2026/2027 Financial Town Referendum Monday, June 1

What: Financial Town Referendum
When: Monday, June 1, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Where: Charlestown Town Hall, 4540 South County Trail

Monday, June 1, is the annual Financial Referendum on the budget for the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026. The June 1 vote is on the municipal services portion of the budget; the Chariho portion was approved by voters on April 7.

Overall, the total budget for the 2026/27 fiscal year—from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027—is $32.0 million, compared to $30.4 million for the current fiscal year, or an increase of 5.3%.

The total budget comprises Charlestown’s share of the Chariho Regional School District’s budget (approximately $14.8 million) and the budget for municipal services (approximately $17.3 million).

Charlestown’s share of the school budget was approved by voters on April 7, and it is, therefore, the budget for municipal services that is to be decided on June 1.

On June 1, you will be asked to answer the following question:

Shall the Town appropriate the FY 2026–2027 budget of $17,272,105 for municipal services, as adopted by the Charlestown Town Council on May 6, 2026?”

A vote of YES will approve the budget; a vote of NO will reject the budget.

You can vote in person in the Town Council Chambers, Town Hall, 4540 South County Trail, or by mail ballot. To vote by mail, you need to request a mail ballot, which may be obtained online, at the Town Hall, or by emailing the Town Clerk at arweinreich@charlestownri.gov. For questions, call 401-364-1200.

Voted mail ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on June 1 to be counted. If you obtain a mail ballot and do not vote by mail, you may vote in person on June 1 by a provisional ballot.

Budget, Revaluation, Tax Levy, and Fund Balance

When it transmitted its recommended budget to the Town Council, the Budget Commission noted that the budget enables Charlestown to maintain its position as one of the lowest tax-rated communities in Rhode Island while providing a high level of professional services.

However, the Budget Commission again noted that achieving this balance was particularly challenging. As the details regarding expenditures and revenues below show, department expenditures have continued to trend upward, but the growth in tax revenues has not kept pace.

But, as most know, Charlestown has just finished its three-year statistical revaluation of 6,500 properties in Charlestown. The tax assessor reports that the median increase in valuation is 21% and that the town’s tax base has increased by just under $1 billion.

Therefore, the Town Council projects an increase in the property net tax levy to $25.6 million from $24.9 million, or 3%, and a tax rate of $5.05 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

In addition, on April 27, 2026, the Town Council approved an emergency transfer of $650,000 from the Unassigned Fund Balance. This expenditure was not included in the budget so that the funds to address repairs to the Town Hall would be available immediately.

With the approval of the budget and with the additional transfer of $650,000, the Unassigned Fund Balance is projected to be 25% of the operating budget, which is within the range of 20%–25% that the Town Council stated is adequate in 2025.

Budgeted Expenditures

Total budgeted expenditures are $32 million, an increase of about $1.6 million or 5.4%. These expenditures include increases in departmental expenditures, in debt service, in Charlestown’s share of the school budget, in capital expenditures, and in capital and transfers.

• Departmental Expenditures—Budgeted departmental expenditures total approximately $15.6 million, representing an increase of approximately $685,000, or 4.6%, primarily attributable to increases in contractual obligations negotiated in 2025; the third of the three step increases of $200,000 for the Charlestown Ambulance Rescue Service approved by the Town Council in 2024; a part-time driver for the new Senior Center van; allocation of $300,000 to a new capital maintenance fund; and increases in costs of purchased services and goods across many departments because of inflation.
• Debt Service—Budgeted debt service totals approximately $373,000, an increase of about $76,000, or 25.5%.
• Educational Expenditures—Charlestown’s share of the Chariho Regional School District’s 2026/27 budget has increased by $813,000 to approximately $14.8 million, or 5.8%.
• Capital Expenditures—Budgeted capital expenditures total approximately $505,000, an increase of approximately $17,000, or 3.4%.
• Capital and Transfers—Total capital and transfers total $1.3 million, an increase of $51,000 or 4.2%.

Budgeted Revenues

Total General Fund revenues are $32 million, an increase of $1.6 million, or 5.4%. The increase is primarily the result of increases in tax revenue, in educational state aid, in municipal state aid, and in licenses, permits, and fees.

• Tax Revenue—Budgeted tax revenue totals approximately $25.2 million, an increase of $728,000, or 3%.
• State Aid for Education—Budgeted state aid for education is approximately $1,5 million, a slight increase of $7,000, or 0.5%.
• Municipal State Aid—Budgeted municipal state aid is approximately $1.7 million, a significant increase of approximately $187,000, or 12.3%.
• Licenses, Permits, and Fees—Budgeted revenues obtained from licenses, permits, and fees also increased significantly to $705,000, marking an increase of approximately $281,000, or 66.3%, primarily due to projected growth in transfer stamp revenues as a result of the state increasing the recording rate. In addition, the state hotel tax allocated to Charlestown has increased as have beach parking rates to include the state’s new sales tax on short-term parking.

Links to documents mentioned in this post:

• Link to Budget. Note the Town Council advises voters to look at the budgeted detail for specific budget information because amounts shown in the narratives describe amounts recommended by the Budget Commission on March 13, 2026, and some of these amounts have since been changed by the Town Council.
• Budget Commission’s transmittal letter and other related items are in the Town Council’s  April 1 meeting packet.

Other documents related to the budget

• The annual audit that was due in late December and for which the Town Council received a waiver from the RI Auditor General, has been received, but its presentation to the Town Council has not yet been scheduled.
• Development of the Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan that is mandated by state law and our Charter and that will integrate future capital investments into the broader strategic goals of the town is under way.