City Council Ad Hoc Budget Committee of the Whole Meeting
The Ad Hoc Budget Committee recommended the City of Amesbury’s FY26 operating budget, including a $83,841,959 General Fund and a total appropriation of $92,459,026 with specified funding sources; the committee also approved the Library budget totaling $937,670.
The Ad Hoc Budget Committee of the Whole convened to review Mayor Gove’s FY26 proposed operating budget. Chairman Stanganelli reviewed the council’s authority under the Kauffman Ordinance and read the proposed budget order. Mayor Gove noted the need to balance expenses with revenues and observed that revenues are already feeling tremulous. Committee members discussed line items, with a particular focus on the Library budget; President Mandeville recused from those Library votes.
The committee voted to approve Library personal services ($701,985), Library other expenses ($235,685), and the total Library appropriation ($937,670). The committee then voted to accept and recommend to the full City Council the unquestioned operating items totaling $82,904,289 and the Total General Fund amount of $83,841,959. Finally, the committee recommended a total FY26 appropriation of $92,459,026, identifying $81,085,559 to be raised by taxation and $2,756,400 from free cash and other specified sources; that motion passed after a question from a councilor about higher “leans,” which the CFO explained as a difference in presentation rather than a substantive increase. All substantive budget recommendations passed with 7–1 votes where noted, with Councilor Wheeler recorded as the sole opposing vote on several items.