Municipal Budget Program

NOTE: The Public Access television station has suspended all public access cable television broadcasting (Cox channel/Verizon channel 28) until further notice due to the current pandemic. THE TOWN WILL HOLD VIRTUAL MEETINGS VIA "ZOOM" VIDEO AND TELECONFERENCE, and will CONTINUE TO LIVESTREAM ALL BUDGET MEETINGS on ClerkBase. 

Municipal Budget

Work Sessions schedule: The Town Council held work sessions to discuss the Town Manager Proposed FY 2020-2021 municipal budget on Monday March 2nd, 2020 (joint work session with the School Committee) and Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020.  Per Town Charter, the proposed budget shall be presented to the Council by March 1 each year.

Preliminary Budget Adoption: The Town Council met on March 23rd, 2020 for the Preliminary Budget Adoption.  The work session begins at 7pm and the regular session begins at 7:30pm.  Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting will be a VIRTUAL meeting.  The meeting will streamed live on the internet as normal.  So that members of the public can participate virtually, a conference call line has been set up to listen to the meeting, as well as to be able to provide public comment.  Information regarding how to dial in on the conference call is available on the Meeting’s agenda, available by clicking here.

Budget Public Hearings: The Town Council will hold Public Hearings with School Committee participation on April 15th and April 16th, 2020.  The meetings will begin at 7pm.  Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the meetings will be VIRTUAL.  The meetings will stream live on the internet as normal.  So that members of the public can participate virtually, the meeting will be held via ZOOM in order to listen to and/or watch the meeting, as well as to be able to provide public comment.  Information regarding how to join the virtual meetings is available on the Meeting agendas, available here: April 15th Meeting and April 16th Meeting.

Final Budget Adoption: The Town Council will meet on April 27th, 2020 during their regular session to consider petitions to the Preliminary budget and adopt the FY 2020-2021 Municipal Budget Program.

School Department Budget

The School Committee adopted the School Department’s FY 2020-2021 budget on February 11th, 2020 and the School Superintendent provided the budget, per the Town Charter, to the Town Manager on February 14th, 2020.  The FY 2020-2021 School Department Budget Document and the FY 2020-2021 Budget Summary, as presented will be discussed at the joint Town Council and School Committee work session on Monday March 2nd, 2020.

Initial Budget Hearing - Town Council and School Committee

The Town Council held an initial budget hearing with the School Committee on December 17, 2019 to discuss and solicit comments from the public relating to the general goals and objectives of the development of the FY 2020-2021 municipal and school budgets. The schedule of budget meetings has been advertised and is posted here.  Note that this is a tentative schedule and dates are subject to change; agendas and minutes are posted on both the Town website and the Secretary of State’s website.

Capital Improvement Program

The Town Manager’s Proposed FY 2020-2021 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) has been released.  The Town Council held work sessions to review the proposed CIP on January 7, 2020 with the School Committee and on January 8, 2020 with municipal department directors.  

A Public Hearing was held during the Town Council’s January 27, 2020 regular session to hear from the public and adopt the Fiscal Period FY 2020-2021 through FY 2025-2026 Capital Improvement Program.