Finance panel splits vote on general fund budget

Select Board · Meeting of June 2, 2026

Northampton's Finance Committee split on a recommendation for the $152 million fiscal 2027 general fund budget, sending it to the full City Council Thursday without consensus. The vote on order 26.064 came in at two yes, one no and one abstention, with Councilor Robbins abstaining over process concerns and Councilor Mayuri voting no while saying her position was actually "neutral," not negative. Councilor Robbins argued "we haven't done the work we have been charged with doing as a finance committee," having already sat through two full council budget presentations.

The committee then grouped five remaining orders, covering sewer, water, solid waste, and stormwater enterprise funds plus revolving funds, and passed them 3-1 with Robbins again abstaining. Ward 3 resident Dan Brindell used public comment to question whether a school hiring cap paired with growing IT spending was pushing administrators toward technology purchases over staffing.

In the full story:

• Roll Call and Agenda Overview
• Public Comment: IT Spending and the School Hiring Cap
• Process Objection: Should Finance Committee Vote at All
• General Fund Budget, Order 26.064
• Enterprise Funds and Revolving Funds, Orders 26.065 through 26.069
• Adjournment
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,059 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.