Newton City Council Unanimously Approves $623.7 Million FY2026 Budget

NEWTON -- May 19, 2025, Newton City Council approves $623.7 million FY2026 budget after school funding compromise clears. The full council voted 22-0 Monday night to adopt the budget, which includes a general fund of $547,629,016 and a Newton Public Schools base allocation of $292,963,623, hours after the School Committee passed a compromise plan 8-1 that added nearly $5 million in supplemental free cash support for NPS operations. Finance Committee Chair Leonard Gentile led the multi-week deliberations and was singled out for praise by Council President Mark Laredo and Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, who attended the close of the meeting and thanked the council for the "yes vote." Councilor Rhanna Grossman, one of two members who voted against a separate $50,000 city hall heat pump item, voiced lingering concern about the budget's structural fragility: "This budget is put together with scotch tape." Councilor David Mickley warned that school administration forecasts show the structural gap between school funding needs and base allocations growing from $7 million in FY2027 to more than $20 million within four years.