The Town of Danvers Finance Committee on Budget Review Day 3 approved a package of fiscal-year 2026 spending measures, including a $843,000 general-fund capital outlay and individual departmental budgets for police, fire, public works, sewer and water.

The committee voted to approve the general-fund capital outlay, which covers a set of routine vehicle and equipment replacements and includes one-third of the cost of a new street sweeper (see separate article). The same meeting recorded motions to move and approve the police, fire, public works tax-supported, sewer and water budgets; the electric division presented its calendar-year budget but that item was scheduled for a separate warrant article later in April.

Why it matters: these votes set the town’s near-term operating and capital priorities and determine which projects appear on the annual warrant and town meeting agendas. Several items approved at the meeting will be paid from free cash or enterprise funds and a handful of previously authorized borrowings begin to affect debt service in FY26.

Key outcomes and context
- General-fund capital outlay: Motion to approve $843,000 (approved). The capital outlay includes vehicles and equipment across departments; the street sweeper is budgeted as $300,000 split across general fund ($100,000), water ($100,000), and sewer ($100,000). The committee approved the motion to fund the general-fund portion.
- Police budget: The committee moved and approved the police operating budget, which shows a 9.2% increase driven primarily by salary and wages as the department approaches full staffing and by a proposed staffing study (estimated $9,500).
- Fire budget: The committee approved the fire budget, which shows an overall increase driven in part by the town absorbing the cost of three firefighters previously funded by a federal SAFER grant that ended this February.
- Public works tax-supported budget: Approved; includes operating and capital items discussed at the meeting (pavement program, equipment, contract cleaning increases, and transfers to cover a snow-and-ice overrun).
- Sewer and water enterprise budgets: Both budgets were presented and moved; sewer shows increased assessment (nearly 7% in underlying assessment) tied to major treatment-plant debt and siphon rehabilitation projects; water shows increases tied to contractual salary increases, chemicals and sludge removal. Both enterprise budgets include the sweeper share.

No action was taken on the electric warrant article at this meeting; the electric division presented its calendar-year 2025 budget and described a plan to return a power-supply surplus to ratepayers during calendar 2025 per DPU guidance.

Quotes from the meeting
"The motion would be on the general fund capital outlay of 843,000," the Interim Town Manager said while calling for the capital vote. (Transcript: motion called)
"All those in favor?" the Finance Committee chair asked; committee members responded in the affirmative and the item passed. (Transcript: roll call/voice vote)

What to watch next
- Several warrant articles tied to capital and enterprise items will appear on the town warrant later in April; voters at town meeting will act on free-cash appropriations and certain capital projects.
- The electric division will present a separate warrant article, and the municipal light’s plan to return a multi-million-dollar power-supply surplus to ratepayers will be reflected in its calendar-2025 rate schedule.

Ending: The committee moved through a packed agenda that combined vehicle and equipment purchases, enterprise fund capital, and operating budget approvals; several items discussed will be reappearing on the formal warrant for town meeting action.