Marlborough Finance Committee cuts $1.48 million from Mayor's FY26 budget

MARLBOROUGH — May 12, 2025 — Marlborough Finance Committee trims $1.48 million off Mayor's record $215.3 million FY26 budget. The panel voted 4-1 to send a $213.8 million budget — a 9.15 percent increase — to the full City Council after Mayor J. Christian Dumas submitted a 9.91 percent proposal that Council President Michael Ossing said would push the average single-family tax bill up $769, more than triple any annual increase in the past decade. The biggest cut was $700,000 from a reserve for salary adjustments that would have helped fund a pending Collins Center compensation study. Councilor Laura Brown's motion to cut $250,000 from the schools passed 4-1 over objections from Councilor Sean Navin, who warned the city is "sliding a little bit further back." Superintendent Mary Murphy said the district has already eliminated 13 positions and cut nearly $2 million from transportation, dropping eight bus routes. Comptroller Brian Doheny noted a $4.1 million free-cash transfer earlier this year stabilized the city's self-insured health trust.