Following some final tweaks to free cash usage during their meeting on Tuesday, Framingham officials voted in a favor of the city’s operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
FRAMINGHAM - The Framingham City Council approved of a $382,763,048 municipal operating budget for the 2026 fiscal year during their meeting at the Memorial Building on Tuesday, June 10.
After a months-long process, local legislators have approved of an operating budget that’s nearly $24 million higher than the fiscal year 2025 budget. Around $230.4 million of that budget is funded through a 2.5% raise to the local tax levy. Additional funding sources include nearly $108 million in state aid and $25.4 million in local receipts.
The budget recommended in late May by the City Council’s Finance Subcommittee stood at just over $383 million prior to the budget’s second reading on Tuesday. Local leaders had previously considered using $10 million from the local free cash fund in addition to the aforementioned funding sources.
However, District 2 City Councilor Brandon Ward made a motion on Tuesday to amend the free cash appropriation to $9.6 million, as leaders with Keefe Regional Technical School recently notified local officials that they’ve been mulling a bond request for funding as they work on a feasibility study to potentially to develop a new school building.
According to Keefe Tech Superintendent Jonathan Evans, officials with the school found additional money in their FY25 budget to allow for a reduction to their budget request for the upcoming fiscal year.
“Our current budget includes $600,000 for feasibility—that is what I assume we will be requested to go to bond—and I believe our (school) committee would be prepared to vote a budget reduction in the amount of $400,000 that would allow the city of Framingham to save $302,800 in the assessment,” Evans explained to City Council members on Tuesday.
The free cash reduction amendment raised by Ward also accounted for a reduction of $135,000 for municipal software purchases.
The free cash amendment was unanimously approved by the City Council before the body voted 10-1 in favor of the FY26 operating budget of nearly $382.8 million. Michael Cannon of District 4 was the lone City Councilor to vote against the budget as it stood.
.avif){kind=small}
.avif){kind=small}
The inaugural Bay State Motor Festival at Cushing Memorial Park took place this past Sunday, June 8.
Esta semana no The Frame: a Câmara Municipal aprova um orçamento operacional anual totalizando quase US$ 383 milhões, os titulares e concorrentes locais começam a se preparar para as eleições municipais de novembro e um olhar sobre o primeiro Festival do Automóvel de Bay State — e como a comunidade se conecta ao legado automotivo dos Estados Unidos.
This week on The Frame: the City Council passes an annual operating budget totaling nearly $383 million, local incumbents and challengers begin to pull papers ahead of November’s municipal election, and a look at the inaugural Bay State Motor Festival—and how the community connects to America’s automotive legacy.
