Council hears FY27 budgets, no vote on spending

Select Board · Meeting of June 2, 2026

Northampton City Council heard FY27 budget presentations from fire, police, DPW, central services and climate departments, with no vote taken on the spending plan itself. Fire Chief Helis said the department responded to 9,240 calls in 2025, nearly 6,900 of them medical, after adding eight firefighters in 2026. Police Chief Cartlidge reported 30,216 calls for service and said the department "notified every officer" that it does not coordinate with ICE.

DPW Director Lascalia said the department has 18 vacancies out of 83 positions and that less than $900,000 is available for water enterprise capital work out of a $6.9 million fund. Councilor Robbins said she "still can't find anything in our documents" showing how Picture Main Street funding breaks down. A point-of-order appeal from Councilor Stratton on capital-plan disclosure prevailed, 5-2 with two abstentions.

The council voted unanimously to close the hearing and adjourn.

In the full story:

• Fire and Rescue Department FY27 Budget
• Police Department FY27 Budget
• Department of Public Works: General Fund Operations
• DPW Enterprise Funds: Water, Sewer, Solid Waste and Stormwater
• Capital Planning Transparency Dispute and Point-of-Order Vote
• Central Services Department
• Climate Action and Project Administration (CAPA)
• Hearing Closure and Procedural Votes
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,411 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of June 2, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.