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.
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This week on The Frame: Nobscot neighbors share their thoughts on another development idea at the intersection of Edgell Road and Edmands Road, the owners of Shoppers World inform the City Council about a mixed-use development plan, and local business owners speak about the potential impacts of tariffs on Brazilian imports. All of that week on The Frame: Framingham News in Focus.
Representatives of Urban Edge, the owner of the shopping center, presented their initial plans to transform the property to the Framingham City Council.
Development company J&Co has outlined their initial plan to develop housing units by the intersection of Edgell Road and Edmands Road, though community members continue to voice their concerns about any developments in the neighborhood.
