Smithfield budget board holds public hearing on town manager’s FY2026–27 recommended budget

The Smithfield Budget and Financial Review Board convened April 30 for a public hearing on the town manager’s recommended FY2026–27 budget, during which the chair read department-level allocations and percent changes and answered brief questions from the public.

The chair read major department recommendations line by line, including $600,516 for legislative and policy (up 0.59%), a new $60,000 Municipal Government Center line, $685,539 for the town manager’s office (up 4.47%), and a $47,912,649 recommendation for the School Department (up 3.82%). The chair said these numbers reflect the town manager’s consolidated recommendation, not the budget board’s final recommendation; the board will refine its recommendation before forwarding it to the town council for a separate vote.

Jessica Salah, vice chair of the School Committee, asked whether the school department figure included state aid and requested a breakdown of the town appropriation. A staff member replied that the town appropriation portion is $500,000, which the staff member and Salah characterized as a $500,000 year-over-year increase. "I would just like to go on record for saying how critical that would be to our school department," Salah said, urging that cuts would likely fall to after-school programs and sports if the town share did not increase.

The board also heard the chair read recommended amounts for public safety and municipal operations, including the police department (about $10,968,284, small increase reported), consolidated public works and parks (roughly $7.6 million), municipal capital improvements ($2,326,862), and enterprise funds such as the Smithfield Sewer Authority (~$4,310,639). Several smaller boards and commissions — including the land trust commission, planning board, zoning board and board of canvassers — were read as well.

Because parts of the transcript show unclear digit grouping for several line items, some department amounts were not fully legible in the readout and are not repeated here. The chair noted when a department was newly consolidated (for example, Information Technologies and the human services/senior center merge) and where funding was shifted rather than newly created.

No members of the public spoke during the designated comment periods. After the readout and brief exchanges about the school appropriation, the chair asked for a motion to adjourn; the board indicated assent and the meeting concluded. The budget board will continue deliberations on its recommendation and will forward that recommendation to the town council for final action.