Smithfield council continues FY2027 budget hearing after heated public comments and new state revenue

The Smithfield Town Council voted June 16 to continue its public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget to June 29, directing staff to send the Budget and Financial Review Board a memorandum detailing newly available state revenues and specific shortfalls tied to recently ratified union contracts.

The continuation followed a lengthy public hearing in which residents and officials urged caution. “How can the town justify handing out raises when our children have to go without?” a resident said during public comment, criticizing personnel raises while school line items were reduced. Rich Gianatelli, chairman of the school committee, urged support for the budget board’s balanced recommendation and thanked volunteers who reviewed the proposal.

Ian McLean, chair of the budget and financial review board, told the council the board produced a balanced budget that avoided drawing on the town’s fund balance and increased critical line items — including road paving and fire overtime — to reflect actual spending. McLean said the board’s recommended budget fully funded the school committee’s request and increased paving by $600,000 and fire overtime by $400,000 compared with the town manager’s proposal.

Council members raised concerns that a town-manager revamp of the budget submitted to council four days earlier contained nearly 100 line-item changes and that some recently ratified police and fire contracts had not been mapped into appropriate line items. Council member (speaker 5) moved to continue the hearing with conditions that the council add identified state revenues (including a motor vehicle tax reimbursement of $144,702 and a roadworks grant of $226,006.97), account for CBA shortfalls, and obtain a concise memorandum from the finance director showing where changes should be slotted.

The council also discussed scheduling constraints tied to the state filing deadline of June 30. Multiple members, including McLean, warned that a one-week continuance might not give the budget board adequate public-meeting time to review changes; the council ultimately set the next public hearing and related appropriation and tax-levy actions for June 29.

Next steps: town staff will prepare a written memorandum listing (1) additional revenues since the budget board’s recommendation, (2) contractual shortfalls and line items that require adjustment, and (3) proposed, limited scope changes the council seeks the budget board to consider. The council directed that the budget board be given opportunity for oversight before final votes.