Council approves FY27 operating budget

The town council approved the proposed $68.3 million operating budget for Fiscal Year 2027 at a special meeting last week.

The budget, as presented by Town Manager Tony Marino, includes $41,259,738 for the schools, with the remaining money set for the town-side of the operating budget.

Overall, the budget is just under a $2 million increase from the $66.4 million budget that was approved for FY26.

The school funding is about $1.2 million under the level services budget that was approved by the school committee earlier in the spring. At Monday night’s school committee meeting, Superintendent of Schools Lisa Howard said she and the school department will be addressing ways to close the budget shortfall.

During last week’s council discussion before the budget vote, Council Vice President Suzanne Swope questioned which parts of the budget are fixed costs that must be paid by the town, and which costs are discretionary spending where the council could conceivably have more of a say in shaping the budget.

“Probably 90 percent in the budget is what we have to do, however, salaries are non-discretionary … but if the council says we have to move a million dollars to XYZ, then that non-discretion money for salaries would have to be let go,” said Council President Jim Letterie. “You are losing quality of services … you have discretion at the peril of the services that you provide to the town.”

Letterie noted that if the council wanted to make a motion to increase funding for one line item or project, it would then have to find a corresponding line item to trim to keep the budget balanced.

Winthrop finance director Sarah Johnson said that she and Town Manager Tony Marino presented a very tight budget to the council.

“We had department heads ask us for more money, and we didn’t have it, so Tony and I went through the budget, and there were a lot of cuts that we had to make,” said Johnson. “This is a lean budget.”

Councilor-at-Large Max Tassinari said that every budget he has seen from the town manager has been very lean and straight to the point to provide the services residents are accustomed to.

“To be very honest, I think our departments go above and beyond what we fund them in terms of commitment to the town,” said Tassinari. 

The council also approved the revolving fund and enterprise account budgets for items such as the ice rink, recreation department, and water and sewer which are largely paid for through fees and do not affect the tax rate, bringing the total town budget for FY27 up to about $80 million.