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Mayor Kiriakou says Beacon's finances are strong as council passes $37.5M budget
Summary
Mayor Mary Lee Kiriakou told the council Beacon's financial position is the strongest in decades, noting a $37,500,000 combined operating budget for 2026, a homestead tax rate of $5.49 per $1,000, and investments funded in part by new construction and a county sales-tax sharing agreement.
Mayor Mary Lee Kiriakou opened the city's March meeting with a broad state-of-the-city address, framing Beacon's finances as unusually strong and highlighting the council's passage of a $37,500,000 combined operating budget for 2026. "Beacon's financial health remains the best it has been in decades," Kiriakou said, noting a homestead tax rate that "fell to $5.49 per thousand dollars of assessed value."
Kiriakou attributed the city's room to invest to new private construction that expands the tax base and to a 10-year county sales-tax sharing agreement he negotiated in 2021. He said the city expects continued, though not indefinite, growth from those sources and that the 2026 budget responded to substantial employee salary increases needed to remain competitive. The mayor said prior years' underspending also helped the city stay under the state property tax cap while covering negotiated union increases.
