Smithfield council adopts tight FY2027 budget after students urge protection of teachers

The Smithfield Town Council on June 29 adopted the town’s fiscal year 2027 budget with a suite of amendments intended to preserve services while limiting the draw on reserves.

Kiara Legare, a sophomore at Smithfield High School, told the council that proposed layoffs — including the school’s sole band instructor, Michaela Fernandez — would “have unimaginably detrimental effects” on students’ coursework, extracurriculars and emotional support. “It is frankly impossible for Mr. C to handle all of these classes, clubs, and responsibilities,” Legare said, arguing that eliminating positions would reduce AP and elective options and increase class sizes.

The council’s vote followed detailed budget amendments moved by Councilman Aliyelani and seconded from the floor. The motion added several revenues and adjustments: $144,702 in state motor-vehicle tax reimbursement; a $51,390 road-works grant; approximately $275,882 in intergovernmental revenue tied to fire-rescue billing; and line-item changes in public works, police, fire, information technology and town manager budgets. The motion also added $148,328 in state aid to the school budget and created a $63,800 town-aided grant program requiring applications to the council. As a condition of town funding, both libraries were required to file complete financial statements with the town finance director by Sept. 30 for FY2025–26.

Council discussion framed the package as a necessary, if tight, compromise. One council member summarized the process, noting the town manager’s budget is submitted in February and the budget and financial review board’s recommendations were the basis for the council’s action. A different speaker (identified in the record as Kenneth J. Souza in public comment) had earlier noted the town’s audited fund-balance decline from roughly $15.1 million in FY2020 to a projected $7.6 million under conservative revenue assumptions, a decline he said would concern bond-rating agencies.

Council members emphasized that the amendments incorporated newly available state revenue and adjustments after recently ratified collective-bargaining agreements for police and fire. One council member said the extra two weeks of deliberation ahead of the vote helped solidify numbers and avoid drawing on the town’s fund balance this year.

After discussion the chair called for a voice vote. The motion carried; the chair declared, “the ayes have it.”

The budget package includes line-item totals the council read into the record: increases to the fire department and police budgets to reflect salary and benefit changes, an information-technology budget increase, and increased state aid to the schools that the motion reflected in the overall school-department total. Tax-rate limits read into the record set a residential levy not to exceed $12.62 per $1,000 of assessed value, a commercial rate not to exceed $21.77 per $1,000, and a tangible property rate of $59.74 per $1,000.

Public commenters had urged the council to prioritize school staffing and preserve electives and advanced classes if possible. Sol Niece, a rising junior at Smithfield High School, said cuts could reduce AP, honors and CTE offerings, harm student attendance and create a cycle of reduced enrollment and revenue.

The council adopted the appropriations and the tax-levy resolution during the same meeting; the chair then closed the public-hearing portion of the agenda and moved on to other items before adjourning.

What’s next: the adopted budget and the accompanying tax-levy resolution set spending and rate limits for the coming fiscal year; the council required financial statements from the libraries as a condition of funding and implemented the stated line-item amendments. The meeting adjourned without further action.