Budget Process (in summary)
The City works on an annual financial cycle, with a financial year running from July 1st to June 30th. Because of this our fiscal years and calendar years do not align. For example, fiscal 2019 runs from July 2018 to June 2019, and so on.
Each year the Mayor consults with the department managers and compiles a balanced budget to operate the general fund and ’enterprise’ funds (Water, Sewer, Rink, Waterways and CPA). Included in this budget is an amount of money for the public schools, however the Mayor and City Council do not control how the School Committee allocates their budget.
The Mayor submits this budget to the City Council. A series of public meetings are held where the City Council review the proposed budget and, working with the Mayor, make changes to the budget whilst keeping it balanced. The final budget is voted on and becomes effective on July 1st.
Approved Budgets (as voted by the City Council)
Proposed Budgets (as proposed to the City Council by the Mayor)
Additional past year’s budgets