Manchester's $44.4 million budget, line by line

How Manchester decides its budget

A town budget is a one-year spending plan. Manchester's fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30, so "fiscal 2027" started this summer and ends next June.

Voters approve the budget at the annual town meeting, held this year on April 27 and 28. Before that, the town administrator, Tony Barletta, builds a recommended budget from department requests, and the Finance Committee reviews it department by department. This year the committee voted on each department between January and early March and made its final recommendations March 26. Its vote on each line appears in the town's budget book, the source for most figures here.

Manchester does not run its own schools. It belongs to the Manchester Essex Regional School District, which bills each town, and it pays a share of Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School. Water and sewer are kept in separate enterprise funds paid for mainly by customers' bills.

State law limits how much the town can collect in property taxes. Under Proposition 2½, the total can grow 2.5% a year plus new construction. To borrow for a project and repay it outside that limit, a town needs voters to approve a debt exclusion at the polls. Manchester also has a 1991 special law that requires a ballot vote on any borrowing over $1 million, which is why each project had two questions in May.

Where the money goes

The town's budget book adds every piece together into one total. Here are the pieces.

Two things moved the total in opposite directions. Operating costs rose almost $2 million. But the town paid for less with cash: capital projects funded from taxes fell from $3.56 million to $2.65 million, Community Preservation projects from $897,100 to $594,200 and other articles from $990,000 to $441,237. Last year's articles included $660,000 for the public works facility.

The Finance Committee flagged that pattern itself in March, noting an "11% increase in the Town Operating Budget versus the 2% tax rate increase," according to the minutes. It attributed the difference to less capital paid from taxes, a smaller one-time tax exclusion and higher revenue estimates.

The operating budget

Article 4, the town operating budget, passed 268 to 15. It pays for town departments, employee benefits, town debt and the day-to-day costs of water and sewer.

Debt service rises 34%, mostly because the budget sets aside $360,000 for interest on short-term loans for capital projects, up from $30,000. Payments on the town's older bonds keep falling.

Pensions and benefits rise 12%. The budget assumes a 15% increase in group health insurance through the state's GIC. Barletta was reluctant to budget at 14.5% and risk falling short, according to Feb. 19 Finance Committee minutes. Pensions rise $212,073, or 11.4%. Water and sewer customers repay $450,477 of the town's benefit costs through their rates.

What went up and what went down

Trash. The trash collection line rises from $365,000 to $633,039. The Finance Committee listed the trash collection contract as a major cost driver, and the town administrator added $113,039 above the department's request. The current contract with Republic Services runs through Dec. 31, 2026, according to Finance Committee minutes from July 2025.

Fire. The assistant fire chief line rises from $30,000 to $120,000; the budget book gives no reason. Firefighter wages rise $61,856 after Barletta cut $40,000 from the request. The department is bringing on four firefighters hired with a federal SAFER grant, according to April 6 Select Board minutes.

Legal. Legal expenses rise from $135,000 to $200,000, which the budget book attributes to "escalating cost and use of Town Counsel." Barletta told the Finance Committee legal costs have needed year-end transfers and run closer to $185,000 to $200,000.

Building department. A new full-time clerk adds $56,911. At town meeting, resident Mary Peart asked about the increase. Barletta said it would create administrative support for inspections, paid for by raising building fees, because Manchester's are "significantly lower than the fees in other communities," according to the minutes. The town charges $6 per $1,000 of construction value, against a regional average of about $11, Finance Committee minutes say.

Decreases are small. The largest is $56,502 less for skilled laborers in public works.

Schools

The regional school district's budget is $33,737,241, up 3.5%. After state aid and other revenue, the rest is billed to Manchester and Essex using a formula in the towns' regional agreement. For teaching costs, the formula weighs enrollment heavily, along with property wealth; other costs are split by property wealth and population.

Manchester pays 61.9% of the operating bill, slightly less than last year's share. Town meeting approved the assessment, $18,058,187, by 257 to 23.

Manchester also pays two-thirds of the district's building debt, $2,573,924 this year, for the middle and high school and Memorial Elementary School. Town meeting approved it 258 to 15. Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School costs $171,435, for eight students, according to the Finance Committee.

How the regional schools compare

Because the district serves two towns, a state law gives the regional School Committee the power to set the budget, and both towns must approve their shares. The district spends far more than the state requires. In fiscal 2025 it spent $28.2 million that counts toward the state's minimum for school spending, 183% of the $15.4 million minimum. The average Massachusetts district spent 126%. It spent $25,121 per student in its own schools in 2024. The state average was $22,414.

This year's budget used $600,000 of district savings for the second year in a row, and the School Committee's Feb. 10 minutes record that "the district will have depleted its rainy-day fund." In spring 2026, 60% of district students in grades 3 to 8 met or beat expectations in reading on the state's MCAS tests, compared with 40% statewide. Of the class of 2025, 97.4% graduated in four years, compared with 89.3% statewide.

