Saugus Select Board Approves $141.5 Million FY2027 Budget, Sends It to Finance Committee

Select Board · Meeting of February 25, 2026

Saugus Select Board unanimously approved a preliminary $141.5 million FY2027 budget and forwarded it to the Finance Committee ahead of a March 1 charter deadline. The five-member board voted 5-0 after a morning work session led by Town Manager Scott Crabtree and Finance Director-Treasurer Wendy Hatch, who outlined a general fund of roughly $124.3 million and enterprise funds totaling $17.2 million. Pension costs rise to approximately $6 million, up nearly $250,000, and vocational school assessments are budgeted at $2.9 million, reflecting a 12 percent increase over FY2026, with debt service on the nearly-complete Northeast Regional Vocational School approaching $800,000 annually and expected to climb if enrollment rebounds toward its historical average of 196 students.

Crabtree cautioned that the school department's $35.8 million operating budget understates the town's true education investment by nearly $30 million in Schedule 19 pension and health insurance charges paid directly by the town, saying the combined burden is "not a sustainable model," and warned that an override will likely be required to fund both expanded vocational operations and a proposed west-side public safety building.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of February 25, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.