listing personal services and expenses.
The packet also proposes establishing and authorizing expenditures from multiple revolving funds under MGL Chapter 44, Sec. 53E½ (ORDER 075‑26 and ORDER 076‑26). The revolving funds and their authorized officials are enumerated for FY2027, including Animal Control (Police Chief), Civic Days (Mayor or designee/Recreation Director), Planning Board advertising (Community Development Director or designee), Public Cemetery (Cemetery Superintendent/Public Works Commissioner), Public Health Sustainability (Public Health Director), and others. The agenda specifies a $100,000 annual expenditure cap for most revolving funds and a $750,000 limit for Public Health Sustainability.
Finally, ORDER 077‑26 would amend Chapter 44, Section 10 of the city code to add step assignments for Fiscal Year 2027 (grade steps). All items appearing on the agenda were referred to the Council as a Whole Committee for further review; the transcript contains no record of final votes or adoptions of the listed orders.
The meeting recessed at 8:10 PM, returned at 8:29 PM, and adjourned at 9:24 PM. Next procedural steps (committee hearings, public comment dates, or Council vote dates) are not specified in the transcript.
