Swampscott Finance Committee Recommends Budgets, Cuts Excess Levy Use to $1.49 Million

SWAMPSCOTT — April 23, 2026 — Swampscott Finance Committee votes to recommend operating, enterprise, and capital budgets for Town Meeting. The committee, meeting April 23, voted unanimously on all three budget categories after a session focused on trimming projected excess levy use — the amount of unused property tax capacity the town plans to draw on — from a starting figure of roughly $2.7 million to $1,493,760. Town Administrator Patrick Luddy revised the payroll tax line downward by about $12,000 to $594,457 and the committee recommended raising the cannabis tax revenue estimate from a policy-derived $200,000 to the fiscal 2025 actual of $261,000, citing a clear upward trend in receipts that reached $217,000 through just three quarters of fiscal 2026. On capital, the committee included the condemned high school track and the $600,000 VFW renovation at 89 Burrill Street but removed a $300,000 solar canopy design project and a $150,000 combined school gymnasium technology upgrade, with members citing the absence of a formal return-on-investment analysis for the solar project. A resident, Christina of 31 Rock Ave., told the committee the condemned track has left more than 200 student-athletes without a home meet for two seasons, with high school participation fees running $450 per student.