Charlton approves $46.8 million fiscal 2027 budget after questions on snow-and-ice funding

Charlton voters approved the town’s fiscal 2027 operating budget, a package totaling $46,813,725, during the annual town meeting on May 18, 2026. The motion to appropriate the amounts recommended by the finance committee passed by electronic ballot, 94 yes to 10 no.

The most contested subject during discussion was the town’s snow-and-ice appropriation. Resident Stephen Sage questioned why the town repeatedly uses free cash to cover large snow-and-ice deficits and asked whether the budgeted number should be increased. Town Administrator Mister Golos responded that the figure “has not changed at all from the number listed” and explained the town’s approach to the account. Finance committee and staff representatives emphasized that state rules allow certain accounts, including snow-and-ice, to be deficit‑spent: “If we do increase it, we cannot decrease it,” a town official said, describing the constraint that would lock in a higher baseline permanently.

Ashley Tagolos, speaking through the moderator, said the Department of Revenue permits deficit spending for a small set of accounts and that keeping the budget level from year to year allows the town to respond to catastrophic events without losing that authority. Sage acknowledged the explanation but expressed concern that the practice obscures the town’s true recurring cost of services.

The finance committee’s motion itemized transfers into the budget from ambulance receipts, cemetery lot sales, specific reserves and taxation and provided funding for unsettled union contracts. After the discussion and the moderator’s instructions on electronic voting, the assembly approved the budget by majority vote.

The budget vote concluded the town’s principal fiscal action for the evening; routine and capital articles that followed were considered and voted later in the session.