The town's contribution to its retiree health trust, called OPEB, rises to $420,000. The town's actuary advised that amount would fully fund the promise to retirees, so the trust can start paying their premiums in fiscal 2028, according to Feb. 19 Finance Committee minutes. Town meeting approved it 272 to 5.

The borrowing votes

Town meeting approved borrowing for five projects, and all of them then went to the May 19 ballot. Each project needed two yes votes there: one to approve the borrowing under the 1991 law, and one to exclude the payments from the tax limit. An 11th question allowed a one-year capital exclusion for an accessible library bathroom. All 11 passed. In all, 455 people voted, about 10% of the 4,451 registered voters counted at town meeting.

The well. The Lincoln Street well supplies about 40% of the town's water, according to the town's tax calculator, and the town says PFAS, the "forever chemicals," must be removed from its water by 2029. At town meeting, Public Works Director Chuck Dam said that if the town is not in compliance by then, it would have to provide bottled water to all residents until it is, according to the minutes.

The culvert. The Central Street culvert dates to 1850. The town was awarded a $4.48 million federal grant, but permitting delays have put it in doubt, according to the town administrator; the $5 million in borrowing would be used only if grants fall through.

The harbor and Rotunda. The $1.9 million for dredging is the town's match for a $1.9 million state Seaport Economic Council grant, which pays half the cost. The Rotunda at Tuck's Point is a roughly $3.6 million restoration, with $1.3 million approved last year and $350,000 more in Community Preservation money this year. Barletta said grant applications for it were unsuccessful and that "waiting would also run the risk of further damage," according to the minutes. It drew the closest town meeting vote of the five, 140 to 72.

Capital projects

Separate from the borrowing, Article 5 paid for $2,152,492 in equipment and repairs, mostly from this year's taxes. It passed 268 to 15. Some requests were left out, including $350,000 for a fire engine replacement fund.

Town meeting also approved $250,000 from the recreation fund to design a senior and community center, 243 to 36. Two amendments failed: one stating an intent to cap the building's cost at $4 million, 112 to 152, and one funding design to at least 75% on the condition of a public hearing, 97 to 182. Community Preservation projects totaling $594,200 passed 162 to 8, including $350,000 more for the Rotunda and $100,000 for the Affordable Housing Trust.

What it means for taxes

The budget raises the most the town can collect under its levy limit, $35,370,453, leaving no unused room. Last year about $268,000 went unused.

The budget book estimated a fiscal 2027 tax rate of $8.88 per $1,000, up 2.1% from $8.70, using last year's values. The actual rate will be set this fall. The new exclusions add to bills gradually: the town administrator estimated about $209 per $1 million of value this year, $336 next year and about $567 a year once full payments begin in fiscal 2029, including the one-year library cost. That estimate includes the library exclusion but not payments on the new borrowing.

The budget uses $246,237 of free cash, money left from past years, far less than the $1.56 million used the year before. Town meeting also used $250,000 to cover last winter's snow and ice overrun. In August, town finance staff told the Finance Committee they estimated about $3.5 million in free cash from last year, not yet certified by the state, and total reserves of about $5.2 million.

Search every line item

The budget book lists about 500 lines across the town's departments, water and sewer, schools and articles. All of them are below. Search for a word such as "overtime," "lifeguards" or "electricity," or open a department to see each line.

From request to tax bill

Manchester and its neighbors

Manchester's tax rate is among the lowest of the nine North Shore communities below, but its homes are the most valuable, so its average single-family bill, $16,371 last year, is the highest.

What comes next

• This fall's tax rate. The assessors will set fiscal 2027 values and the rate this fall, with state approval.
• Special town meeting, Nov. 16, 7 p.m., Memorial School. Items under discussion include about $710,900 more for a roughly $1 million fire engine, a change to the 1991 law that requires a ballot vote on large borrowing, a new investment rule for town trust funds and the Essex Elementary School project. The warrant is not final. Citizen petitions are due Oct. 19.
• Special town election, Dec. 10. Our earlier coverage: Manchester leaders warn voters have not heard the tax bill for the Essex school project.
• Fiscal 2028. Finance Committee reviews begin in the winter, ahead of the April town meeting.

How to take part

Town budget series: Gloucester (Oct. 5), Essex (Oct. 8), Manchester (this story).

How we did this

Cape Ann Current read the town's fiscal 2027 budget book, the 2026 annual town meeting minutes, the May 19 election results, the school district's amended budget, the town administrator's April 24 blog post and Finance Committee and Select Board minutes and agendas from July 2025 through October 2026, and compared figures with state Division of Local Services data. Minutes summarize meetings, so quotes from them are not verbatim transcripts. This story was produced with the help of AI tools and checked against the documents listed below. If you see an error, tell us at [email protected].