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Newburyport holds FY27 budget hearing as mayor urges a lower city increase
Summary
At a public hearing April 8, Newburyport officials discussed the proposed FY27 budget — a 4.33% increase in the city appropriation and 6.65% overall — while Mayor Sean Reardon urged trimming the proposal toward his 3% guideline; a formal budget vote is scheduled for April 29.
Newburyport held a public hearing on the proposed FY27 school budget on April 8 at the Senior/Community Center, where district leaders laid out the numbers and the mayor urged further trimming.
Superintendent Sean Gallagher reviewed an FAQ list about the budget and Finance Director Ethan Manning told the committee the draft reflects a 4.33% increase in the city appropriation and a 6.65% total increase from last year. Mayor Sean Reardon said the proposal is “approximately $600,000 higher” than he would like and asked the committee to move the figure closer to his 3% guideline. The School Committee is scheduled to vote on the FY27 budget on April 29, 2026.
The hearing included public-comment submissions from local PTO leaders and residents; the record also includes emailed comments. In one written comment, Ward 3 City Councilor Brian Callahan, a former School Committee member and finance subcommittee chair, urged continued use of School Choice funding as a way to support Newburyport Public Schools and criticized what he called misleading per‑pupil comparisons in recent commentary, saying in part, “School Choice is a smart, manageable way to maintain programming without placing additional strain on taxpayers.”
Why it matters: the city appropriation is a primary local funding source for the district; modest percentage differences can equal hundreds of thousands of dollars that affect staffing and programming. The public hearing keeps the budget timeline on track ahead of the April 29 committee vote.
What’s next: the School Committee will meet again on April 29 to vote on the FY27 budget. Materials mentioned at the hearing — the FAQ list and the proposed budget presentation — will be posted to the district website.
