Newton Finance Committee Unanimously Approves Nearly $10 Million in City Spending

NEWTON — June 8, 2026 — Newton Finance Committee unanimously clears nearly $10 million in spending across 15 items in a single June session. The committee voted 7-0 on every docket item at its June 8 meeting, with the largest action being a $4,329,664 low-interest loan from the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust State Revolving Fund for stormwater phosphorus reduction projects at Cold Spring Park, Cabot Dog Park, and Graceland Park — with a hard June 30 authorization deadline to remain eligible for state funding. The police chief, appearing before the Finance Committee for the first time, won approval for $225,000 in firearm and equipment upgrades and $105,000 for five operational needs including a new recruitment vendor, a civil service alternative hiring register, and continuation of a non-generative AI policy platform called BlueVoice, describing a statewide collapse in police applicant pool from roughly 32,000 civil service test-takers to approximately 2,700. A $347,534.91 CPA appropriation for War Memorial stair reconstruction cleared after an engineering investigation brought the project's feared $2 million cost estimate down sharply. The committee also approved $3.9 million for the city's fiscal year 2027 paving and transportation program, $577,175 for two trackless sidewalk maintenance vehicles and two new Snow Raider units, and $277,499 for a second phase of heat pump installation at Fire Station 2.