The Charlestown Town Council’s 2025–2026 Budget

/, 0 Comments

What: Budget Public Hearing
When: Monday, May 5 at 7 p.m
Where: Charlestown Town Hall

At the Town Council’s April 14 meeting, the Town Council adopted its tentative 2025–2026 municipal operating budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 and forwarded it to the May 5 Budget Public Hearing.

Before it adopted its budget on April 14, however, the Town Council discussed and then voted to develop a plan to construct a new building in Ninigret Park, adding money to the budget for this purpose.

Since the Budget Commission transmitted its recommended budget to the Town Council on March 14, 2025, the Town Council has added $348,020 in additional spending to the budget.

Included in the increased spending is $75,000 to purchase the services of an architect/engineer related to the new Ninigret Park building. The remainder of the new spending is for items that were either unknown or underestimated during the budgeting process. In addition, resurfacing the pickleball/tennis courts in Ninigret Park was restored, and a new fee schedule for the Charlestown Residential Collection Center set. The Council also eliminated funds designated for the Charlestown Land Trust ($1,500) and for Community 2000 ($1,000).

In all, the Town Council voted to pay for the entire amount of increased spending using unassigned fund balance—the unrestricted portion of the town’s fund balance that is not committed or assigned.

The town’s Fund Balance Policy states the following: “The Town will strive to maintain an unassigned fund balance in an amount equal to 23% and 33% of its annual operating expenditures and a cumulative probability of adequacy of 90+%.” This reserve is to be maintained to allow the Town to respond quickly and decisively to events such as natural disasters, catastrophic accidents, unexpected infrastructure repair/replacement, and the like, and to cushion the Town against revenue shortfalls or expenditure fluctuations associated with routine Town business.

Although the unassigned fund balance will remain above the minimum target of 23% set by the town’s Fund Balance Policy adopted in 2021, several things stand out regarding the budget:

  • Municipal spending significantly exceeds the amount of money the town will raise in tax revenue and still maintain a stable, low tax rate long term. The budget therefore includes minimal additional investments and uses some of the unassigned fund balance to fund expenditures. During discussions, both Councilors Stokes and Rippy voiced concern that using fund balance “to do the budget” is not sustainable and could lead to large spikes in the tax rate in the future. In fact, Councilor Stokes voiced concern that the approximately $493,000 set aside in the budget for future capital expenditures, such as a new roof for the Town Hall, was inadequate, observing that $110,000 of the money set aside was earmarked for repair of Charlestown Beach Road and reduced the amount set aside for other capital needs.
  • The Five-Year Capital Plan that was flagged as missing in last year’s budget cycle still has not been done. The Town Council is using unassigned fund balance for increased expenditures in the budget even though there is no plan and even though the Fund Balance Policy adopted in 2021 requires a plan, stating that reserves may be used for one-time expenditures if they are used “to allow time for the Town to restructure its operations in a deliberate manner, but such use will only take place in the context of a long-term plan.”
  • Although the auditors’ tests have found no compliance issues, “material weaknesses” identified by the town’s auditors in the 2022, 2023, and 2024 audits and in a study of the town’s financial function by an outside consultant dated February 2023 are not addressed. In fact, approximately $185,000 allocated by the Budget Commission in its 2024–2025 budget to hire a Finance Director and to contract Human Resources to an outside consultant has been spent for other purposes.

It is also worth noting that at its meeting on April 28, 2025, the Council approved the nearly-$40-million plan to build out Ninigret Park, even though the five-year capital plan is not available. Aside from whether taxpayers want to fund the new building in Ninigret Park, or any of the proposed build-out, it is very difficult for taxpayers to know whether their tax dollars are being allocated effectively or efficiently within this budget and what the effect these budget allocations will have on tax rates long term.

For other expenditures and revenue sources contained in the budget, please see the Budget Commission’s transmittal letter dated March 14, 2025. For information about fund balances and other findings of the town’s auditor, see the 2024 audit that was just presented to the Town Council at its April 28, 2025, Council meeting.  To see the new changes, taxpayers need to look at the budget itself to see what has changed because the notes at the Town’s website do not show the changes made by the Town Council.

The Town Council has forwarded its budget to the Budget Public Hearing to be held on May 5, 2025, at 7 pm at the Charlestown Town Hall. The 2025–2026 budget adopted by the Council is projected to increase the tax rate by 2.60%, to approximately $5.93 per $1,000 of valuation, and the amount to be collected from taxpayers (the levy) to increase by 3.0%.

After the public hearing, the Town Council may make further changes. It will then adopt a final budget and send it to the all-day Financial Referendum on June 2.